STEP Option available in evaluation version?

[Bryan_W]

Hi,
Subject line says it all, I downloaded the 2.3.1 demo and there is a STEP dll in the plugin directory but .stp is not available as an import/export option. Did I have an install problem, or is this feature disabled in the eval version?

Thanks in advance,
Bryan

[admin]

Bryan,
STEP is available in eval version like any other format.
Which formats do you see on the Start page when you load the application ? And which formats do you see when opening Import or Export dialog boxes ?
Thanks,
Roman

[Bryan_W]

Bryan,
STEP is available in eval version like any other format.
Which formats do you see on the Start page when you load the application ? And which formats do you see when opening Import or Export dialog boxes ?
Thanks,
Roman

Hi Roman,
Thanks for the reply.
On the start page the installed plugins list shows - ACIS, BRep, IGES, Parasolid, STL, VRML, and X3D. (VRML and X3D available for export only)
The export dialog box shows the same list.
The import dialog box (apparently correctly) shows the same list minus VRML and X3D.
Also, (not that you asked) the programs' plugin directory contains 12 dll files.

Thanks again,
Bryan

[admin]

Hi Bryan,
Thanks for further details.
Apparently you have STEPPlugin.dll in the ./bin/plugins subdirectory, right ? And you use version 2.3.1, don't you (check About box) ?
If so then the only reason is that CAD Exchanger has some conflict when trying to load this .dll into memory. And the root-cause is some conflict on the machine you are using (though I can't have an idea what it could be given that other dlls are successfully loaded ).
A couple of hints:
1. Try installing CAD Exchanger 32bit or 64 bit version on another machine.
2. Try to use Dependency Walker tool (http://www.dependencywalker.com) to open STEPPlugin.dll to check dll conflict. Prior to that copy STEPPlugin.dll into the parent directory ./bin. You might need to either enforce administrative privileges for that (if you install into C:/Program Files) or just install CAD Exchanger into some user directory (e.g. inside My Documents).

This is the first time such an issue is reported, so it must really be something unusual. Please report what you will discover.

Hope it helps.
Roman

[Bryan_W]

Hi Roman,
Sorry for the delayed response. Other matters have kept me away from my computer.
This reply is going to be semi-brief because it's my second attempt and I'm not sure if it will fail to post like the first one.

Basically, what I've done since receiving your reply was to do your suggestions in reverse order - I first tried Dependency Walker on my computer, then tried to do a clean Cad Exchanger install on another computer.

The short version is that the install on another computer went fine and all formats were listed.

The longer version is that the reason I ended up trying another computer was that (having never used Dependency Walker before) I wasn't quite sure what I was looking at.
My (albeit, novice) analysis was that the STEPPlugin.dll was having problems because of tkxsbase.dll and that tkstep.dll had a different live checksum than the real one.

If (probably out of curiosity on your part) you'd like to solve what appears to be a random (and unusual) problem and are willing to help me interpret what DW is reporting, let me know and I give it a try. Otherwise, I'm thinking that I'll just try an uninstall and reinstall on my computer.

Thanks again for your time and help,
Bryan

[admin]

Hi Bryan,

Thanks for your persistence and time.
If you still have time, please just send to info at cadexchanger dot com a screenshot of the DW when trying to open STEPPlugin.dll and elaborate on "...because of tkxsbase.dll and that tkstep.dll had a different live checksum than the real one." Which "real one" and what is "checksum" in this context ?

Anyway, this really appears to be some rare specific issue which can be too specific to your environment other users won't encounter. So, if you do not feel comfortable, just move on to using a new installed and working version.

thanks again for sharing your experience,
Roman