AutoCAD DXF
Encyclopedia
AutoCAD DXF is a CAD
data file format
developed by Autodesk
for enabling data interoperability
between AutoCAD
and other programs.
DXF was originally introduced in December 1982 as part of AutoCAD 1.0, and was intended to provide an exact representation of the data in the AutoCAD native file format, DWG
(Drawing), for which Autodesk for many years did not publish specifications. Because of this, correct imports of DXF files have been difficult. Autodesk now publishes the DXF specifications on its website for versions of DXF dating from AutoCAD Release 13 to AutoCAD 2010.
Versions of AutoCAD from Release 10 (October 1988) and up support both ASCII
and binary
forms of DXF. Earlier versions support only ASCII.
As AutoCAD has become more powerful, supporting more complex object types, DXF has become less useful. Certain object types, including ACIS
solids and regions, are not documented. Other object types, including AutoCAD 2006's dynamic blocks, and all of the objects specific to the vertical-market versions of AutoCAD, are partially documented, but not well enough to allow other developers to support them. For these reasons many CAD applications use the DWG
format which can be licensed from AutoDesk
or non-natively from the Open Design Alliance
.
The data format of a DXF is called a "tagged data" format which "means that each data element in the file is preceded by an integer number that is called a group code. A group code's value indicates what type of data element follows. This value also indicates the meaning of a data element for a given object (or record) type. Virtually all user-specified information in a drawing file can be represented in DXF format."
Computer-aided design
Computer-aided design , also known as computer-aided design and drafting , is the use of computer technology for the process of design and design-documentation. Computer Aided Drafting describes the process of drafting with a computer...
data file format
File format
A file format is a particular way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file.Since a disk drive, or indeed any computer storage, can store only bits, the computer must have some way of converting information to 0s and 1s and vice-versa. There are different kinds of formats for...
developed by Autodesk
Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that focuses on 3D design software for use in the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media and entertainment industries. The company was founded in 1982 by John Walker, a coauthor of the first versions of the company's...
for enabling data interoperability
CAD data exchange
CAD data exchange involves a number of software technologies and methods to translate data from one Computer-aided design system to another CAD file format...
between AutoCAD
AutoCAD
AutoCAD is a software application for computer-aided design and drafting in both 2D and 3D. It is developed and sold by Autodesk, Inc. First released in December 1982, AutoCAD was one of the first CAD programs to run on personal computers, notably the IBM PC...
and other programs.
DXF was originally introduced in December 1982 as part of AutoCAD 1.0, and was intended to provide an exact representation of the data in the AutoCAD native file format, DWG
.dwg
DWG is a binary file format used for storing two and three dimensional design data and metadata. It is the native format for several CAD packages including AutoCAD, IntelliCAD and Caddie. In addition, DWG is supported non-natively by many other CAD applications...
(Drawing), for which Autodesk for many years did not publish specifications. Because of this, correct imports of DXF files have been difficult. Autodesk now publishes the DXF specifications on its website for versions of DXF dating from AutoCAD Release 13 to AutoCAD 2010.
Versions of AutoCAD from Release 10 (October 1988) and up support both ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
and binary
Binary file
A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
forms of DXF. Earlier versions support only ASCII.
As AutoCAD has become more powerful, supporting more complex object types, DXF has become less useful. Certain object types, including ACIS
ACIS
The 3D ACIS Modeler is a 3D modelling kernel owned by Spatial Corporation . ACIS is used by many software developers in industries such as computer-aided design , Computer-aided manufacturing , Computer-aided engineering , Architecture, engineering and construction , Coordinate-measuring machine...
solids and regions, are not documented. Other object types, including AutoCAD 2006's dynamic blocks, and all of the objects specific to the vertical-market versions of AutoCAD, are partially documented, but not well enough to allow other developers to support them. For these reasons many CAD applications use the DWG
.dwg
DWG is a binary file format used for storing two and three dimensional design data and metadata. It is the native format for several CAD packages including AutoCAD, IntelliCAD and Caddie. In addition, DWG is supported non-natively by many other CAD applications...
format which can be licensed from AutoDesk
Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that focuses on 3D design software for use in the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media and entertainment industries. The company was founded in 1982 by John Walker, a coauthor of the first versions of the company's...
or non-natively from the Open Design Alliance
Open Design Alliance
The Open Design Alliance is a nonprofit organization of over 1,200 members in 50 countries which develops Teigha©, a software development platform used to create engineering applications including CAD...
.
File structure
ASCII versions of DXF can be read with a text-editor. The basic organization of a DXF file is as follows:- HEADER section – General information about the drawing. Each parameter has a variable name and an associated value.
- CLASSES section – Holds the information for application-defined classes whose instances appear in the BLOCKS, ENTITIES, and OBJECTS sections of the database. Generally does not provide sufficient information to allow interoperability with other programs.
- TABLES section – This section contains definitions of named items.
- Application ID (APPID) table
- Block Record (BLOCK_RECORD) table
- Dimension Style (DIMSTYPE) table
- Layer (LAYER) table
- Linetype (LTYPE) table
- Text style (STYLE) table
- User Coordinate System (UCS) table
- View (VIEW) table
- Viewport configuration (VPORT) table
- BLOCKS section – This section contains Block Definition entities describing the entities comprising each Block in the drawing.
- ENTITIES section – This section contains the drawing entities, including any Block References.
- OBJECTS section – Contains the data that apply to nongraphical objects, used by AutoLISP and ObjectARX applications.
- THUMBNAILIMAGE section – Contains the preview image for the DXF file.
- END OF FILE
The data format of a DXF is called a "tagged data" format which "means that each data element in the file is preceded by an integer number that is called a group code. A group code's value indicates what type of data element follows. This value also indicates the meaning of a data element for a given object (or record) type. Virtually all user-specified information in a drawing file can be represented in DXF format."
See also
- LibreDWG
- .dwg.dwgDWG is a binary file format used for storing two and three dimensional design data and metadata. It is the native format for several CAD packages including AutoCAD, IntelliCAD and Caddie. In addition, DWG is supported non-natively by many other CAD applications...
(DWG) - ArcMapArcMapArcMap is the main component of Esri's ArcGIS suite of geospatial processing programs, and is used primarily to view, edit, create, and analyze geospatial data. ArcMap allows the user to explore data within a data set, symbolize features accordingly, and create maps.- Functionality :ArcMap users...
- AutodeskAutodeskAutodesk, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that focuses on 3D design software for use in the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media and entertainment industries. The company was founded in 1982 by John Walker, a coauthor of the first versions of the company's...
- AutoCADAutoCADAutoCAD is a software application for computer-aided design and drafting in both 2D and 3D. It is developed and sold by Autodesk, Inc. First released in December 1982, AutoCAD was one of the first CAD programs to run on personal computers, notably the IBM PC...
- CAD
- DWFDesign Web FormatDesign Web Format is a secure file format developed by Autodesk for the efficient distribution and communication of rich design data to anyone who needs to view, review, or print design files...
- List of EDA companies
- OpenDWG
- QCadQCadQCad is a computer-aided design software package for 2D design and drafting. It is available for Linux, Mac OS X, Unix and Microsoft Windows....
- VoluMillVoluMillVoluMill is Computer Aided Manufacturing software developed by Celeritive Technologies that produces an ultra high performance toolpath designed for High Speed Machining applications. These applications include all 2-axis and 3-axis rough milling tasks, from simple prismatic parts to complex...
External links
- DXF Specifications – Autodesk documentation on versions of DXF from Release 13 to current.
- Open Design Alliance – Non-profit industry consortium which provides program libraries to read and write DWG and DXF files.
- Open Source DXF Viewer and Editor – Read, write, and draw to DXF files, export to image, print, zoom, pan.
- Kabeja – Open Source Java library for parsing, processing and converting DXF format. Can convert to SVG, PDF and others.
- Free On-line DXF viewer – an on-line viewer for DXF and other CAD format files. No registration is required.
- Free DXF viewer – a DXF viewer provided by SEW, supports Windows and DOS—Warning: Uninstaller does not work on Vista x64
- de·caff DXF Viewer – a free Java based DXF viewer, supporting 3D and saving as SVG, PDF and bitmap formats
- DXF Sharp Viewer – a free for personal use .NET based DXF/DWG viewer for Windows, supporting 3D and saving as SVG
- Total PDF to DXF Converter – a reliable converter to convert PDF to DXF.
- List of structural engineering software with DXF output
- Konvertor – a browser / converter to convert vectors and rasters formats to and from DXF.