[faq] My .dyn/.dyf file from 2.12/2.13 won't open in older versions of Dynamo

FAQ
1

Users recently reported a bug that made its way into Dynamo 2.12.

symptom

You may find that upon opening newer Dynamo files in older Dynamo versions, that nothing appears to happen. There is no error, and no crash, but the selected file does not open.

example:

why

In Dynamo 2.12 we started serializing (saving) dropdowns and selection nodes when these nodes were marked as inputs, when we had not before.

how to fix it

there are a few ways to work around this problem:

  • use the experimental package - Dynamo Future File it’s built to resolve this problem automatically when it is run in old versions of dynamo. In new versions it won’t do anything. We may update this package to address other issues like this in the future.
  • hand modify the .dyn/.dyf json using a text editor, or scripting language, (like dynamo, ptython etc) to convert instances of the text hostSelection and dropdownSelection to Selection - if applied to the entire file, this could cause issues if those strings were used in other spots.
  • Move up to a newer Dynamo version - of course this is not possible in many cases.

Other steps we have taken:

  • Addressed this type of issue for input nodes - nodes which are marked as input and fail to load, can no longer stop the entire graph from loading.
  • Newer versions of dynamo will no longer produce these broken files.
13 Likes
3

holy smokes. this is the first time I have seen this post. Will be sure to add this to my BILT presentation next week.

I also want to give a big thanks to @Michael_Kirschner2 for getting that package out to fix it.

It works great in Revit 2021/Dynamo 2.6.x

8 Likes
4

We also just discovered this while we were doing some content upgrades and panicking when we couldn’t open updated workspaces in earlier versions. This tool works like a charm! Thanks @Michael_Kirschner2 :+1:

5

Add me to the list of people “just now finding out.” This is a really cool solution too. Allows for retroactive fixes in the future as well.

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6

We’re working on the “Notifications Center” right now to help spread messages like this in the future inside of Dynamo :slight_smile:

3 Likes
7

I was literally just thinking this. Push notification for important news and updates.

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8

I’m having this problem when creating the file in Dynamo Core 2.13.1.3887 and Dynamo Revit 2.13.1.3891. The Revit i’m using is the 2023 as well. The file were created and tried to open in same versions, but it keeps going to “Home” tab.
Anyone else had this problem in newer versions? @Michael_Kirschner2 @solamour

Also, I opened the console and when i try to open those “bugged” files (not all of then are giving this problem), there isn’t any message or error being show.

9

@marlon.matos - did you try installing the Dynamo Future File package as above?

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I have seen one other person have the issue, and even they can’t consistently reproduce the issue. Try hitting escape and see if that gets you into the workspace.

Sadly this is one of those "if it can’t reproduce, it can’t be fixed’, so if you can share some data on the issue and provide a reproducible sample via an issue on the Github it’d be appreciated.

11

Did that now. Nothing changed, i will see if future files will keep buggin, for the files i already have, it didn’t fix.

@jacob.small will see if i can put something in Github and come back to tell.

1 Like