Error while opening older .SCH-Files with Altium- Designer 6

[Nicolas Nickisch]

Hi NG,
I 've got her older Altium Designer-SCH Files (file date from 6/20006) which
were designed with a Designer-Version prior to 6.6.

These files can't be opened because the raise an error saying "invalid
pointer at .... open object".
Is this a known issue ? What can I do ?

Grettings Nico

 

[James Beck]

In article <457114a1$0$5710$9b4e6d93@newsspool3.arcor-online.net>,
n.nickisch@gmx.de says...

Hi NG,
I 've got her older Altium Designer-SCH Files (file date from 6/20006) which
were designed with a Designer-Version prior to 6.6.

These files can't be opened because the raise an error saying "invalid
pointer at .... open object".
Is this a known issue ? What can I do ?

Grettings Nico

I would, drum roll please,....... call Altium.
With the kinda' bucks they charge, they should be able to at least
listen to your problem, actually doing something about it, well.......

Jim

 

[Geoff Harland]

James Beck wrote:

Nicolas Nickisch wrote:
Hi NG,
I 've got her older Altium Designer-SCH Files (file date from 6/20006)
which were designed with a Designer-Version prior to 6.6.

These files can't be opened because the raise an error saying "invalid
pointer at .... open object".
Is this a known issue ? What can I do ?

Grettings Nico

I would, drum roll please,....... call Altium.
With the kinda' bucks they charge, they should be able to at least
listen to your problem, actually doing something about it, well.......

Jim

Is it just *some* schematic files which are problematic, or *all* schematic
files (which were created before the most recent SP was installed)? If some
files can be reopened without problems, it is less likely to be some type of
bug, and more likely that the files which can't be reopened have been
corrupted in some manner.

If you actually do have problems with *all* schematic files though,
something you could possibly try is uninstalling service packs until you are
once again able to reopen them. Note that it is very important that you
uninstall the SPs in the reverse sequence to which they were installed; i.e.
uninstall SP6 first, then SP5, etc. (If you still encounter problems, you
might even need to uninstall *all* of the SPs *and* AD6, before subsequently
reinstalling AD6, and then each of the SPs in turn.)

And if you are eventually able to reopen those files, you should then try
saving copies of them in ASCII format as well (if it is actually still
possible to do that). If there really is an issue which can prevent binary
format schematic files from being reopened (in the most recent version(s)),
then hopefully it doesn't similarly afflict ASCII format schematic files as
well. (While a Ph.D. in semiotics could arguably be necessary to fully
comprehend ASCII format schematic files, there is still something to be said
for saving copies of schematic files in that format (as well), to provide
some insurance against binary format files going "belly up" and/or the
format of such files changing between different SPs.)

I have no idea whether there really is an issue with reopening schematic
files after installing SP6 (as I don't have a copy of AD6 myself), but given
Altium's past form, it's certainly not out of the question. In relatively
recent times I designed a PCB using Protel 99 SE, and I then wanted to
create printouts from the associated PCB file. Some of the MultiLayer pads
were of a non-Simple nature (i.e. they had different diameters on their Top,
Mid, and Bottom layers), but a bug in Protel 99 SE's PCB Print server
resulted in every printout which I created depicting the properties of those
pads on their Mid layer (and never their properties on their Top or Bottom
layers instead). In order to create satisfactory printouts, I then tried
opening that PCB file in AD 2004 instead. And when I did so, some of the
Design Rules were successfully updated from the Protel 99 SE format to the
post-Protel 99 SE (query-specified) format, ... but some of them *didn't*.

It's one thing to experience problems when you are trying to (re)save a file
in an earlier version (which might not provide as much functionality as the
version you are currently using), or trying to import a file created by a
totally different application (which probably provides a different set of
functionality), but you should never experience problems when you (re)open a
file using a more recent version (which should always provide a superset of
the previously provided functionality). However, ... that is far from the
only instance of problems in that regard.

It is a regrettable aspect of Altium Designer (and its preceding versions,
such as DXP, Protel 99 SE, etc) that it can often bring to mind what Mahatma
Gandhi reputably said after being asked what he thought of Western
civilization: "I think it would be a good idea."

Regards,
Geoff Harland.
g_harland@optum12net.cos.au
(Transpose m & s in address
provided - then also remove
cuberoot of 10^3 + 9^3 - 1^3.)