Troubleshoot Content Explorer

Autodesk Content Service is not installed

There are two components that help you locate your content. Content Explorer is the interface that allows you to browse and search watched folders. Autodesk Content Service is the service that indexes the files and enables the searching. When your first install your Autodesk program, Content Explorer feature is automatically included. At the same time, Autodesk Content Service is also installed, but since the service runs independently of Content Explorer, it shows up as a separate program on the Add and Remove programs list.

If you accidentally uninstall the service, the Content Explorer interface will no longer work in your Autodesk program. To solve the problem, reinstall Autodesk Content Service.

You are receiving a Cannot Perform Operation error in Content Explorer

If you receive an error in the Content Explorer window when trying to access a network content provider or Autodesk Seek, you may not be able to connect because your internet or network connection is lost or has been disrupted. Make sure that your connection is working.

If your connection is working, investigate these possibilities.

• You might not be able to connect due to a DNS error. You can verify if this is the problem by trying to connect to the network computer using Windows Explorer (for example, try connecting to \\COMPUTERNAME). If you cannot connect in this way, then there might be a permissions, DNS, or network problem in general. Always make sure that you can access the network computer using Windows Explorer first, because if you cannot access the network computer using Windows Explorer, you will not be able to access the network computer with Content Explorer either.
• Autodesk Content Service may have stopped running. Check to make sure that it is still running in Windows Services, and that the startup type is Automatic.
• When trying to connect to a network computer, you may encounter firewall issues. When installed, an inbound rule is created for the Windows Firewall that enables Autodesk Content Service on port 50248 using TCP protocol (this applies to the Domain and Private profiles). You can check these settings in the list of Inbound Rules for Windows Firewall.

  On Windows 7

  1. Enter Windows Firewall Advanced Security in the Search box on the Windows Start menu.
  2. When the Windows Firewall window opens, click Inbound Rules in the left pane, and then locate Autodesk Content Service in the list of inbound rules.
  3. Right-click Autodesk Content Service and select Properties.
  4. Select the Advanced tab.
  5. Select the Protocols and Ports tab to see the settings for Autodesk Content Service.

     Make sure that the Autodesk Content Service is on port 50248 and is using TCP protocol.

  On Windows XP

  1. Choose Start > Settings > Control Panel > Windows Firewall.
  2. Click the Exceptions tab.
  3. Select Autodesk Content Service and click Edit.

     Make sure that the Autodesk Content Service is on port 50248 and is using TCP protocol.

You cannot open or insert a file from a network computer in Content Explorer

Autodesk Content Service runs as a local system on the computer where it is installed. It indexes any files that it has access to within the specified watched folders. Searching is based on the permissions of the local system, even if you are searching from a remote client.

When searching, any user can see any of the files that are indexed. If a user cannot open and insert these files, check that the Windows permissions for those files allow local system access.

Indexing process is producing errors

There are various reasons why the indexing process might encounter an issue. If you suspect that there were issues when watched folders were being indexed, open the Configuration Console. In the Console, you can view indexing statistics and read an associated log file.

Text and objects within an AutoCAD xref are not searchable

If your files contain external references, the text and objects within those references will not be extracted for the parent file. Therefore, text and objects within an xref will not be searchable within the content of the parent file.

You cannot find the Plug-ins tab on the AutoCAD ribbon, or Content Explorer is not on the Plug-ins tab

If the Plug-ins tab does not show up on the ribbon or the Explorer button does not show up on the Plug-ins tab of the ribbon, one reason might be that Content Explorer is not loaded as an add-in.

1. On the AutoCAD command line, type CUILOAD.
2. If CONTENTEXPLORER is in the list, click Unload to unload it.
3. Browse for the contentexplorer.cuix file and select it.
4. Click Load.

AutoCAD Sheet Set Manager dialog box opens every time you open a file in Content Explorer

If the Sheet Set Manager dialog box opens every time you open a file in Content Explorer, it is because of the SSMAUTOOPEN system variable. Change the setting to suppress the dialog box. Refer to SSMAUTOOPEN for more information.

There is no ribbon access in AutoCAD ecscad for Content Explorer

AutoCAD ecscad does not support the ribbon interface. Use the following commands to open and close the Content Explorer window.

• To open Content Explorer, enter CONTENTEXPLORER on the command line.
• To close Content Explorer, enter CONTENTEXPLORERCLOSE on the command line.