New Forum topic - NOT working in Plotmaker!

[Anonymous]

I'm working on a solo project with multiple views all imported into a single layout book. When (in PM) I go to "drawing usage" my recently saved views all display as "modified", so I click on "Update All", they go through the "To be updated - Updating" phase, then show as Modified again (instead of "O.K."). They appear to display the updated views. Of course when I try to print I get the " problems with drawing usage" error message. This layout book has been fine until just now.
Any ideas please?

[__archiben]

s2art wrote:
I'm working on a solo project with multiple views all imported into a single layout book. When (in PM) I go to "drawing usage" my recently saved views all display as "modified", so I click on "Update All", they go through the "To be updated - Updating" phase, then show as Modified again (instead of "O.K."). They appear to display the updated views. Of course when I try to print I get the " problems with drawing usage" error message. This layout book has been fine until just now.
Any ideas please?

did you press save in archiCAD whilst plotmaker was performing the update? the general principle is that a drawing/view is given a 'modified' status if the file that contains it has been saved/modified since plotmaker last checked . . . if you haven't pressed save i would suggest that your system (or a utility that you're using) has modified the file in some way automatically.

plotmaker itself wouldn't be to blame since it duplicates the original file and performs the update on the duplicate (at least it does on a mac), leaving the original free for use by archiCAD . . .

not much help i'm afraid...
~/archiben

[Anonymous]

~/archiben wrote:
did you press save in archiCAD whilst plotmaker was performing the update?
~/archiben

Nope. Saved the PLN, waited for cursor to come back indicating it had finished saving. Went to PM. Updated. Didn't work so went through process again just in case. Same result.
Just tried again, with further revisions. The views are updating but still displaying as modified.
Further Update: Closed ArchiCAD, closed Plotmaker. Opened Plotmaker again, selected LBK, clicked on "update all" in PM startup, STILL showing all views as modified after it modifies them!
Going home now, cold beer in fridge.....

[__archiben]

s2art wrote:
The views are updating but still displaying as modified.

so the file is being modified during the update process . . . not necessarily by archiCAD or plotmaker. do you have something similar to this 'get info' command on the mac . . . try noting the date and time of the last save and whether or not this has changed following your update . . .

~/archiben

[Anonymous]

The only thing I know of, ~/archiben, is the details list in windows explorer, but....(fanfare)...

The next day...Opened PLN in ArchiCAD, opened LBK in PM, said to update all files.....Drawing Usage shows all O.K.!

So, experiment, draw a new line in PLN and save, update in LBK.....all O.K. No error message when printing.

Crisis averted it seems. Thanks for your input Ben.

[Anonymous]

Problem recurred: drawings show as modified in drawing usage after updating.
Shut down, restarted, all appears o.k.
Below is error message and drawing usage after updating (before shutting down). Error message has always occurred but doesn't seem to actually effect anything.
I am not doing anything any different to the way I normally work, so can't understand why this is happening.

[__archiben]

s2art wrote:
Problem recurred: drawings show as modified in drawing usage after updating.
Shut down, restarted, all appears o.k.
Below is error message and drawing usage after updating (before shutting down). Error message has always occurred but doesn't seem to actually effect anything.
I am not doing anything any different to the way I normally work, so can't understand why this is happening.

it's no great shakes though really, is it? that the drawing/views are showing as 'modified' kinda means nothing anyway due to the clumsy way that graphisoft have implemented the whole 'feature' anyway.

but have you checked the "modified" time-stamp both before and after an update like i suggested? it will at least tell you whether plotmaker is at fault, or you have another app messing with the archiCAD file independently to the whole process (backup software, etc . . . ?)

~/archiben

[Anonymous]

EUREKA

I have found the problem.

Our server (bless its little cotton socks) can't tell the time! It thinks it is currently 12:59 (it is actually 12:25). We reset it occasionally but our firewall prevents it from hooking onto an external clock, apparently, and it gradually speeds up.
If I change the time locally on my PC to the correct time, this seems to be when the problem occurs.
I save the PLN to the server, server thinks it is 12:59.
LBK must read the time off my clock, saying it is only 12:25 so thinks there is a more recently saved PLN file.
If I don't change my clock locally there is no problem. It all makes perfect sense.
Thanks Ben for your time and perserverance, you got me thinking in the right direction, even if my low-tech brain wasn't grasping exactly what you were suggesting.