Unable to reduce bloated file size in version 2002

[Doug-In]

Esteemed colleagues,

Our AutoCAD version 2002 files are inexplicably huge in size and I have tried everything to get them reduced to normal:

-purge all
-wblock
-dxfout
-recover

Nothing works!

I can literally take a drawing, delete everything, perform all of the above and still have a 4 MB file.

When I do an audit, I get no errors, but on pass 3 it will scan 32000+ objects even though the drawing is empty!

I have discovered the DCNPurge or Hotfix but as far as I can tell, that is for versions 2013 & 2014 - NOT 2002 which we are running.

Can anybody shed some light? If so, I owe you a lunch.

Regards,

Doug I.
Upstate NY

[dgorsman]

Although those DGN linetype fixes are for later versions, the problem doesn't go away when a drawing file is downsaved to an earlier version. If you don't have access to a newer version of AutoCAD you might try using the latest release of DWG Trueview. The file version conversion tool includes a few extras like audit and purge which might clean those up. Otherwise you might have to put together a LISP yourself to simulate the same process.

There's a couple of other things which may be present which are more or less difficult to track down (blocks like "AF" or "AF-STD" which only have an invisible attribute). Not all objects are entities; some are actually data "objects" attached at to the drawing itself and have no graphic presence (ProSteel data can be really bad for this).

If you can post one of these stripped down drawings someone may be able to assist.

[Doug-In]

I can't upload even an EMPTY file because they exceed the 2 MB limit for this forum. These empty files are about double that.

DWG Trueview's file conversion utility did not help any either (v 2017).

I would be happy to write a LISP routine to fix this - but I cannot find any commands to do the job!

The block names you mentioned are not present in this drawing.

I can send you the file if you are willing to take a look.

Thanks!

Doug I.

[rkmcswain]

ZIP the file and upload to some service like BOX, DropBox, Autodesk 360, etc.
Then someone will find the problem.

[Doug-In]

Here is the windows 7 archived file - perhaps this will work.

[rkmcswain]

You need to remove the 32,581 layer filters in this drawing.
I did this, and the file size went to ~350k

[Doug-In]

Wow - that's it - good catch.

What is the most efficient way to delete them all?

I tried a couple LISP routines I found online, but got errors, presumably because I am in 2002.

Thanks!



You need to remove the 32,581 layer filters in this drawing.
I did this, and the file size went to ~350k

[rkmcswain]

Run the FILTERS command.
Click the Delete Filters button.
Done.

[Doug-In]

I tried that before I asked, and I get 'Unknown Command "FILTERS".

Not sure why that is, any ideas?

Thanks,

[rkmcswain]

Oops, sorry. I just went back and saw... you're running 2002?

I'm not sure then.

Maybe one at a time, from the layer property manager dialog?

Maybe this?
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-2000-2000i-2002-archive/how-to-purge-named-layer-filters/td-p/190496

[Doug-In]

Yeah, deleting over 32000 one click at a time makes for a long tedious day!

The visual basic routine from the link you provided worked perfectly!! 3000k down to 29k, wow.

Thank you so much. You get the free lunch - if you're ever in Upstate NY, let me know!

VB in AutoCAD - I did not know that was an option - new frontier to explore.





Oops, sorry. I just went back and saw... you're running 2002?

I'm not sure then.

Maybe one at a time, from the layer property manager dialog?

Maybe this?
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-2000-2000i-2002-archive/how-to-purge-named-layer-filters/td-p/190496

[rkmcswain]

Glad to hear you found a remedy.

Cheers!