Bug: "improper argument" message when attempting to save?

[natbuk]

Recently upgraded to latest version - hadn't used FS for a while - now, when I try to save, I get an 'encountered an improper argument' message box pop up. Running win 8.1. Tried starting FS as admin, but same thing.

Any ideas? Can't save anything as a result.

Update:

had to revert to 3.0.7 - and problem has gone away, but it means I can't use the latest version. Looks like a bug, maybe only with win8?

[Spogg]

Hi natbuk

I've had this a few times in 3.08.1 under Windows 7 SP1. It seems to happen only when my schematics start to get BIG, with lots of nested modules. For me, it seems random and not repeatable by any means I've yet found. I think it's more likely to happen if I delete or add an input or output and maybe because the system re-compiles on the fly (more to do on a larger schematic?) but I haven't pinned it down so far and for me it's infrequent.
Maybe you could report this and let us know the outcome...

Cheers

Spogg

[retrosquirrel]

Hi,

I purchased 3.0.8.1 a few days ago and am also getting the "Encountered an improper argument" when I try to save my schematic. It's not large either - just a simple web cam viewer. I'm running under Windows 8.1 on a Surface Pro 3.

Is there a fix or workaround for this? It's very frustrating, especially for a new customer.

Thanks,
Stu.

[retrosquirrel]

Hi again,

I've found a quick workaround - it's worked for me so I hope it helps you out. I downloaded a small Flowstone example file, loaded it in, then deleted all of the components. I created my small webcam schematic again and saved without Flowstone generating the "improper argument" error.

Cheers,
Stu.

[OllieMarshall92]

Was a proper fix ever issued for this? I'm getting it regularly, (running on windows 10, but have tried compatibility modes for windows 8 and 7. and get the same issue.) I'm not on latest version of FS but would upgrade if this solved the problem.

All the best

Ollie

[trogluddite]

Hi, Ollie.

Generally version 3.0.6 is more stable, and is what we recommend. The bug seems to have been introduced in the following versions, which will now only get fixed in FS4 when it's released. I had the same problem on both Win7 and Win10, and the only workaround I ever found was the one suggested above by retrosquirrel - i.e. copy and rename an existing file and open that when you start a new project (the bug seems to be that you can't create a new file, but saving the current file under its existing name works OK usually).

However, if you've already used a later version, you might need to do a thorough uninstall in order to get v3.0.6 working properly. I found that an "over the top" install retained the bug (I presume that one of the .dll files doesn't get overwritten), so do a proper uninstall, and make sure to delete any remaining files/folders from Program Files and AppData (making a backup of your toolbox modules from AppData first so that you can restore them after installing).