Performance Degradation

Recently, while doing some research for a technical support case at Ideate, I came across this article on the Autodesk Knowledge Network (AKN), “Civil 3D Performance Degradation.” Posted back in October, this article provides a fix for performance-based issues occurring across multiple users in an organization.

Per the article, some of the issues addressed are long wait times when opening files, long lags during the PURGE and AUDIT commands, and additional lags with dialog boxes appearing and plotting. The issue affects both AutoCAD and AutoCAD Civil 3D, from the 2014-2017 releases. If you’re encountering any of these issues, I strongly encourage you to check the article out.

The solution is straight forward and involves replacing the existing AECCNETWORK.dbx file with the new one provided by Autodesk.

Here are some additional things to note:

1. You will need Administrative rights for the system to complete the process.
2. Applications must be closed before applying the update.
3. The update needs to be implemented on each user’s machine, at once.
4. The performance problem will recur if an unpatched version of Civil 3D is used to open a file.
5. The performance problem is fixed at the time a drawing file is saved in the updated version of Civil 3D, not when the .dbx file is replaced.
6. The first time a user opens a file, the update will not be evident.
7. Performance will greatly improve after the first save.
8. External references need to be resaved to see the benefit of the update.

Items 3-5 are very important to remember. If the fix is not applied to each user’s machine and an unpatched version of Civil 3D opens the file, the performance problem will recur. With that in mind, I want to reiterate, the fix should be applied to each machine at once, rather than as needed. All files, including XREFs, will also need to be opened and saved before there is a noticeable change in performance.

If you have been running into company-wide performance issues, this very well could be the solution you need.

Thank you for reading. For more information on the software solutions, training, and consulting Ideate provides, visit our website at www.ideateinc.com.

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Matt Miyamoto

ENI Manager & Senior Application Specialist

Matt is an ENI Manager and Senior Application Specialist in Ideate, Inc.’s Seattle office. He has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and is a licensed Civil Engineer. Prior to joining Ideate, Matt worked as a civil engineer, using Civil 3D on a variety of projects including site development, roadway improvements and infrastructure design. With over 10 years of experience in the civil engineering industry, Matt now provides training, consulting, technical support, and implementation strategies for organizations transitioning to Civil 3D. Matt is an Autodesk Certified Instructor (ACI), as well as an Autodesk Certified BIM Specialist: Roads and Highway Solutions. Additionally, Matt is and Autodesk Certified Professional for AutoCAD, and AutoCAD Civil 3D. He can be found on twitter as @MattM_PE

AutoCAD 2017 Hotfix 1

Here at Ideate, we pride ourselves on being proactive in keeping our customers informed of Autodesk product service packs and hotfixes. Yesterday, the Autodesk AutoCAD Product Team released Hotfix 1 for AutoCAD 2017. Per the Readme file, Hotfix 1 addresses the following issues:

• Layers of Xrefs that are frozen in viewports are plotting ellipses.
• In some languages the model documentation commands are not working.
• The number of hits for GetLineContainment is incorrectly counted.
• Xrefs show as needing reloading when opened from a network path to a  shared folder.

The easiest way for you to download and install Hotfix 1 is via the new Autodesk Desktop App. If the new Autodesk Desktop App didn’t display a notification in your system tray, go to the Windows start button→All Programs→Autodesk→Autodesk Desktop App.

The Autodesk Desktop App replaces the older Autodesk Application Manager upon installing AutoCAD 2017. It is subscription aware and notifies you of service packs, updates, hotfixes, extensions, and learning content for your installed 2015-2017 products. You can categorize your updates for each product by selecting the product icon on the left Navigation Bar. Unfortunately, unlike the old Application Manager, you’re currently unable to tell the App to ignore undesired extensions.

Thank you for reading. For more information on other Autodesk products, and information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services, visit our website at www.ideateinc.com.

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Daniel Armstrong

ENI Application Specialist 

Daniel is an Application Specialist for Infrastructure Solutions at the Ideate Sacramento office. He is a California licensed Civil Engineer and LSIT with over 9 years land development design experience and 7 years Civil–GIS software consulting. Additionally, he provided 6 years of engineering support at a municipal public works department. At Ideate, Daniel assists Civil Engineering and Surveying firms in maximizing their utilization of AutoCAD Civil 3D through consulting, training, mentoring, and technical support. He conducts standard classroom and custom training on AutoCAD, Map 3D, and Civil 3D.

AutoCAD 2015 Service Pack 2 Hotfix

There is a hotfix for Service Pack 2 for AutoCAD.  If you are having an issue with your AutoCAD freezing, closing abruptly, font or the layout tab, Service Pack 2 may be the problem.  I recently had a case while on tech support at Ideate where a customer’s AutoCAD software was closing abruptly.  We eventually escalated the case to Autodesk.   Autodesk informed us that there is a hotfix for Service Pack 2.

When SP2 (Service Pack 2) was first released, Autodesk found that 2 .DLL files in AutoCAD had been changed by the Service Pack, causing them to malfunction. In some computers, this caused several different issues, from text warping to the program hanging, and even layout tabs moving around of their own volition.

Below are links to the websites where you can download the new versions of the malfunctioning .DLL files.

There are instructions in the readme files, but essentially it involves renaming the two old files to .BAK, then downloading and unzipping the new files and dropping them into the C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2015 directory, then restarting AutoCAD.

Replacing the two .DLL files should restore your system to normal operation.

Autodesk / AutoCAD Hotfix 1

Autodesk / AutoCAD Hotfix 2

Visit us for additional information on upcoming Ideate training and events!

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Kate Ming, P.E.
Ideate AEC Application Specialist

Kate is a California licensed civil engineer with a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley. Prior to Ideate, she worked at a multinational company for four years doing general civil design on large infrastructure projects. She is versed in roadway, rail, utility design and site development. She also has experience with utility demand analysis and Low Impact Development plans. As a Civil 3D Autodesk Certified Professional Kate provides training and support for Civil 3D, AutoCAD, and InfraWorks.