Use Autodesk® DWG Migration for Docs to upload project data to Autodesk Docs with efficiency.
The Autodesk DWG Migration for Docs app provides guidance throughout the whole data migration process including data integrity checks, fixes and uploading. It enables you to clean up data integrity issues so that the uploading process can complete successfully and efficiently.
To use this tool, the following prerequisites must be met:
For more information on how to use the tool, see To Migrate Files to Autodesk Docs Using Autodesk DWG Migration for Docs.
Autodesk DWG Migration for Docs will perform a data integrity check on the dataset that you have selected to upload and will identify different issues with the content if they are present. See the following sections for details on each issue type.
When Desktop Connector transfers files with references, it attempts to find all referenced files. If the migration is performed without fixing the missing references, Desktop Connector will show the following notification: ‘Failure gathering references. One or more referenced files may have been deleted or you may not have read permissions.’
This error indicates that the referenced files could not be found.
This is an issue because the missing references will not be uploaded to Autodesk Docs. This will result in broken links in the host drawings stored in Autodesk Docs.
How to fix this issue:
When Desktop Connector transfers host files with references, it evaluates the relative position of those references in relation to the host.
When the referenced files are not located in the same folder that is being migrated (or inside one of its subfolders), they are considered to be ‘related data’ and will not be uploaded together with the host file.
This is an issue because related data is considered to be outside of the migration set, so the affected files will be excluded from the migration and the paths to the referenced files will not be resolved inside the host file. This represents a data integrity issue and will result in broken references in the migrated dataset.
How to fix this issue:
You can select a target folder that represents the future state of the dataset in Autodesk Docs or create a new folder in which to store the referenced files.
Desktop Connector does not support file paths longer than 244 characters. For more information, see Docs - Long Path.
The following notification will be shown when attempting to upload a file into a Desktop Connector that exceeds the character limits: 'The operation would result in a path that is too long. The path must be no more than 244 characters.'
This is an issue because attempting to upload a file to a location that exceeds the character limits will cause a failed pending action and the file will not be uploaded.
How to fix this issue:
This type of issue is considered informative because it cannot be resolved within the Autodesk DWG Migration for Docs app. To resolve the issue:
If rearranging the folder structure is not sufficient to keep the path below the limit, consider choosing a shorter directory for the target Autodesk Docs location.
A sequence of nested references that refers back to itself is considered a circular reference. For example, if drawing A references drawing B, which references drawing C, which references drawing A, the reference sequence A>B>C>A is a circular reference.
This is an issue because circular references may result in problems when downloading and uploading documents through Desktop Connector and may also affect performance.
How to fix this issue:
This type of issue is considered informative because it cannot be resolved within the Autodesk DWG Migration for Docs app. It is recommended but not required to remove circular references if possible. To remove circular references:
In rare scenarios where datasets contain several source files with the same name stored locally in different paths, resolving the previous issue types (Missing References, Related Data) can generate a Duplicated File Name issue.
This occurs when two source files with the same name are selected to be stored in the same Autodesk Docs target location. The files with the same name can represent the exact same file, different versions of the same file or totally different files that happen to share the same name.
This is an issue because uploading two files with the same name to Desktop Connector will result in failed pending actions and/or unexpected file overwrites.
How to fix this issue:
Supported and unsupported file types are documented in the Supported Files topic.
Attempting to upload unsupported file types is an issue because it will cause a failed pending action in Desktop Connector.
This type of issue is considered informative because it does not require user input. The Autodesk DWG Migration for Docs app will exclude unsupported file types from the upload process.
When migrating a Civil 3D data shortcut project using Autodesk DWG Migration for Docs, the data reference (DREF) information in the host drawings will be automatically updated to point to the new paths in Autodesk Docs, but the information in the data shortcut .xml files will not be updated. This will not impact the data shortcut mechanism as long as the source drawings are stored within the folder to be migrated and the relative path to the working folder remains the same after migration. In those cases, the data reference to the shortcuts will be found and resolved in Civil 3D for other users with sufficient permissions.
The following conditions can lead to broken shortcuts after migration:
To resolve broken references after migration, use the Data Shortcuts Editor to specify the path in Autodesk Docs where the source drawing is located.
There are some operations within the Autodesk DWG Migration for Docs app (such as checking data integrity, fixing multiple missing references, preparing the list for upload and browsing to a folder in Autodesk Docs) where there might be processing delays. These delays are greater when the dataset contains many files and folders. In this case, please wait until the app finishes processing.
Additionally, Autodesk DWG Migration for Docs copies the selected folders and files to the Desktop Connector workspace and then relies on Desktop Connector for the uploading process. Both processes can be time consuming for large and/or complex datasets. For that reason, it is recommended to use Autodesk DWG Migration for Docs when Desktop Connector is not being used for other processes (there should not be any Pending Actions). The following operations should be avoided while running a migration: opening and saving drawings, dragging and dropping folders into Desktop Connector and running multiple instances of the app.
While Autodesk DWG Migration for Docs can identify all data integrity issues for a given dataset, it may be counterproductive to fix them all within the app if the number of issues is high. If you have a large dataset (either in size or the number of files) where many Long Path issues, Missing References issues and Related Data issues are found, consider spending time to re-arrange folders and fix references locally, and then use the Rescan button to consume the changes. The more issues that need to be fixed, the longer it will take for the app to complete all the processes (including the uploading phase, which could consume excessive bandwidth).
Use the exclusion list to filter out unnecessary files (.log, .tmp, .err and so on) that will also increase the processing times. Similarly, you can clear the selection of entire folders from the local dataset if desired.
Avoid as many circular references as possible, especially if they contain many nested levels, as these may increase the uploading times. If the circular relationship is needed, consider removing it temporarily for the migration, and then add it back after the files are stored in Autodesk Docs.
For large datasets, this delay may take up to a few minutes. Please wait until the process is initiated without clicking another icon.