I have a program by IMSI software called FloorPlan 3D. It is for designing houses -- floor plan, interior, exterior, furnishings, the whole bit.

I recently upgraded from version 8 to version 10.

I have the program installed on my computer at home, and also my computer at work. No doubt this is in violation of the license agreement. Sue me.

I am editing the same files at home and at work.

At work, everything operates properly.

At home, if I open one of the floor plans by first opening the program, and then going file/open, browse to the file I want, and open it, everything works. But if I try double-clicking on one of the .bmf files (that's the file extension that FloorPlan uses) I get the error message:

Windows cannot find 'C:\FloorPlan\SmallHouse22.bmf'. Make sure you typed the name correctly and then try again. To search for a file, click the Start button and then click Search.

The .bmf file type is indeed assigned to the FloorPlan program. I know this is true because if I double-click on any older .bmf file created with version 8 of the program, it opens and edits properly. However, if I then save that older file with version 10, it will no longer open by double-clicking on the filename, but will give me the above listed error message.

If I transfer a .bmf file from my work computer to my home computer using VNC, I can double-click the transferred file and it will open normally. Once If I close the file (not even editing/saving it, just close it), then if I try to open it again by double-clicking the filename, I get the above error message. It seems like FloorPlan version 10 somehow "poisons" the file as soon as it touches it -- but only on my home computer.

I can open and edit any .bmf file if I open the file from within the FloorPlan program, but I cannot open it through file association by double-clicking the filename in Windows Explorer. The FloorPlan program itself does open, but without an active file to edit.

I have no such difficulties at work. I have deleted and re-installed the program at home several times, nothing changes. Both my home computer and my work computer are running Windows XP, with (I believe) all the latest updates. No other users of the program have reported similar problems. (There is a bbs devoted to FloorPlan users that is quite comparable to the empeg bbs in civility and signal to noise ratio.)

Even though no other program on my home computer exhibits this behavior, it appears to be a Windows problem, not a FloorPlan problem.

Can anyone offer me insight as to what is going on here?

tanstaafl.

Is the version 8 still on your home machine? It could be trying to launch that executable, which then chokes on the version 10 file - and throwing an ambigious error message in the process.

-jk

Right click on the BMF file and go to "Open With". What is it showing there in the case of a working and also a broken file?

Is the version 8 still on your home machine?

No. Version 8 was not forward-compatible with version 10 (no surprise there) but v10 was backwards compatible with v8, so there was no reason to keep v8 around.


Right click on the BMF file and go to "Open With". What is it showing there in the case of a working and also a broken file?

Both instances say "FloorPlan 3D Application"

It is not the same error message that shows up when I double-click on some other kind of file that does not have a file type assigned. In this case it is saying Windows cannot find the file. Yet, obviously it is there because I can open it through the FP3D program, and of course Windows Explorer is seeing it. I can move it, copy it, rename it. If I do any of those things, the moved/copied/renamed file still will not open by double-clicking. It is doubly perplexing that I can double-click to open a .bmf file that came from another computer as long as the copy of v10 on my home computer hasn't had a chance to sniff at it yet. And triply perplexing that the identical program, installed from the same CD to the same default directories on my work computer does not give these problems.

One final bit of data: If I double-click and get the "...can't find..." error message, the FP3D program opens, and I can then go to File/Open, browse to and open the file in question. However, when I finish editing, I can save the work but when I try to close the program it usually crashes.

At Tony's suggestion I tried turning off DDE, and I thought that fixed it -- but it only worked because the first file I tried to open afterwards was a "virgin" file that hadn't yet been touched by the FP3D program on my home computer.

tanstaafl.

Yes. It is obviously the FloorPlan app giving you the error, but it's misreporting the error.

Open an Explorer window. Click Tools->Folder Options. Then click "File Types". Find your BMF extension, click on it, and select Advanced. Click on the "Action" that is in boldface and click "Edit". Examine the "Application used to perform action". Now do the same thing on the other computer and compare the final results. Are they the same or different?

Either way, I think you should probably contact FloorPlan's tech support. It really sounds like v8 was not removed properly.

I don't wish to appear pedantic but you mentioned upgrading to version 10.<nothing> -- did you see that there's a version 10.1 update available? IMSI (conveniently) don't mention what changes come with 10.1 and judging by your efforts both here and on the IMSI forums, you've no doubt exhausted all of the obvious things anyhow, but I thought I should point it out just in case.

did you see that there's a version 10.1 update available?

Yes, I know of that update, but the word on the FloorPlan bbs site is to avoid it -- there are apparently some pretty nasty bugs. I don't recall just what they were, I only skimmed through the posts enough to see that it wasn't something I wanted, but I do remember that it had something to do with incompatibility with a "hotfix" that IMSI also provided, and people who did both of them came to some real grief.

tanstaafl.

Have you looked at the "Event Viewer" to see what, if any, other errors are being thrown by the app.

start > run "C:\WINDOWS\system32\mmc.exe" "C:\WINDOWS\system32\eventvwr.msc" /s

Are they the same or different?

Exactly the same.

tanstaafl.

attach them here and we'll take a look

Here are the four files: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.bmf from Work and then Home; and HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding from Work and then Home.

********(work computer)*************
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.bmf]
@="FloorPlan3DBuilding"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.bmf\ShellNew]
"NullFile"=""

********(home computer)***********
Key Name: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.bmf
Class Name: <NO CLASS>
Last Write Time: 3/6/2006 - 9:34 PM
Value 0
Name: <NO NAME>
Type: REG_SZ
Data: FloorPlan3DBuilding


Key Name: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.bmf\ShellNew
Class Name: <NO CLASS>
Last Write Time: 3/6/2006 - 9:34 PM
Value 0
Name: NullFile
Type: REG_SZ
Data:

**********(work computer)******************
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding]
@="FloorPlan 3D Building"
"EditFlags"=dword:00000000
"BrowserFlags"=dword:00000008

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\PROGRA~1\\IMSI\\FLOORP~1\\Program\\FP3D.exe,1"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding\shell]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding\shell\open]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding\shell\open\command]
@="C:\\PROGRA~1\\IMSI\\FLOORP~1\\Program\\FP3D.exe /dde"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding\shell\open\ddeexec]
@="[open(\"%1\")]"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding\shell\print]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding\shell\print\command]
@="C:\\PROGRA~1\\IMSI\\FLOORP~1\\Program\\FP3D.exe /dde"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding\shell\print\ddeexec]
@="[print(\"%1\")]"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding\shell\printto]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding\shell\printto\command]
@="C:\\PROGRA~1\\IMSI\\FLOORP~1\\Program\\FP3D.exe /dde"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding\shell\printto\ddeexec]
@="[printto(\"%1\",\"%2\",\"%3\",\"%4\")]"


***********(home computer)*****************
Key Name: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding
Class Name: <NO CLASS>
Last Write Time: 3/6/2006 - 9:34 PM
Value 0
Name: <NO NAME>
Type: REG_SZ
Data: FloorPlan 3D Building


Key Name: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding\DefaultIcon
Class Name: <NO CLASS>
Last Write Time: 3/6/2006 - 9:34 PM
Value 0
Name: <NO NAME>
Type: REG_SZ
Data: C:\PROGRA~1\IMSI\FLOORP~1\Program\FP3D.exe,1


Key Name: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding\shell
Class Name: <NO CLASS>
Last Write Time: 3/6/2006 - 9:34 PM

Key Name: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding\shell\open
Class Name: <NO CLASS>
Last Write Time: 3/6/2006 - 9:34 PM

Key Name: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding\shell\open\command
Class Name: <NO CLASS>
Last Write Time: 3/6/2006 - 9:34 PM
Value 0
Name: <NO NAME>
Type: REG_SZ
Data: C:\PROGRA~1\IMSI\FLOORP~1\Program\FP3D.exe /dde


Key Name: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FloorPlan3DBuilding\shell\open\ddeexec
Class Name: <NO CLASS>
Last Write Time: 3/6/2006 - 9:34 PM
Value 0
Name: <NO NAME>
Type: REG_SZ
Data: [open("%1")]

****************************************

Note that the "Home" files were exported after I tried a brute force approach to solving the problem. I deleted the program. Then I went through the registry and deleted everything that contained "FP3D", or "FloorPlan", or "BMF", or "IMSI". Then I did a file search and did the same thing to files (except for the .bmf files). I re-installed the program, and immediately got the "...can't find..." error message when I tried to open a file by double-clicking it. Even though Windows says it "...can't find..." the file in question when double-clicking, the program itself does open, and allows me to browse to open the file, edit the file, and save the changes. When I then close the program, it crashes with the typical:

Floor Plan 3D Application has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience. If you were in the middle of something, the information you were working on might be lost. Please tell Microsoft about this problem. We have created an error report that you can send to us. etc.

Another bit of data that might (but probably won't) prove useful. If I double-click the file, get the "...can't find..." message, click OK, and then double-click the file again, it opens up in FloorPlan.

I dunno. Beats the heck out of me.

tanstaafl.

Have you looked at the "Event Viewer" to see what, if any, other errors are being thrown by the app.

OK, I looked. But the message(s) are meaningless to me.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Application Error
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1000
Date: 3/6/2006
Time: 10:34:40 PM
User: N/A
Computer: TANSTAAFL
Description:
Faulting application fp3d.exe, version 10.0.172.0, faulting module fp3d.exe, version 10.0.172.0, fault address 0x0002bf6b.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 6c707041 74616369 206e6f69 6c696146
0010: 20657275 33706620 78652e64 30312065
0020: 312e302e 302e3237 206e6920 64337066
0030: 6578652e 2e303120 37312e30 20302e32
0040: 6f207461 65736666 30302074 66623230
0050: 0a0d6236

tanstaafl.

I am also seeing this exact same behaviour with Excel (2003). However it only happens when I have this other particular application open that also uses Excel in the background.
Just a suggestion, but when it works the first time and you shut it down, does it really shut down clean or is there still an instance of it running under the Processes tab of Task Manager?
I've had a lot of experince lately with our 3D CAD software not shutting down properly and leaving instances still running although not visible on the task bar which causes a whole host of other problems.

Mark.

I'm sorry Doug, but I can't assimilate them in that format. (Could be that I've just been on a 3-day bender in Malta). Could you attach the four different files as a ZIP, then I'll take a serious look?

I don't think I quite understand what you need. I can easily zip them up, but when you unzip them, you will have exactly what is posted above.

Did I export them properly in the first place, or do I need to do something differently?

I will zip up what I have here and attach it on the chance that it really is what you are looking for. Heck, since the whole thing is only 4K, I'll just attach the text file without zipping it.

tanstaafl.

Am I the only one that thinks it odd that the keys from the home computer are oddly formated compared to the work computer?

Are you running different versions of Windows on the two PCs? If so, which is running what?

Depends what you mean by "different versions". They are both Windows XP, but the home computer is running a three or four year old installation, while the work computer is just a month or two old.

Both have the latest security updates and service packs, but there may have been some changes in XP between the time my home computer was built vs the work computer.

tanstaafl.

Because if the program is already running, it doesn't have to load the program from disk, execute the program, only for the program to send a DDE request (or equivalent) itself to the already-running application. Of course, with modern disks and caching filesystems on a relatively unloaded machine, it's probably not much faster.

Let me know if you want more details.


No, not necessary I think.

I've pretty well given up on the program, by the time I have created a design of desired complexity it runs so slowly as to be essentially unusable.

And I found out about how much it would cost me to build my design... completely out of the question.

db