"Object reference not set...." in vault explorer

Question

When searching for parts in the vault explorer I am receiving the following result: "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" I am using Circuit Studio 1.5.2

dmcfatter · Answer

I was able to get it work in the search tab only after setting the view to "Search Results View". To get this menu to show up I had manually pull up a part out of a folder on the other tab.

sshaferdlm · Answer

Thomas, You maybe onto something, Jack you may want to try this also. I went into systems preferences and disconnected the vault. It gave me an error, which I click OK to send to Altium. I then Re - added Altium Content Vault. The regular vault search still has the Object reference error. But I tried your steps again and the search as you described was able to find the components. Thank you Thomas!!

sshaferdlm · Answer

Thanks Peter, Just an FYI the search tab workaround did not work for me at first with just starting and restarting the program, I performed turning on and off the program and my whole machine on and off multiple times with no change. What worked - I had to disconnect and reconnect the Altium Content Vault for the search tab to finally start working. And this is a Rhetorical question with a bit of sarcasm - "Why is it that a user had to deliver a temporary solution for this while Altium remained silent?"

sshaferdlm · Answer

Hey Jack, FYI - If I do a vault search in the Structure tab, I get the blue ORNSTIAO (Object reference not set to an instance of an object) error. I will get same error when I switch to the Search tab if I do not click on anything else in the structure tab before changing tabs. However while I'm in the Structure tab, if i click on any of the folders (which clears the ORNSTIAO error ) and switch to the search tab, the search tab works OK. I hope this helps in case you start having problems.

sshaferdlm · Answer

Jack, Glad it is working, at least the search tab. I'm not really a blogger and not sure where else this would get posted. Hopefully anyone with this issue will find it by looking up the " Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error. I also changed my system preference, general settings, automatic updates to check every time I turn on Circuit Studio. To make sure I get the fix as soon as it is out. Steve

e14softwareuk · Answer

Just to confirm a request is open with Altium to investigate.

sshaferdlm · Answer

Jack, A lot of vendors renumber the parts to make it hard to source. You should try getting the actual part number from Neutrik and then see if you can locate a footprint. https://www.neutrik.com/en/neutrik/products/plugs-jacks/jacks/m-series FYI some vendors list cross referenced parts. So if you might try looking from an alternate part footprint. Steve

sshaferdlm · Answer

Thanks Jack for taking the lead and contacting E14/NEWARK on this issue.

I know i appreciate it and hope that they get this resolved soon.

In reference to her reply about the workaround, if I just restarted CircuitStudio the issue did not go away. I had to disconnect the Altium Content Vault link in preferences and then re-establish it to get the Search tab working again.

I also do not have to restart CircuitStudio to get the search tab working if I get the blue ORNSTIAO (Object reference not set to an instance of an object) error. As discovered by Thomas Rounds, you just select one of the components directories in the Content Vault and then the Search tab and it works, at least on my setup.

Steve

sshaferdlm · Answer

Hi Jack, I have used over 8 difference E-CAD software packages in my career and was really impressed with Altium when it first came out in the late 2000. Since then it has moved around from Australia to China not sure where it is now. It's best selling feature is the large symbols and footprint libraries. Without a search feature to quickly locate parts, I might as well be using some of the free E-CAD programs that are out there. It looks like I will be heading for that direction if something does not happen soon. Steve

sshaferdlm · Answer

Jack, Depends, you do know about the vault explorer and the default built in libraries right? You can also use the SnapEDA to locate already made footprints and symbols. When you add them to a project they get added to the projects library. https://www.snapeda.com/home/ There is also the videos on Element14 website that can show you how to add libraries and components. https://www.element14.com/community/message/230935/l/circuitstudio-support-how-to-videos#230935 . Steve

tarribred61 · Answer

I see this error also. It happens in both the Search tab or the Structure tab. Also, tried this after a pause my firewall and antivirus and it didn't seem to make a difference. I can pull parts from the vault if I manually look for them so it seems to be a problem with the vault search and not vault access itself.

mjschurman · Answer

Thank you for the reply. That also works for me but seems it would be nice for altium to actually fix this functionality. I see that you opened a support ticket at altium so hopefully they will fix it soon.

alienjack · Answer

Hi Steve,

Ok, I heard from the TEch at e14/Newark. I pasted what she emailed me below. Please share this info with everyone. I will continue to follow up on this, but for now, this is where we all stand...

Hi Jack,

I received the following information –

A Ticket has been raised. I'm not sure if it was server side or a Windows update that has caused the change.

Work around:
This error does not occur if the Search tab is used to do a Generic Search, however once the error has occurred, the Generic Search no longer works. If the error has occurred, my advise would be to restart CircuitStudio and then only search by clicking the Search tab first, and searching in the Generic Search panel instead.

I just emailed them once more requesting an update for the ticket that was raised.

I will continue to chase them regarding this bug.

e14

sshaferdlm · Answer

Jack, it appears no one knows what the root cause is, not even sure if anyone is looking into it. Since Circuit Studio is an Altium product and is basically a stripped down - evidently poorly supported - version of Altium Designer, yes it is an Altium issue.

blade1693 · Answer

Although i agree totally that this needs to be fixed i was able to do a complete design from vault parts just by using the search tab on the left side. it would be great if it worked the other way too but anything you would search for the other way can still be found, just in a different way. I just mention this in case your actually stuck on a design, there is a work-a-round for now... I'm assuming this isn't a high priority for altium because there is still some access to the parts. Well until this feature stops working... As long as you don't try to do a search the other way, this way keeps working and wont crash the program.

sshaferdlm · Answer

Thanks Alex however I have the same issue with either tab Structure or Search.

"Object reference not set...." in vault explorer

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