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Surface does not exist error

asked 2015-11-01 18:39:32 -0600

VictoriaEagen's avatar

updated 2015-11-01 20:18:59 -0600

I am trying to model a dorm in Sketchup/OpenStudio, and I got the first two floors done. Now, when I open my OSM I get hundreds of errors, "Surface # : The space referenced by this surface does not exist, it cannot be drawn". I have only seen one other question similar to this and it required digging into code and deleting the surface. I am a student, and not to savvy with opening script files and sifting through them. Does anyone know if these errors can be ignored? Or how to get rid of them? I tried running a diagnostics thing and deleting the surfaces, but nothing got deleted and they still pop up. Any information on how to get rid of these, or if I can ignore them, would be awesome! Thanks!

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What portion of your model is rendered in SketchUp? Are the majority of spaces missing or just one or two? Do you know what happened that caused these spaces to go missing? I am not aware of any way to create orphan surfaces through the GUIs (although it might now be possible in grid view). Did you edit the text files by hand?

macumber's avatar macumber  ( 2015-11-02 10:20:44 -0600 )edit

I just confirmed that orphaned surfaces do not show up in grid view in the OpenStudio Application so there is no way to repair these surfaces using that.

macumber's avatar macumber  ( 2015-11-02 10:34:55 -0600 )edit

It is only one surface. I don't know how to get rid of it. I do not know what to do about it.

VictoriaEagen's avatar VictoriaEagen  ( 2015-11-02 11:41:44 -0600 )edit

Did you happen to use the SketchUp undo command while working on your model? OpenStudio does not track SketchUp's undo command well so this is a likely cause of any model corruption.

macumber's avatar macumber  ( 2015-11-04 11:17:29 -0600 )edit

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answered 2015-11-02 11:54:41 -0600

updated 2015-11-02 15:28:50 -0600

You can run the remove orphan an unused objects measure form the OpenStudio application "Apply Measures Now" or the diagnostic user script in the SketchUp plugin to clean up orphan objects.

Both methods are documented on our troubleshooting page.

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I will try the remove orphan an unused objects measures, but the diagnostics user script does not work. Thank you for the help!

VictoriaEagen's avatar VictoriaEagen  ( 2015-11-02 14:40:07 -0600 )edit

Ahhh that did not seem to work either, I went to OpenStudio Scripts --> Alter or Add Elements --> Remove Orphan Subsurfaces. Errors are still there, any other way to do this?

VictoriaEagen's avatar VictoriaEagen  ( 2015-11-02 14:49:51 -0600 )edit
1

You are trying to remove orphan base surfaces (that don't have spaces), the script you ran removes sub-surfaces that don't have a base surface. Looks like the diagnostic script doesn't look for orphan base surafces, but the measure described in my answer will. Load model into OS app to run measure then save and re-open in Plugin.

David Goldwasser's avatar David Goldwasser  ( 2015-11-02 15:28:18 -0600 )edit

Gotcha. Sorry, new to the lingo, and no previous experience. I appreciate the help.

VictoriaEagen's avatar VictoriaEagen  ( 2015-11-02 15:51:16 -0600 )edit

No problem happy to help. We need to really consolidate all of our diagnostics to one place. I think that will be the measure. That way it isn't dependent on SketchUp.

David Goldwasser's avatar David Goldwasser  ( 2015-11-02 16:00:01 -0600 )edit

Totally! Is there a way to avoid the occurrence of these errors, so I don't have to run the diagnostics?

VictoriaEagen's avatar VictoriaEagen  ( 2015-11-02 18:13:25 -0600 )edit

The biggest two things I would do is to avoid using "Undo" in when using the SketchUp plugin, also avoid using the "surface intersection" feature of surface matching in the Plugin. Instead use the "Surface Matching" measure in the OpenStudio application that has a check box to do surface intersection.

Lastly if you are working on a large project and suspect a problem. Save as another name, leaving the original model un-touched.

David Goldwasser's avatar David Goldwasser  ( 2015-11-02 23:21:56 -0600 )edit

Yup, definitely did those things, will be sure to avoid these things is in the future. THANK YOU so much!

VictoriaEagen's avatar VictoriaEagen  ( 2015-11-02 23:49:42 -0600 )edit

So, I am trying to remove errors in OpenStudio application. I have the script to remove orphan objects. How do I actually run this script on my model>?

VictoriaEagen's avatar VictoriaEagen  ( 2015-11-10 10:05:11 -0600 )edit

See documentation on apply measures now

David Goldwasser's avatar David Goldwasser  ( 2015-11-10 10:13:14 -0600 )edit

I downloaded the script, I follow all the step and I cant figure out how to get the script into the open studio measures slot. When I try to add to my library my computer opens up the script, does not put it in library

VictoriaEagen's avatar VictoriaEagen  ( 2015-11-12 00:25:50 -0600 )edit
0

answered 2016-05-07 06:59:45 -0600

gaofeng's avatar

I had met this situation before, you need redraw the you model, maybe there are some problems from your drawing method which conflicts with OS' s drawing language.

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Asked: 2015-11-01 18:39:32 -0600

Seen: 2,016 times

Last updated: May 07 '16