VLX files not loading

[ColinHolloway]

Hi All,

 

I am having a frustrating issue where VLX files are not loading. AutoCAD will run any LSP files I load, but when I try to load VLX files (that run perfectly on 160 other CAD machine), it just returns nil.

 

This also occurs when I drag and drop a working VLX into AutCAD. The machines affected are at a remote office, all have the same group policy, and all exhibit the same symptoms. The VLX files are deployed from a central server and are run from the local C drive. All Support Paths are correct (the profile used is common across all machines) and I have confirmed that the files are being copied correctly.

 

I have investigated the antivirus software and cannot see any references to AutoCAD VLX files.

 

Are there any settings in AutoCAD that do not allow VLX files to be loaded?

 

Any help appreciated as I need to get these machines online soon.

 

Thanks in advance,

Colin Holloway

Sedgman Limited

[SLW210]

Do you have the source code? Sounds like a path problem, probably something in the code.

[BlackBox]

I am having a frustrating issue where VLX files are not loading. AutoCAD will run any LSP files I load, but when I try to load VLX files (that run perfectly on 160 other CAD machine), it just returns nil.

 

This also occurs when I drag and drop a working VLX into AutCAD. The machines affected are at a remote office, all have the same group policy, and all exhibit the same symptoms. The VLX files are deployed from a central server and are run from the local C drive. All Support Paths are correct (the profile used is common across all machines) and I have confirmed that the files are being copied correctly.

 

I have investigated the antivirus software and cannot see any references to AutoCAD VLX files.

 

Are there any settings in AutoCAD that do not allow VLX files to be loaded?

 

Any help appreciated as I need to get these machines online soon.

 

Disregard Antivirus software, as .LSP, .FAS, and .VLX are native, supported AutoCAD code file extensions... Even Express Tools uses these. To blanket 'block' the extensions would negatively impact OOTB files. VLX requires no settings to work, again it's a native code file format.

 

I'll 2nd SLW's suspected cause... It appears that all machines in your remote office (if I am understanding you correctly) are suffering the same issue, thus despite common Profile with the main office machines, there's clearly a local, seemingly hard-coded path that is not being found if the code files works for the latter, but not the former.

 

 

 

As an aside regarding antivirus... I submitted an 'Antivirus for AutoCAD' plug-in to Autodesk Exchange, and following a ridiculous delay in review on the part of Autodesk, they finally came back to inform me that they didn't like my calling it 'Antivirus' because it suggests that their new AutoCAD 2013 SP1-AutoCAD 2014 'Security Protocol' is somehow insufficient (and it is, as I've critically pointed out in the Beta forums, and politely so here)... I agreed to rename it 'Blacklist for AutoCAD' and am in the process of updating the plug-in accordingly.

 

An issue however, is that they also required that I integrate an automatic 'Virus [blacklist] Definition' update, pulling data from some 'master Virus Definition List' that doesn't exist to be maintained by me, and hosted on my website, and to be implemented on user computers entirely without user interaction... The way the plug-in works now, is that there's a user-defined XML file, so the user can control what they want to Blacklist, and what they don't.

 

For example, my office does not use compiled code, so for the past year I've Blacklisted all Acad.fas, Acad.vlx, AcadDoc.fas, and AcadDoc.vlx, whereas some offices like yours _do_ use compiled code... And I don't think it's a good idea to universally Blacklist user-defined files that are built into AutoCAD's automatic startup/load sequence.

 

Despite my argument for why the user should remain in control, and the malicious code files exploit the built in mechanism, they again insisted that I disallow user interaction, blocking all automatic loading code files... I told them that was the stupidest request I had ever heard in my life, and refused to work with Autodesk Exchange on this plug-in if they required that of me... I escalated the issue, and am still awaiting a 'formal' response.