Can X12 open a X5 plan file so it can be modified?


ccl2005
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Yes.  X12 can open any plan or layout files written by Version 10 and newer which includes X1 through X11.

 

Once a plan or layout file is saved in X12, it can not be opened by any older versions.

 

I believe that you can rent X12 for as little as one month but you should probably contact our sales department directly for more information.

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Note that you can "Save As" in X12, thereby retaining the original version.  That way you have a plan that can be edited in X12 but you still have the old plan that can be used in the original version. 

 

I do this sort of thing when I upgrade to a new version so I can always go back - but of course I almost never do so.

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2 hours ago, Joe_Carrick said:

Note that you can "Save As" in X12, thereby retaining the original version.  That way you have a plan that can be edited in X12 but you still have the old plan that can be used in the original version. 

 

That doesn't sound right.  Once saved in X12 format it's not possible to  open in an earlier version even for "Save As" as Chief doesn't offer a format downgrade option that I've seen.

 

Downgrading a file format is not possible in most applications due to data loss and the effort of developing such as feature, Do you mean just keeping a copy of the original unaltered file?

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10 minutes ago, Smn842 said:

 

That doesn't sound right.  Once saved in X12 format it's not possible to  open in an earlier version even for "Save As" as Chief doesn't offer a format downgrade option that I've seen.

 

Downgrading a file format is not possible in most applications due to data loss and the effort of developing such as feature, Do you mean just keeping a copy of the original unaltered file?

Simon, I'm sure Joe is right except I do what I feel is a little safer method. I keep all my plan files in a job folder for each job. What I do is in Windows Explorer, I select the file, copy and paste it into a new folder that I'm using with X12. That way for sure your original plan file can be used in the older version. Either way should be fine.

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3 minutes ago, tommy1 said:

Simon, I'm sure Joe is right except I do what I feel is a little safer method

 

I just tried opening an X11 plan file in X12 and immediately did a "Save As" to another file without any change but that would not open in X11 or X10 as I expected.  Do you see any difference?

 

My approach is to keep all Chief files in a version specific folder and copy the whole lot to a new folder for each release so I always have the older version anyway (irrespective of backups).

 

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19 minutes ago, tommy1 said:

Simon, I'm sure Joe is right except I do what I feel is a little safer method. I keep all my plan files in a job folder for each job. What I do is in Windows Explorer, I select the file, copy and paste it into a new folder that I'm using with X12. That way for sure your original plan file can be used in the older version. Either way should be fine.

I do exactly the same.  The "Save As" with a new name creates an X12 file.  The older file (original name) is not effected and will still be openable in the older version.

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1 hour ago, Smn842 said:

My approach is to keep all Chief files in a version specific folder

I too use version folders with sub folders of the jobs. This helps me know which version the plan is in.

Plan folders.jpg

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I believe Joe and others are suggesting that you do a "save as" so that you do not write over the original file.  This does not mean that the new file can be opened in the older version.

 

Just as an FYI, the program will automatically create a copy of the original file and save it in your archives folder when you try to save it in the newer version.  If you ever accidentally open a file from an older version and then hit "save" you should get a message telling you that the program made this copy and where it saved it.  

 

 

saving an archive.png

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/2/2020 at 6:32 PM, Dermot said:

I believe Joe and others are suggesting that you do a "save as" so that you do not write over the original file.  This does not mean that the new file can be opened in the older version.

 

Just as an FYI, the program will automatically create a copy of the original file and save it in your archives folder when you try to save it in the newer version.  If you ever accidentally open a file from an older version and then hit "save" you should get a message telling you that the program made this copy and where it saved it.  

 

 

saving an archive.png

Thanks Dermot, I never noticed that nice feature in the Warning.  I always do a save as to preserve the Original but it's nice to know Chief has our back.

 

Also, I do wish that Chief would give us the ability open an old drawing, especially the pre X-versions with .pl1, .pl2 file extentensions without having to load or keep an old version active in order to bring that drawing file forward. I just got stymied trying to open up and look at an old drawing from 1998. I have all of my old versions in their original boxes back to Chief '97 but I don't think they will load on a windows 7 or 10 computer.

 

If Chief could give us a utility that would at least allow us to open and save an old plan file as a PDF ( I currently save a pdf copy of all of my projects for archival reference purposes) that would be huge. Of course, a utility that would allow me to open an old file and save as a current and usable file would be better still.

thanks,

BB

 

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Thanks Lew, I'll have to see if I have that on my home computer. Seems like all the older versions should be available on Chief's website for occasions like this. In hindsight I guess I should have left all the old version on my computer and I think Chief should have provided guidance in this regard.-BB

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Regarding migration guidance, we do provide some very detailed information:

 

https://cloud.chiefarchitect.com/1/pdf/documentation/chief-architect-x12-migration-guide.pdf

 

More specifically, regarding migrating pre-version 10 plan and layout files, please review this technical article (it also includes a link to the X8 Desktop Viewer that can be used as a conversion tool):

 

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00279/opening-legacy-files.html

 

If you have any additional questions, please contact our technical support department for further assistance.

 

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