Converter throwing Json Exception

HOOPS Communicator
1

Hi,
I am trying to evaluate the Hoops Communicator but seem unable to convert any files. I have tried the convert_file.bat, the easy_convert.js, and called the converter directly from the command line, but the result is the same:

It fails with one of these two messages:
ERROR 1: [json.exception.type_error.302] type must be number, but is null
ERROR 1: [json.exception.type_error.302] type must be number, but is number

Running the same file multiple times can result in either of them, but never at the same time. I have tried .nwd, .rvt, .ifc, and .obj files so far and with and without the server running.

I also tried it with a fresh download of the Communicator, but that did not appear to have any influence.

Any suggestions what might be causing this?

Edit: added picture

Screenshot 2025-04-30 110107
Screenshot 2025-04-30 1101071093Ă—251 13.7 KB

2

Hello @fthiel,

As a quick suggestion, can you try installing the required Windows redistributables as mentioned in our docs?

Thanks,
Tino

3

Hi @tino,

Thanks for getting back to me that quickly!

Not without going through our admins (locked down machine) which will take a few days. However, I have “Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x64) - 14.42.34438” installed.

I also found out something else in the meantime:
If I try the conversion often enough (and maybe fast enough), it can actually go through. I pressed up and enter on the command line a few times in quick succession (more out of frustration, than expecting anything to change), and was surprised to see it eventually process the model after displaying a server failure code. Despite that, the processing was successful as far as I can tell.
I attached a screenshot of that as well.

Screenshot 2025-04-30 140829
Screenshot 2025-04-30 1408291094Ă—180 68.9 KB

4

Thanks for confirming that you already have the redistributables installed.

If you are able to somehow “force” the conversion to go through, it sounds more like a permissions issue on your locked-down machine but I can’t be sure.

Let’s do one more test. In the directory HOOPS_Communicator_2025.X.0\authoring\converter\example, please run sample.bat. This batch file will run a serious of conversions that are all self-contained in the Communicator package.

5

Hi @tino,

I ran sample.bat twice with differing results. In the first pass, all failed except the last one, which showed the server failure code (134611203) again. In the second pass, that one failed too. Logs (with key redacted) are attached.

logs.zip (7.0 KB)

6

When running the conversion, are you connected to a virtual environment or are you running on a bare-metal installation?

Admittedly, I’ve not seen the server error nor the JSON error previously on other support tickets.

7

Bare metal. Just downloaded the zip, unpacked it to the local hard drive, and ran the scripts in the quickstart folder. It’s a Windows 11 system, if that helps.

8

Just a thought that occurred to me: is your converter.exe talking to a licensing server to verify my key? And if it does, what is its error message if it cannot reach it?

9

The license key validation does not require the converter.exe to “phone home” and will work without an internet connection.

All that being said, are you able to generate a new license key via the Developer Zone portal and use that for the conversion:

10

That worked… or at least the sample.bat ran through twice without issues now. Not sure why it works, but thanks a lot!

I will test more tomorrow and update later that day whether this resolved it completely.

Edit: Still works! Thanks a lot @tino!

1 Like