Version Conflict

[timsea81]

I just put AutoCAD MEP 2010 on my computer. Not everyone in the office is going to upgrade (most use vanilla CAD), and I'm trying to figure out how to resolve the issues with the different file formats.

If I open a drawing in AutoCAD MEP 2010 and then save it to the 2004 file format, then open the drawing in AutoCAD MEP 2008, I get a fatal error and 2008 shuts down.

When I save a drawing to an older file format, I get the pop-up shown on the attached screenshot. I tried setting proxygraphics to 1 and it did not help. I do not understand the enablers option. I went to the website it lists but it's not really clear which one I need.

My main question is though, if I save to a 2004 file format, why can't I open it in 2008? This happens even with a blank drawing.

[timsea81]

screenshot attached

[Jay Zallan]

I do feel your pain and wish I could help but that's a programmer/developer issue: IMHO there should either be A) No way to save to older versions or B) The feature should work correctly, as intended.

That said I hope you know that there is so much lost and/or destroyed when saving ACAD based files backwards that this has never been a recommended practice, as a rule. I do recall that the only (supposed) recommended practice was to export to ACAD, thus losing the 3D objects (Yuk).

If you posted a service request directly to ADSK then you'll probably see a hotfix or the like...

[david_peterson]

Well 2004, 2008, and 2010 are all different file formats.
I believe a lot of it has to do with what they did to the .net framework. I'm not sure though as I'm not a programmer.
Also the way in which objects get created and handled is different, hence the warning and loss of data (intelligence).
I'll just say that first off you should be happy you can save back. If this were Revit, you wouldn't even have that option.
I think this issue is that you should be saving to a 2008 file format. Saving to an unsupported version will usually get you garbage anyway.

[timsea81]

I'll just say that first off you should be happy you can save back. If this were Revit, you wouldn't even have that option.
I think this issue is that you should be saving to a 2008 file format. Saving to an unsupported version will usually get you garbage anyway.

But I can't save back any more. There was never a problem with this in older versions. I can save to the 2000 file format from MEP 2008 and open it up in regular Autocad 2000 just fine. The intelligent blocks disappear, but that is the issue of going from MEP to regular AutoCAD. This on the other hand is an issue with the file formats that has not been present with any previous versions

It's a big problem, because drawings created in older version (every job that's in house right now) is saved in 2004 format, and I can't work on these drawings in 2010 without making a permanent conversion to the 2010 file format that cannot be reversed, and if we start a new project using 2010 no one without the upgrade can open the files, including outside consultants that we can't force to update.

My questions about this are:
1- Is something not set up right and is there something I can do to fix this?
2- Is it a glitch that will be fixed in the future or is there something inherently different about the new 2010 file format that breaks back-compatibility?
3- What are other people doing to work around the problem? Are our only options to either save our old drawings to the new format or to use separate software for the old jobs?

Exporting to AutoCAD avoids the crash but also flattens the ductwork, so it's not a viable option for in-house use, although if it is the case that the new file format is simply not capable of saving to older formats and we all get the update in our office, it would work for emailing drawings to clients.

[timsea81]

I think this issue is that you should be saving to a 2008 file format. Saving to an unsupported version will usually get you garbage anyway.

2008 crashes while opening .dwg files in either 2004 or 2007 format that have been saved as such in 2010. This has to be a glitch. Why would the option to save in an older format be in the program if it doesn't work?

[timsea81]

http://discussion.autodesk.com/forum...79016&#6179016
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet...linkID=9240937

Okay I think I have it figured out:

Only Autocad MEP 2008 crashes when opening the file, regular Autocad 2008 does not. Autocad objects are back-compatible, whereas MEP objects are not. When you save a drawing in MEP 2010 as a 2004 file format, the MEP objects remain in their 2010 compatible state. When a drawing made in MEP 2008 is opened and saved by 2010 it's MEP elements are converted to the new version, and from that point forward it cannot be opened in MEP 2008 but it interacts with vanilla cad the same way it did before.

This means we will have to update in house all at the same time, but only the people who use the MEP software. For us that means the mechanical department will have to update all at once. Project managers, the electrical department, and outside consultants can continue to use vanilla cad from whatever year they want.