History Bug

First of all I trust Shapr3D do not delete this genuine request for community help. This message is sincere albeit frustrated with the loss, but shall be helpful for some users.

I’ve been using Shapr3D commercially for a number of years and had no technical issues to report. Sunday 23rd June 2024 I noticed a complex part within a model missing! There were no options in history to recover the part or yellow conflict triangles. The history was greyed out with an item called Import at the top! (see image).

I have lost months of work associated with prototype modifications to the missing part.

I have also noticed model loading and movement slow down since the introduction of the History update which I think is responsible for this part loss.

Shapr3D Technical Support have not helped and have no explanation, forcing me to look at other options including legal.

Is there anyone in the community that can help?

Hardware: Microsoft Surface Laptop Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU, 64GB of RAM and 1TB of storage
OS: Windows 11
App Version: 5.642.7078.0 #91f2f06c

Hi Jason,

You set a breakpoint in the history after the import step. Just remove it.

I have not knowingly made a breakpoint. I have not purposely made any changes to the model since this issue, as I felt any changes may impact the ability to recover the losses.
I have clicked the X on the Breakpoint and have the blue loading spinner!

After some time the blue loading spinner stopped. The History is no longer grey. The part is still missing of course.

Can you share the design with our support team confidentially?

Sadly the model is under strict NDA and is filing patent so I can not. This is one of the reasons I do not have Sync Across Devices enabled. What other options are available? I could provide restricted remote access, but I’m guessing you need the model data.

Another peculiarity is some of the parts are no longer in their respective folder structure, but on the root!

This sounds like you have another breakpoint somewhere.

Without having more information, it’s very hard to help. Here are a few troubleshooting tips:

  1. Make sure that you don’t have any more breakpoints in the history.
  2. Often we get data loss reports when the section view is turned on, and the bodies are simply not visible. Make sure that you have section view turned off.
  3. Are there any errors in your design history? Are you using the history feature at all?
  1. There are no further breakpoints
  2. Thank you, I’m slightly less rookie. The part is missing in the folder structure were it previously was, nor is it in the root. There are parts on the model associated with the missing part so its not as if what I am seeing now is dated before the missing part was constructed!
  3. Now that the history grey-out has gone with the removal of the Breakpoint, there are indeed some yellow triangle conflicts.

However, I have to say when one closes a model one expects to open the model and see it in the same state.

Yes, of course. Has this recovered your work, or is something still missing?

The missing part is still missing. I have not done anything. Can yellow triangle conflicts delete a part?

Yes, if there is a missing reference.

There was nothing missing when I closed the model!

Can you assist me finding missing references on a part that is missing?

Without accessing the design it’s not possible.

The part is no longer highlighted, so I’m uncertain what the yellow triangle relates to. Indeed there may be other missing parts.

So I guess the outcome here is; don’t use Shapr3D if you are working on commercially sensitive parts in case there is a history conflict and loss of data?

I see this as a very serious bug in the History update for professional users!

Can anyone in the community help?

I’m really sorry that you ran into this issue. We will do our best to fix it.

If you turn off the Shapr3D Cloud we can’t do versioning and automatic backups. Since you turned it off, I’d recommend making backups manually from time to time. Alternatively for larger organizations we offer private cloud services in our Enterprise plan.
Also since you don’t seem to be using the history, I’d recommend merging it from time to time.

I do use History but have not caught up with all of its features.
I do not use Shapr3D cloud as I work on commercially sensitive products and inventions.
My business is not of the size to deploy a private cloud.

I did not and would not expect these 3 facts to lead to loosing 2 months of design work!

I have evidenced a bug relating to the History update:

On 23rd June 2024 I closed a model having exported an STL for 3D printing. When I reopened the model two hours later, one of the parts was missing and a break point added. No one touched the Shapr3D in my private office. Additionally I found further parts in the model were no longer in their respective folders but on the root of the items structure.

On 25th June 2024 I was told there is no recourse to recover the part because I run a small company (SME) and work on commercially sensitive models. Instead asked to deploy a 1990’s tactic of exporting the file occasionally as back-up! Wow

Furthermore, whilst I was looking forward to the History update what I have now found is sever risk of loss of time and a loss of flexibility. When I purchased Shapr3D some years ago I found the main differentiator was it presented well as a true design development tool. Unlike the sea of other CAD platforms such as Soild Works (which I use) which are stickly design tools; very inflexible and don’t have the speed and ease of use needed for creativity. Could it be Shapr3D are trying to move too quickly into the design tool arena at the expense of its creative users.