Product(s):	Promis.e, Bentley Substation
	Version(s):	through 08.11.13.140
	Environment:	N/A
	Area:	Component Features
	Subarea:	Insert Symbol By Name

Error or Warning Message

When trying to insert a symbol into a project page, one of the following error messages is displayed and/or the symbol is not inserted:

The physical file "" does not exist in the catalog directory.

Information
The symbol "MySymbol" does not exist in the catalog, do you want to insert a 3DBOX instead?

Also, the preview image may not appear for the symbol in [[Catalog Manager]] or [[Insert Symbol By Name]].

Explanation

This error generally means that the symbol's name exists in the catalog's database, but the actual graphical drawing file is not found or not compatible. This can be caused by having a catalog of an incompatible format in the setup paths. For example, an AutoCAD format catalog would contain DWG format files, but if the user was running Promis.e Standalone, the software would be looking for a DGN format file, resulting in the error.

How to Avoid

Make sure you only have catalog files of the correct format in your system paths. Use Windows Explorer to navigate to the Symbols subfolder of the problem catalog's folder. The path to the catalog's folder can be seen on [[Setup]] > Catalog Paths.  Examine the contents of the "Symbols" folder using Windows Explorer.

• If there is no file corresponding to the name of the problem symbol, this explains the problem. Recreate the symbol or restore from backup.
• If the file corresponding to the symbol has an extension of DWG and Promis.e (Standalone) or Bentley Substation is being used, the file is in the wrong format. All files in the wrong format often indicates the wrong [[Adding Manufacturer Data To promis.e|manufacturer catalog]] was downloaded.
• If the file corresponding to the symbol has an extension of DGN and promis.e for AutoCAD is being used, the file is in the wrong format. All files in the wrong format often indicates the wrong [[Adding Manufacturer Data To promis.e|manufacturer catalog]] was downloaded.

Right-clicking the name of the catalog in [[Catalog Manager]] and selecting Rebuild will clean up the catalog index and stop the names of items with no physical files from appearing in dialogs such as [[Insert Symbol By Name]].

If the problem occurs with every new or modified symbol, be sure the user creating/modifying the symbols are able to create files in the catalog folder. The problem could be caused by insufficient folder permissions.

In one case, replacing the seed file(s) used with symbol creation resolved the problem. The seed files available in Create Symbol are stored in the \Templates\Page\ subfolder of the [[Promise Data folder]] or [[Substation Data folder]] as the case may be. Good copies of the seed files can be retrieved from the [[Data folder archive]].

Original Author:

Tani_S

keywords: missing symbols, empty, blank, thumbnail, nothing happens
P/S: 85755, 500000097939