KB76726261: ArtiosCAD - A3D files fail to open or open slowly

Summary

In the ArtiosCAD Enterprise version, A3D files open slowly or fail to open.

Symptoms

When opening a large 3D file in ArtiosCAD Enterprise version (via the browser):

• The file fails to open.
• The preview pane displays the text 'initializing...' instead of an image.
• The preview pane displays the text 'failed to load document' instead of an image.
• Eventually a pop-up is displayed with the message: 'opening file xxx.A3D is not possible'.
• Mostly when the file fails to open in one work station, it also affects the other work stations (freezes, crashes).

Solution

A lot of 'Time out' issues are addressed in ArtiosCAD 12.1.1. Hence upgrading to ArtiosCAD Enterprise 12.1.1 or newer is the best solution.

Workaround

In case you cannot upgrade to ArtiosCAD 12.1.1 yet, there are some settings you can modify to improve the behavior.

1. Go to Options > Defaults > Shared Defaults:
   1. In the Startup defaults > 3D view mode, make the following settings:
      
      1. Switch off Graphics.
      2. Select 'default setting' for 'View options on open *.A3D'
      3. Select 'default setting' for 'View options on convert to 3D'
   2. In the Startup defaults > Autosave options, make the following settings:
      
      1. Increase the Autosave every: value by 10 minutes.
   3. In the Browser settings > General information:
      1. Unselect the 'Show document details and preview' option.

Apart from the Defaults settings, the hardware conditions of the clients and the server also have their influence. Check the system requirements carefully and take into account the number of Artios CAD Enterprise clients. The more the number of clients, the more powerful the server needs to be too.