How to create a list of unavailable objectarx applications
I don't think you necessarily want to do it that way. Not all objects are entities, some are only data attached at the document level. For example, you can XREF a Civil3D surface model into a vanilla AutoCAD drawing; if the Civil3D OE is installed, AEC data is populated into the host drawing. When the Civil3D XREF is detached, the AEC data objects will remain in place. When the drawing is opened in a session without the Civil3D OE it will prompt for it, as even though there are no drawing entities which require it there is data, and there will be no visible difference between the two. You'll find the same with a number of different products, including some third-party add-ons.
Rather than blindly finding OE's, you should review incoming drawings and understand what the content is built with. Then find the appropriate OE's to install.
If you are going to fly by the seat of your pants, expect friction burns.
"I don't know" is the beginning of knowledge, not the end.
Dgorsman, thanks for the info.
Here’s the issue:
We’re running AutoCAD 2017 which is set to save to 2010 format since many of our clients are still using older versions of AutoCAD.
PROXYNOTICE is set to 1 (Proxy warning is displayed) so users see the proxy information dialog when they open the drawing.
Every time they save the drawing they get the version conflict message:
PROXYSHOW is set to 1 (display graphics)
PROXYGRAPHICS is set to 1 (Saves image with the drawing)
I figured that I’d roll out the missing OE’s which should then eliminate these messages. It would also allow users to see any additional metadata attached to custom entities with graphics. Users also want the metadata available in Navisworks so it needs the OE's too.
I’m seeing a lot of drawings that have Civil3D proxy objects (no graphics). I’ve also seen a few of them that had text callouts which would not display unless I installed the Civil3D OE, even though AutoCAD was set to show proxy objects.
Other drawings are looking for other OE’s such as Plant 3d, AutoCAD Mech, ProStructure, CADWorx, etc.
I seem to remember that at one time there was a setting that would allow AutoCAD to automatically download and install the OE’s as needed but that no longer appears to be an option and could be a security risk.
Any other ideas?
Thanks Tim
Saving in the latest DWG format while working should avoid most of this issue. If clients require an earlier version, you can use DWG Convert to batch-convert entire sets of DWG files to an earlier DWG format as part of the return-to-client process. Note that for Civil3D (and most likely for AutoCAD Mechanical), while you can downsave the DWG version the application/object version doesn't change i.e. those Civil3D objects are still Civil3D 2017 format, and they cannot be "downsaved" to an earlier version. That's the gist of the warning dialog. Also note that is says "objects"; these aren't necessarily drawing entities that you can see, but data attached to the DWG file that could be ignored.
I know that CADWorx will only throw an OE warning if there are CADWorx components in the models. If that is the case, you should distribute the OE if you don't already have the program installed.
ProStructures (and AutoPLANT) are one of the things I mentioned earlier - data objects get attached to the drawing regardless if there are drawing entities or not. There is little you can do to pull out that data, and installing object enablers will just populate default data into every DWG file that's loaded (think REGAPPs or annotation scales, but worse). As far as I know, ProStructures data doesn't come through directly in Navisworks with only the OE; it only handles rendering the shapes. If you don't have ProStructures models, don't install it.
Are you certain that you have ProStructures, Plant3D, and AutoCAD Mechanical models?
If you are going to fly by the seat of your pants, expect friction burns.
"I don't know" is the beginning of knowledge, not the end.
That is considered normal operation - at least, as long as its only data in the drawing and not actual proxy entities in the drawing area. AEC data is a point of contention among users. They don't really do anything, so it shouldn't be so difficult to get rid of; on the other hand, they don't really do anything, so there's no valid reason to reject a drawing because of it (especially if you are also providing other files with Civil3D content).
If you are going to fly by the seat of your pants, expect friction burns.
"I don't know" is the beginning of knowledge, not the end.
