Problem opening DWG files in QCAD.

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FergusB
Registered Member
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Aug 12, 2019 1:16 am

Problem opening DWG files in QCAD.

Post by FergusB » Mon Aug 12, 2019 1:28 am

OSX v10.14.6
QCAD Pro v3.23.0.0

I am a new user of QCAD Pro and am having some difficulty opening some DWG files which I thought were fairly simple drawings. The file appears to open OK and the layer list is presented but there is no drawing shown. This only happens in the case of a few files - most DWG files open OK. I'm attaching a problem file and would appreciate any assistance on this. Thanks!
Attachments
#394 Radio Battery Distribution.dwg
(90.21 KiB) Downloaded 498 times

CVH
Premier Member
Posts: 3418
Joined: Wed Sep 27, 2017 4:17 pm

Re: Problem opening DWG files in QCAD.

Post by CVH » Mon Aug 12, 2019 3:29 am

Your drawings details seems to sit inside blocks.
Qcad uses blocks as groups.
In the Model space there aren't any block refs so nothing shows.
In Layoutspace I see an A3 landscape with drawing entities.
And these are all part of the different layers.
This confuses me too.

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Husky
Moderator/Drawing Help/Testing
Posts: 4935
Joined: Wed May 11, 2011 9:25 am
Location: USA

Re: Problem opening DWG files in QCAD.

Post by Husky » Mon Aug 12, 2019 5:27 am

Hi FergusB - welcome to the QCAD forum,
FergusB wrote:
Mon Aug 12, 2019 1:28 am
This only happens in the case of a few files - most DWG files open OK. I'm attaching a problem file and would appreciate any assistance on this. Thanks!
QCAD expects dxf/dwg drawings based on the standard - this example drawing has nothing to do with a "standard" drawing. I can't say what messed this drawing up (an other CAD program, a dwg converter etc.) but it is difficult for QCAD to handle it.

1. the drawing should be on Model_Space but it is on Paper_Space
2. Blocks are not really blocks, it looks like a "puzzle" of entities ...
3. I have no proof but I've the feeling 3D played also a role ...

Howsoever - it is partly fixable. Open the edit mode for the paper_space, select everything and cut it into the clipboard. Make the Model_Space active and insert the content of the clipboard into the model_space. Save the drawing after every successful step - this drawing could crash QCAD. Next, try just in case, to flatten the drawing to 2D: Menu/Misc/Modify/Flatten Drawing to 2d. Then purge all unused layers and blocks: Menu/Modify/Purge unused layers and blocks.

The result should be something like this:
394 Radio Battery Distribution.dwg
(29.41 KiB) Downloaded 563 times

Addition note: Avoid file names with special characters like # (#394 Radio Battery Distribution.dwg). A few Operation systems have still problems with that :wink:
Work smart, not hard: QCad Pro
Win10/64, QcadPro, QcadCam version: Current.
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FergusB
Registered Member
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Aug 12, 2019 1:16 am

Re: Problem opening DWG files in QCAD.

Post by FergusB » Mon Aug 12, 2019 12:24 pm

Many thanks for the help. As these are fairly simple drawings, I can work with your fix. As they are 15 years old, it is quite possible that they may have been corrupted by another application over the years. Thanks again.

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