SectionTools (R8) export section not updating

Rhino
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1

Hi all,

We are looking into using Rhino8 and Sectiontools Integrated, hopefully we can shift from Rhino7 to Rhino8 soon.

With SectionTools in R7, were used to export sections to DWG individually. In case an update was required, you run the command exportlayout again and the update was complete. We then used these exports into an AutoCAD file as Xref’s.

We are trying to do this workflow with Rhino8, but run into the issue that after the innitial export, a new update/export won’t change the object in the export. The file updates (new timestamp), the content (i.e. object) is unchanged.

Workflow:

  • create new drawing
  • create an object
  • create clipping sections
  • export clipping section drawings and save it as 3dm or DWG
  • move the clipping section
  • export clipping section drawings again (overwrite)
  • file updates, content of file stays the same

Is this intended behaviour or am I skipping a crucial step?

2

Looking into this… Do you use Windows or Mac? Also what service release?

Update: Just tested on Windows saving as 3dm, with a simple object, and it updated the content as expected.
Can you please post an example file?

3

Hello Rajaa,

Thanks for your reply, please find attached a basic test model and 3 exported clipping drawings.

2025-05-14_test Rajaa_01.zip (212.6 KB)

Working on Windows with Rhino Version 8 SR19 (8.19.25127.17001, 2025-05-07)

I now noticed that when moving the clipping sections in the main model and run the export clipping drawings again, the shape of the exported objects stays the same - only the location of the these objects are moved. Which is unexpected as well.

Additionally, I added a pyramid to the main model. I run the export clipping drawings again and the pyramid does not show up in the updated exports.

Ok, interesting: I closed Rhino8, opened the main model and nothing has changed. I run the export clipping drawings again and it created a 3dm.3dm file. It did not save the 3 exported files as already created before I closed Rhino (i.e. front_00.3dm, etc.)! Instead it create this one 3dm.3dm file and saved it 2 more times.

I tested this behavior at my colleague computer and got the same result.

Looking forward to your findings.

4

I see this issue and will investigate further.
However, I am still seeing an updated drawing, but I am doing it differently:

  • kept one clipping plane in your model
  • create a drawing using “ClippingDrawings” command
  • exported the drawing using “ExportClippingDrawings” command
  • open the exported file, looks correct.
  • close the drawing file
  • move the clipping-plane, then export clipping section drawings again (overwrite)
  • open the drawing file, it is updated.

Is your workflow done without extracting ClippingDrawing and re-export without closing the drawing file?

5

Hi Rajaa,

Thank you for taking the time to look into this.

Yes, I confirm that following your steps solves my issue with updating an already export file.

Yes, I did not create ClippingDrawings. R8 does not force me to do so and saves me time placing, additional layers, etc.. Up to the point that we needed to update the exported sections, at a given moment (can be the same day or weeks later), we found out that it did not updated as we expected.

I can only reproduce the 3dm.3dm issue after closing and opening the file.

It would be really nice if this would work each time you would use ExportClippingDrawings.