Issue

Sometimes, after you download plans from a planroom or builders’ exchange, On-Screen Takeoff cannot display them. A Red banner displays on the Image Tab indicating that the image cannot be displayed even though all pages are displayed in black on the Cover Sheet (indicating the files are found)

Discussion

The Microsoft® Windows® file system is limited to 256 characters for file path names, anything longer than this cannot be processed by the operating system and is therefore not accessible to On-Screen Takeoff. That means that if a user is storing files in a network location, they must ensure that the full path, including the file name, is less than 256 characters.

This is important to remember when downloading plans from various Planroom sites or moving images. The provider may have set up a complex file structure and stored images under multiple sub-directories (folders). If any of these folders (including the actual image file name) exceed the maximum characters allowed, the image cannot be displayed/converted.

Because the converters and processors that On-Screen Takeoff uses create a command line entry to convert "This File" to "That File" the path name (including the file name and extension) needs to be less than 1/2 of the maximum (128 characters or less) or the conversion fails.

Resolution

If an error indicating that the path is too long is displayed while downloading, contact the plan provider and inform them of this message or change the Planroom folder under Tools > Options > Folders to something shorter. If the error is received while moving images or databases to different locations, create a shorter path name.

Check Tools > Options > Folders and note the Planroom folder. Try changing the Planroom folder to the default (C:\OCS DOCUMENTS\OST\) and then try to download and view the plans again.

If the images display after setting a shorter path, simplify the folder structure on your network to reduce the total file path length and/or contact the Planroom and ask them to review their folder structure/file names.

If the images are still not displayed on the Image Tab and the Cover Sheet still shows that the images are found (black), please contact Technical Support for additional assistance.