Topic: Trouble Loading VLX

[Didge]

Has anybody ever encountered a situation where Acad reports to have successfully loaded a ".vlx" file but then reports "Unknown command" when any of the ".vlx" commands/functions are used ?

The software previously worked well, but for some unknowen reason it's now playing-up, no matter how the ".vlx" is loaded; sadly even reboots have no effect.   

The PC in question is a Compac laptop running WinXP.

[Jeff_M]

Dumb question but must be asked....was it loaded in the drawing that is trying to run it?

Does it call other, external, files that are not available on that PC?

[It's Alive!]

Another dumb question.. did you do a (vl-load-com) ?

[Didge]

Thanks for getting back Jeff, information is a touch sketchey because this colleague is located 250 miles away. Having said that however, She's very experienced and I've talked her through various debug scenarios over the telephone. Basically AutoCAD reports the files being "successfully loaded" but then returns "unknown command" at every use.

The software in question is a collection of 12 "vlx" files containing approx 160 commands and even more functions. Some commands reference external files (all available) others however are very basic and even these don't work.  Up until now they've all been working fine on this same pc, it doesn't appear to be "dwg" issue and a even re-install of Acad 2005 didn't fix the problem either.

I've scanned through a couple of forums including the Autodesk forums and although a few similar reports were posted there didn't appear to be any conclusive fixes.  The vl-load-com was the first thing I checked (thanks Daniel), now I'm left wondering whether it's possible for AutoCAD to start-up without loading it's lisp interpreter.

I've had difficulty running and even installing AutoCAD on Compacs before now so I'm beginning to suspect that it may be a hardware conflict, but I needed to check with the collective experiences here before passing on bad news.

I will check that she has the latest Service Pack installed tomorrow but to be honest I'm clutching at straws so any suggestions would be welcome.

[MP]

<reach> What happens after manually entering (princ) at the command line? Do any of the commands then 'magically' become available? </reach>

[JohnK]

...
now I'm left wondering whether it's possible for AutoCAD to start-up without loading it's lisp interpreter.
...

Sorta.

give this a whirl and see what you get: (vl-list-loaded-vlx)

<reach> What happens after manually entering (princ) at the command line? Do any of the commands then 'magically' become available? </reach>

*blink* *Se7en sits down* ok, you've got my attention now. *wonders what theories MP has up his sleeve*

[LE]

Has anybody ever encountered a situation where Acad reports to have successfully loaded a ".vlx" file but then reports "Unknown command" when any of the ".vlx" commands/functions are used ?

The software previously worked well, but for some unknowen reason it's now playing-up, no matter how the ".vlx" is loaded; sadly even reboots have no effect.   

The PC in question is a Compac laptop running WinXP.

Are other normal lisp working?
Are your vlx protected namespace? - remember if some of the import functions do not exist or available the next code below won't be loaded.
They work (on that site) on any other computer?

[Didge]

Sorry for the delay in responding, I've been pre-occupied with replacing ALL our CAD workstations with some well-deserved hardware.

Many thanks for your earlier suggestions, I passed these onto my colleague as follows:

I’ve gathered some advice from some very clever people on the internet (at least more clever than me) and they’ve suggested you try the following snippets.

1. Type  (vl-load-com)   at the command line and then try to load / run the software again.
2. Type  (vl-list-loaded-vlx)  at the command line and note the response.
3. What happens after manually entering (princ) at the command line, do any of the commands then 'magically' become available?

And here's her response.

Responses:

1. Unknown command
2. nil
3. Nothing at all.

Items 2 & 3 seem pretty much as expected but I've never experienced an "Unknown Command" response from a (vl-load-com). It seems to me that VL may need re-initialising, any ideas anyone?