Pathing issues on Mac Big Sur

William Arens

I don't think this is a problem with BricsCAD, but rather a casualty of Apple's new hard drive folder format implemented on Big Sur (apparently as a sort of security measure), which I don't understand. Apple has restructured the way the hard drive is organized, creating a separate volume with a "Mac HD-Data" folder where, in my case, all my work is now located (upon upgrading to Big Sur it was automatically located here). I considered moving my folders back to the main HD but I got a warning that files copied directly to the HD won't be visible, so I left them on the new volume. The new structure creates pathing problems. For the most part, my xrefs are still showing up okay in drawings but all pdf and jpeg images in drawings are now missing their paths and I haven't had any luck repathing pdf overlays, so I've been reinserting images (time consuming). Also, drawings are no longer found in sheet lists for publishing, so I've had to recreate those for projects I want to publish since upgrading to Big Sur...frustrating. If anyone knows a better way around this issue, I'd love to hear it.

I've had other issues with xref paths dropping using the Publish command in V21, too, and posted in the Printing area of the forum in regards to that. I've had no problems using the Print command or publishing drawings that are open, but those drawings not open when initiating Publish do not include their xrefs...not sure if that's related to Big Sur or a quirk in V21 Publishing.

Thank you.

Michael Mayer

I have not worked that deep in V21 on Big Sur for now but so far
also not noticed any wrong or missing paths.

Yes, Big Sur divided the Mac HDD into a secure non accessible OS
and an accessible user data part.
Container Disk : Mac HD + Mac HD Data

But that should not cause any Problems as the user sees still the
old Path Names in Finder. Like for me the Mac HD Data is still
named Mac HD in Finder.
Or in my localized OS Version, "Users" are mapped to "Benutzer",
although it is still "Users" in reality, like when you access it from
Windows by SMB.

Or I see Bricscad puts some stuff in Folder "/var/bricsys",
which looks like a "Symlink", as the real Folder is in
/private/var/

So it looks like I have no problems with Bricscad's resources here,
my project data is on an external SSD anyway.
I have Big Sur since first Public Beta, so I installed Bricscad V21
for the first time AFTER the OS - if this could be a reason for
potential problems.
On the other hand I did not notice Path problems with my
already existing V20. And I even installed Big Sur as an Update,
over my old macOS Mojave.

William Arens

Michael,
Thank you for your response. I agree with most of what you're saying, though, apparently, the slight change (or additional folder "step") created by the new Mac structure is enough for the system to no longer recognize the path to previously inserted images, pdf overlays, etc. I was incorrect about pdf overlays needing reinsertion, as I see now they do appear when repathed. However, I noticed after repathing a pdf in a drawing it drops the path again if I copy that drawing to a new folder (or even do a "save-as" of the file)...this didn't happen previously before upgrading to BCAD v21 and Big Sur. The lost pdf is fully pathed. If I want the path to pdfs in my drawings to stay intact when copying files elsewhere, I currently have to delete the pdf first and completely reattach it (if I try to attach the same pdf already in the drawing it crashes every time). Oddly, when I repath lost jpeg images and copy files elsewhere, the path is retained in the new drawings, unlike the behavior experienced with pdfs. Unfortunately, some jpeg images are now only showing partially in one of my drawings (portion if cut off, whereas entire image frame is still there)...odd. Thanks again for your input.

Michael Mayer

If it is that way you should file a Support Request.

As I read your initial post, I thought I remember (?) that I had also
seen most Redway Materials in Library Panels without Icons,
which could mean it also has lost its Path to (local) Textures.

But I immediately checked while writing my answer but my
Material Icons were there. Maybe a temporary problem effect ?
It could also just be that Bricscad just needs to create all Icons
in Library Panel the first time you open it.

Doesn't mean the problems doesn't exist.
Just that I was just not able to reproduce your behavior with my
configuration and basic examination.
(If I have Jpegs or PDFs inserted, they very likely come from my
"save" external disk path only anyway)

If you have some file examples and workflow description,
Bricscad Support can see your path structure used and may find
a way to reproduce and to fix.