Listing
Application Questions
- When I use a VisionFM command on an asset or polyline in my AutoCAD drawing I receive an "Error 255".
- I launch AutoCAD from inside VisionFM but the VisionFM pull-down list in the CAD menu is missing. How do I reactivate the menu?
- The icons in my VisionFM toolbars have changed to ?'s
Application Answers
1. When I use a VisionFM command on an asset or polyline in my AutoCAD drawing I receive an "Error 255".
Error 255 means that the VisionFM command in AutoCAD cannot find the corresponding information in the database. It could be that the asset, room or floor was deleted in the database, but the more common reason is that the drawings have been moved. VisionFM uses the drawing path to help locate information in the database, if the drawings have been moved VisionFM assumes you are working on a different drawing. From the Tools pull-down menu click on Tables. A list of all tables in the database will be displayed. Find the table titled "Drawing Path" and double click on it to open the table. A list of drawing paths will be displayed. Located the drawing you are working on and compare the current path of the drawing to what is recorded in VisionFM. If the drawing path was incorrect you will probably find two drawings in the drawing path list with the same name but different paths. Beside the drawing path is a field called 'Last Handle'. One of the drawings will have a last handle of 1 and the other will have a last handle greater than 1. VisionFM created the new drawing path with a last handle of 1 when you ran a command in AutoCAD, this row will have the current path to the drawing. Delete this row (last handle = 1) and fix the drawing path in the correct row (last handle <1). If the drawing path is incorrect press the space bar to edit the drawing path.
2. I launch AutoCAD from inside VisionFM but the VisionFM pull-down list in the CAD menu is missing. How do I reactivate the menu?
AutoCAD saves the user information in the Registry under 'local user' instead of 'local machine', which means that if you log into your computer as another user AutoCAD will revert back to the default menu structure for that users. Another possibility is that AutoCAD has been reinstalled. In either case, the following will reload the VisionFM pull-down command list.
Launch AutoCAD from inside VisionFM. In the command prompt at the bottom of the screen type the command "menuload" and press return. The following screen will be displayed.
ACAD should be the only menu showing. Press the Browse button to locate the VisionFM menu file.
In the Browse screen first select the directory "Design" under your AutoCAD directory. This was installed when you installed VisionFM. Second, in the "Files of type" field pick on the pull-down arrow and select "Menu Template (*.mnu)". The menu file VisionFM.mnu will display in the center of the screen, click on it to add it to the "File name" field. Click the "Open" button to complete the selection.
VisionFM is now added to the list of Menu Groups and the path is in the File Name field. Click on the "Load" button. A message box will be displayed, click OK.
Click on the "Menu Bar" tab at the top of the dialogue box. In the "Menu Group" field pick on the pull-down list and select "VisionFM". VisionFM will appear in the Menus list. On the right hand side of the dialogue box is a list of default AutoCAD pull-down menus. Pick a Menu Bar name to insert VisionFM's menu in front of (default is "Insert" pull-down list), then click on the "Insert" button. VisionFM will be added to the Menu Bar list. Click the "Close" button to complete the selection.
One more step. AutoCAD needs to know the location of VisionFM's commands that are started in the VisionFM pull-down list. From the "Tools" pull-down menu select "Options" (in AutoCAD 14 it is "Options" pull-down and "Preferences" command). A dialogue box will display with the "File" tab already selected. The first item in the list of Search paths is "Support File Search Path", click on this to expand the list. Click on the "Add" button and a blank row will appear at the bottom of the list. In the blank row type in the location of the "Design" menu in your AutoCAD directory, or click on the "Browse" button and search for the path.
The Design search path needs to be at the top of the list. Click on the new Design path you just added then click the "Move Up" button until the Design path is at the top.
Click the "Apply" button and close the window. Restart AutoCAD.
3. The icons in my VisionFM toolbars have changed to ?'s.
The AutoCAD menu file is not properly loading the VisionFM toolbars. To resolve this you have to force AutoCAD to rebuild the menu files by deleting the existing files. In your AutoCAD directory you will find a "design" folder (ie. c:\Program Files\AutoCAD\Design), delete the following 3 files; visionfm.mnc visionfm.mnr and visionfm.mns. Then restart AutoCAD. The menu files will automatically be recreated.
