CompuServe Thread

#ACAD R11C2 NETWORK BUG

6 messages in this thread
#34006From: Richard A VaterFeb 21, 1992 4:02 PM
Last week you found out as I said, that not all the temp files can not be directed or renamed in this version of Autocad. Three files remain in the drawing directory. This is not acceptable in a network enviornment. Is a fix available? And what is it? If no fix is known, is Autodesk aware of the problem? Is a R11c3 version release date known?
#34021From: Mike Sisk [Adesk]Feb 21, 1992 4:37 PM
The files in question are placer files; they are designed to grow as the drawing grows to ensure that you always have room to save your drawing. The inital release of R11 did not have these files and you could get into a situation where you could not save anything. Not a good situation to be in. What are your objections to this? We are aware that this method eats up disk space in a hurry but ~we felt that without them your drawing database would be compromised. -Mike
#34239From: Bill SakoFeb 22, 1992 11:32 PM
The objection is not related to disk space; on a network drive, there should be plenty. However, when more than one user is working on drawing files in the same directory, any files that have ANY possibility, no matter how remote, of having the same names is no good at all. Much more likely (and this, unfortunately, is from personal experience) is to have several people working in the same directory, and one of them somehow exits acad abnormally. (in this case, his machine locked up due to a memory conflict.) Knowing just enough about how acad works, he logged back onto the network, went to the project subdirectory, and typed "DEL *.AC$" Believe me, the possibility of running out of disk space is less likely, and also less damaging. Why not keep these "placer" files, or whatever, on the local disk (or at least allow for this configuration) and if the network drive fills, simply save the drawing on the local drive. Not all network installations are identical–many have individual copies of acad on each node, and use the server as only a repository for drawings. Temporary files have no business here, nor should they contribute to network traffic. When acad asks for the location of temporary files, it should redirect ALL temporary files to the specified destination. Please have this corrected if possible.
#34411From: Larry Beck [Windows TM]Feb 24, 1992 10:37 AM
Bill: No can do – the "spacer" files are the ones that assure you that you have enough room left to save your current drawing. You do want to be able to do that, dont you? <grin> Larry
#34442From: Mike Sisk [Adesk]Feb 24, 1992 12:57 PM
The whole idea of the "placer" (perhaps spacer files is the correct term) files to for them to reside where ever the drawing came from, be it net or local. You can get around this and relocate the files locally using the prototype drawing option. For example, start a new drawing and for a name give it something like this: c:\newdwg.dwg=h:\project\demo\olddwg.dwg. I know this isn't the solution to your problem but it is a work around. Thanx for your comments on the problem and I'll pass your suggestions along. -Mike
#34499From: Carl Bethea [Adesk]Feb 24, 1992 6:00 PM
Bill – We are considering adding options to a future release which will let you configure AutoCAD's file safety features, like the EXPERT system variable. Logic dictates that the spacer files reside in the same directory where the DWG came from, because that's where the DWG will go when you're finished or when the fatal error handler kicks in. Pardon me for being dense, but why don't you just explain to the people using the network what the problem is and ask them not to do that? Erasing files en masse from a file server doesn't sound too swift, if you follow my drift. Time for a little training in network etiquette, eh?