Has anyone encountered the following error message?  I receive this
message only in the Assembly mode, and the message prevents me from
importing any part file into an Assembly. Is it maybe that time for an
uninstall and fresh install? I am using SWX 2006.

"A filename cannot contain any of these characters"       @\ / : * ? \"
< > !

I am open for any suggestion.

G. De Angelis
De Angelis Tool
Valhalla Grafix

                                                www.deangelistool.com

You must rename the file to be imported so that it doesn't contain any
of those
characters displayed in the error message.  When you import certain
files Solidworks
has to create file or files to open this data.

It's a windows thing as far as naming convensions.
@\ / : * ? \"> < > !

Thanks for your response, however that is the mystery of it all, the
file names contain no characters at all. The file names are:
sheave.sldprt, vbelt.sldprt, drivewheel.sldprt, drivenwheel.sldprt. I
believe it is just a couple of files that are in conflict with one
another, maybe conflicting with a windows file that is causing the
problem.
Don't know what else to think, really.

G. De Angelis
De Angelis Tool
Valhalla Grafix
                                    www.deangelistool.com
dvanzile3@norgrenauto.com wrote:
> You must rename the file to be imported so that it doesn't contain any
> of those
> characters displayed in the error message.  When you import certain
> files Solidworks
> has to create file or files to open this data.
>
> It's a windows thing as far as naming convensions.
> @\ / : * ? \"> < > !

Try these two things:

Load the part by itself, then put it in the assembly.

Copy and rename one of the files and see if that helps.

Yes, I began running into this after installing 2006.  It remained a
mystery for a long time.  I would get the error (even though my files
did not contain those characters) when I tried to double click on them
or drag and drop them from window explorer.  Only way I could get them
to open (for editing or to add to an assm) was to use the file-open
menu from inside SolidWorks.  This was the case for parts and
assemblies.

What I finally narrowed it down to was this.....
The files would all work fine when I started the job on my local hard
drive, but as soon as I put a backup/archive copy on our server the
problems would start.  From that point on any time I double-clicked or
tried to drag and drop the file into SolidWorks from my local drive, I
would get the error you listed.  However, it would allow me to
double-click or drag and drop the exact same file names from the server
location.  Here's the other weird part, If I COPY the job folder from
the server to another computer or back to my own (in this case it must
be a copy of the entire folder, not just the files within back into the
original folder), every thing will work like it's supposed to.??  But,
if I try to open the files from the original directory on my computer
(in the case where a job is still active and I've just placed a backup
on the server) I get the file naming error every time.  I believe it
might be something in my registry (pure guess), but I have no idea what
that would be.

Rory Regina


G. De Angelis wrote:
> Has anyone encountered the following error message?  I receive this
> message only in the Assembly mode, and the message prevents me from
> importing any part file into an Assembly. Is it maybe that time for an
> uninstall and fresh install? I am using SWX 2006.
>
> "A filename cannot contain any of these characters"       @\ / : * ? \"
> < > !
>
> I am open for any suggestion.
>
> G. De Angelis
> De Angelis Tool
> Valhalla Grafix
>
>                                                 www.deangelistool.com

Perhaps the total path and file name is too long? I think the limit is 
officially something like 256 characters, but Windows will let you go 
longer in a lot of circumstances. After you've done that, file operations 
on those files will fail for no apparent reason. Sometimes it can only be 
fixed or even deleted from the shell.

Dale,
There is no way my path exceeds the count limit.  I have even named the
files in question, a.sldprt, b.sldprt etc. as short as you can get.
I did end up with a rather spooky condition anyway.  I copied the files
in question to a 250 mb jump drive, (removeable disc), and If I import
them from that drive, (and only that drive), SWX functions normally, I
can import the part files and assemble them without a problem.  I don't
know why this is the case, but it is. I tried importing them from
another drive I have on the machine with negative results.
G. De Angelis

De Angelis Tool
Valhalla Grafix
                                          www.deangelistool.com
Dale Dunn wrote:
> Perhaps the total path and file name is too long? I think the limit is
> officially something like 256 characters, but Windows will let you go
> longer in a lot of circumstances. After you've done that, file operations
> on those files will fail for no apparent reason. Sometimes it can only be
> fixed or even deleted from the shell.

So it is narrowed down to files served from the network. Now tell us:

1. What operating system is the file server on the network using?

2. What operating system is your local computer using?

3. Confirm that this only happens when loading the file from the local
drive.

4. Confirm these options for us:
4A. TOOLS/OPTIONS/SYSTEM/FILE LOCATIONS/REFERENCE FILES
4B. TOOLS/OPTIONS/SYSTEM/EXTERNAL REFERENCES/SEARCH EXTERNAL REFERENCES

5. Search the network drive that SW thinks these files are on for files
with one or more of the forbidden characters if you can.

6. What antivirus program are you using?

7. Post the full directory path to one of these files here and also try
using it to load the file.

I am not on a network machine.  It is a solitary machine running on
Windows XP Pro. I built it myself and when I did I set it up as a dual
boot machine, in that I have XP Pro installed on both drives, C:, and
F:   At boot up I get the option as to which drive I want to run.  The
reason I have the dual boot arrangement is that I want one drive that
is virgin, in the sense that It never goes on the internet, for any
reason whatsoever. It is backed up by periodic Ghosting.  I am using
McAfee v 10 Antivirus.  The machine is an AMD 2500, 1.7GB, with 1 GB of
RAM,  Invidia GEForce FX 5200.  As you can see, not partiticularly
State of the Art, but reliable to a fault.  Don't know what a SWX Choke
or Crash is. Never saw either occurance.  My projects are not
exceedingly large, largest  around 140 parts to an assembly.
Incidentally, this problem has just recently started,out of the blue.
I will live with this annoyance , (as if I had a choice), up until the
time that I switch over to SWX 2007, at which point, I am in hopes that
the problem will have dissolved itself.

G. De Angelis
De Angelis Tool
Valhalla Grafix

www.deangelistool.com

TOP wrote:
> So it is narrowed down to files served from the network. Now tell us:
>
> 1. What operating system is the file server on the network using?
>
> 2. What operating system is your local computer using?
>
> 3. Confirm that this only happens when loading the file from the local
> drive.
>
> 4. Confirm these options for us:
> 4A. TOOLS/OPTIONS/SYSTEM/FILE LOCATIONS/REFERENCE FILES
> 4B. TOOLS/OPTIONS/SYSTEM/EXTERNAL REFERENCES/SEARCH EXTERNAL REFERENCES
>
> 5. Search the network drive that SW thinks these files are on for files
> with one or more of the forbidden characters if you can.
>
> 6. What antivirus program are you using?
>
> 7. Post the full directory path to one of these files here and also try
> using it to load the file.

You answered 1, 2, 3, but 4 still needs an answer as do 5 and 7.

The fact that this just started is interesting. In this case we must
ask what changed? Do you load updates from the Microsoft on either
system? Did this start after an automatic update?

Also, run chkdisk C: /F and chkdsk F: /F from a command prompt. XP will
inform you that these cannot be run until reboot. Agree to this and
reboot. Then defragment.

Have you cleaned temp, etc. ?  Solidworks has a tool you can download
to clean temp and other files that sometimes become troublesome.