Visio Files in PDMWorks

[automationbabe]

I have put a number of our Visio files in PDMWorks. I am unable to open some of the Visio files from PDMWorks. Visio will run and appear in the Task Manager Processes, but the file will not open.

I had not seen this when testing this out. Has anyone else seen this?

Will PDMWorks corrupt this type of file?

Any info is appreciated.

 

[Standing]

automationbabe,
We put some MS Visio 2000 files into the PDM on 5/03/2002. I opened the file by opening from the PDM without any problem. Make sure you have Visio32.exe on your hard drive. Also make sure that the file extensions were not renamed to something other than *.VSD
See Folder Options to see if VSD is linked to Visio.

Can you start Visio OK from the program directory "C:\Program Files\Visio\Visio32.exe"?


Bradley

 

[automationbabe]

Bradley -
All of that is running fine. It's picking random files to apply this to. I have two files that I've pulled from PDMWorks. One opens fine and the other does not. I'm not sure what could be happening.
automationbabe

 

[automationbabe]

Whatever is happening, it occurs when I check the file into the vault. The source file on my harddrive changes so I can't open it. Does PDMWorks "write" something to the file to make this happen?

 

[Standing]

automationbabe,
I do not know if PDM writes something to the file. What I would try, which I did for a SolidWorks file that I could not open out of the PDM and we had no other copy. I would try running your copy through EcoSqueeze. That would be worth a try anyway.

Bradley

 

[automationbabe]

Bradley -

Turns out PDMWorks writes info to the Custom Properties upon check-in (number, description, etc from PDMWorks mapped files). Deleting one or all of these properties allows me to open the file. It's not always able to reproduce though. VAR is working on it. Thanks for input though!

Dianna

 

[Standing]

Dianna,
This is very, very interesting. Please keep us informed.


Bradley

 

[automationbabe]

Well, this issue is now in the hands of SolidWorks. Must have happened with one of the releases or SP.

There is a quick fix in the meantime if this happens to you:

If you have Visio open and select a buggy file, Visio will terminate immediately. If you double-click the buggy file to open, or open the file from the vault, you’ll see Visio start up and nothing more. All cases leaves the process running in the Task Manager. End the process in the Task Manager.

Find the file. Right-click to access properties. Go to the Custom Tab. Select one of the properties and select the Remove button. This should let you open the file now. If not, repeat this process and delete all the properties.

If someone comes up with something cleaner and faster, let me know.

Dianna

 

[automationbabe]

Update -

SW will not address this issue. Suggested fix is to upgreade to Visio 2002 or better.

 

[Heckler]

Hmmmm - How does upgrading to Visio 2002 fix a PDMWorks file handling problem?

 

[Standing]

Dianna,
Thanks for the update.

Bradley

 

[automationbabe]

Not sure how it fixes it, but this problem doesn't occur (according to SW) with Visio 2002.