AutoCAD DXF (Drawing Interchange Format, or Drawing Exchange Format) is a
CADComputer-aided design is the use of computer technology for the design of objects, real or virtual. CAD often involves more than just shapes...
data
file formatA 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
AutodeskAutodesk, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that focuses on 2D and 3D design software for use in architecture, engineering and building construction, manufacturing, and media and entertainment. Autodesk was founded in 1982 by John Walker, a coauthor of early versions of the company's...
for enabling
data interoperabilityCAD 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
AutoCADAutoCAD is a CAD software application for 2D and 3D design and drafting, developed and sold by Autodesk, Inc. Initially released in late 1982, AutoCAD was one of the first CAD programs to run on personal computers, and 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 (Drawing), for which Autodesk for many years did not publish specifications.
AutoCAD DXF (Drawing Interchange Format, or Drawing Exchange Format) is a
CADComputer-aided design is the use of computer technology for the design of objects, real or virtual. CAD often involves more than just shapes...
data
file formatA 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
AutodeskAutodesk, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that focuses on 2D and 3D design software for use in architecture, engineering and building construction, manufacturing, and media and entertainment. Autodesk was founded in 1982 by John Walker, a coauthor of early versions of the company's...
for enabling
data interoperabilityCAD 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
AutoCADAutoCAD is a CAD software application for 2D and 3D design and drafting, developed and sold by Autodesk, Inc. Initially released in late 1982, AutoCAD was one of the first CAD programs to run on personal computers, and 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 (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
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
ASCIIThe 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
binaryA 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
ACISThe 3D ACIS Modeler is a 3D modelling kernel owned by Spatial Corporation . ACIS is used by many software developers 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 format which can be licensed from
AutoDeskAutodesk, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that focuses on 2D and 3D design software for use in architecture, engineering and building construction, manufacturing, and media and entertainment. Autodesk was founded in 1982 by John Walker, a coauthor of early versions of the company's...
or non-natively from the
Open Design AllianceThe Open Design Alliance is an alliance of members that seeks to develop libraries for standard CAD formats. The main idea is to make CAD drawings more accessible and increase competition in the market for CAD software....
.
The current AutoCAD
file formatA 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...
(.dwfx) is based on ISO/IEC 29500-2:2008
Open Packaging ConventionThe Open Packaging Conventions is a file packaging format initially created by Microsoft for storing a combination of XML and non-XML files that together form a single entity like an Open XML Paper Specification document in a single compressed file container...
.
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."
Software that supports DXF
- A9Cad
- Adobe FrameMaker
- Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor developed and marketed by Adobe Systems.The latest version, Illustrator CS4, is the fourteenth generation in the product line...
- AGI32
- AI4CAD 3D
- Alibre Design
Alibre Design is a parametric feature-based three-dimensional Solid modeling CAD software that runs on Microsoft Windows and was created by Alibre, Inc.-Overview:...
- Altium
- ArchiCAD
ArchiCAD is an architectural BIM CAD software for Macintosh and Windows developed by the Hungarian company Graphisoft.Development started in 1982 for the original Apple Macintosh. ArchiCAD is recognized as the first CAD product on a personal computer able to create both 2D and 3D drawings...
- ArcMap
ArcMap is the main component of ESRI’s ArcGIS suite of geospatial processing programs, and it 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 for clients.In addition, it...
- ArtiosCAD
- AutoCAD
AutoCAD is a CAD software application for 2D and 3D design and drafting, developed and sold by Autodesk, Inc. Initially released in late 1982, AutoCAD was one of the first CAD programs to run on personal computers, and notably the IBM PC...
- AutoDWG
- Ayam
- Blender
Blender is a 3D graphics application released as free software under the GNU General Public License. It can be used for modeling, UV unwrapping, texturing, rigging, water simulations, skinning, animating, rendering, particle, and other simulations, non-linear editing, compositing, and creating...
- DXFr12 2D+3D
- BRL-CAD
BRL-CAD is a constructive solid geometry solid modeling computer-aided design system. It includes an interactive geometry editor, ray tracing support for graphics rendering and geometric analysis, computer network distributed framebuffer support, scripting, image-processing and signal-processing...
- Cadwork
cadwork is a computer aided design software, created in 1980 by the , and followed in 1982 by the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne , before it came a Swiss society in 1988 ....
- CoCreate Drafting (formerly Me10)
- CoCreate Annotation
- Corel Draw
- DataCAD
DataCAD is a computer-aided design and drafting software for 2D and 3D architectural design and drafting, developed and sold by DATACAD LLC.-Usage:...
- Dia
- Drawbase
Drawbase Software, founded in 1986, is the producer of Drawbase, an integrated workplace management system . This product line includes several optional software applications, such as the Move Manager and the MEP Manager, which serve to enhance facility management.The company’s corporate...
- DWGeditor
- DWGSee
- Easy-PC
- Epanet
EPANET is a dynamic water distribution system simulation model released by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for both utilities and consultants. It uses the standard node-link relationship common throughout most engineering programs...
- Eye-Sys
Eye-Sys is a general-purpose commercial visualization application. It was developed by Interactive Data Visualization, Inc. , developers of the SpeedTree video game middleware. Eye-Sys development was partially funded by the U.S...
- EnRoutehttp://www.enroute3.com
- FASTechnologies NC-CAM
NC-CAM is a computer-aided manufacturing software program introduced in 1989, and used by printed circuit board manufacturers to create, modify, and optimize the CNC program files used by printed circuit board drilling and routing machines...
- Geosoft Oasis montaj
- Google SketchUp
- GraphCalc
GraphCalc is an open source and GPLed computer program that runs in Microsoft Windows and Linux that provides the functionality of a graphing calculator....
- Export only
- Inkscape
Inkscape is a vector graphics editor application. It is distributed under a free software license, the GNU GPL. Its stated goal is to become a powerful graphics tool while being fully compliant with the XML, SVG, and CSS standards....
- export only as of version 0.46
- IntelliCAD
IntelliCAD is a CAD-software programming toolkit and API published by the IntelliCAD Technology Consortium . IntelliCAD aims to emulate the basic interface and functions of AutoCAD. Unlike typical CAD programs, ITC IntelliCAD is not sold directly to end users...
- Harness Expert
- Hevacomp
- Kabeja
- Leica Geo Office
- Lenel OnGuard
- LD Assistant
- Lightcalc
- Manifold System
Manifold System is a geographic information system software package developed by manifold.net that runs on Microsoft Windows. The GIS software competes with ESRI and MapInfo GIS products. Manifold 7.00 handles both vector and raster data, includes spatial SQL, a built-in Internet Map Server , and...
- Maple 12
Maple is a general-purpose commercial computer algebra system. It was first developed in 1980 by the Symbolic Computation Group at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada....
- Mathematica
Mathematica is a computational software program used in scientific, engineering, and mathematical fields and other areas of technical computing...
- MetaCAM
- Microlux
- Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Visio , marketed as Microsoft Office Visio, is a diagramming program for Microsoft Windows that uses vector graphics to create diagrams...
- Microstation
MicroStation is a CAD software product for 2- and 3-dimensional design and drafting, developed and sold by Bentley Systems. The latest versions of the software are released solely for Microsoft Windows operating systems, but historically MicroStation was available for Macintosh platforms and a...
- miniPLAN
- Modo (software)
modo is an advanced polygon, subdivision surface, modeling, sculpting, 3D painting, animation and rendering package developed by Luxology, LLC...
- OmniWin Cadnest
- OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org , commonly known as OpenOffice, is an office application suite available for a number of different computer operating systems. It is distributed as free software and written using its own GUI toolkit...
- Paint Shop Pro
- PETRA
Positron-Electron Tandem Ring Accelerator is one of the particle accelerators at DESY in Hamburg, Germany. From 1978 to 1986 it was used to study electron-positron collisions. It was here that the TASSO collaboration found the first direct evidence for gluons in three jet events...
- Photopia (software)
- Pictures by PC
- Pro/Engineer
Pro/ENGINEER is a parametric, integrated 3D CAD/CAM/CAE solution created by Parametric Technology Corporation . It was the first successful, parametric, feature-based, associative solid modeling software on the market...
- pdf2cad
- eFrontier's Poser 6 and up
- QCad
QCad is a computer-aided design software package for 2D design and drafting. It is available for Linux, Mac OS X, Unix and Microsoft Windows. The QCad Community Edition, which lacks functionality present in the full version, is released under the GNU General Public License and is not available...
- RackTools
- Rhinoceros 3D
Rhinoceros is a stand-alone, commercial NURBS-based 3-D modeling tool, developed by Robert McNeel & Associates. The software is commonly used for industrial design, architecture, marine design, jewelry design, automotive design, CAD / CAM, rapid prototyping, reverse engineering as well as the...
- Solid Edge
Solid Edge is a 3D CAD parametric feature solid modeling software. It runs on Microsoft Windows and provides solid modeling, assembly modelling and drafting functionality for mechanical engineers...
- Solidworks
SolidWorks is a 3D mechanical CAD program that runs on Microsoft Windows and was developed by Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp., a subsidiary of Dassault Systèmes, S. A....
- Unigraphics
- Valve Hammer
- VariCAD
VariCAD is a computer program for 3D/2D CAD and mechanical engineering which has been developed since 1988. VariCAD runs on Windows and Linux. It features many tools for 3D modeling and 2D drafting, mechanical part and symbol libraries, calculations, bills of materials, and more.The program...
- VectorWorks
Vectorworks is a computer-aided design software program developed by Nemetschek North America that is used for drafting, technical drawing and 3D modeling.-Description:...
- ViaCAD
ViaCAD is a consumer-level CAD software family developed by Punch!CAD Software. ViaCAD is based on the ACIS graphic kernel. 2D, 3D, surface and solid modeling tools are available...
- Visual
- Working Model 2D
- YCAD Java DXF Library
See also
- DWF
Design 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...
- DWG
- Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that focuses on 2D and 3D design software for use in architecture, engineering and building construction, manufacturing, and media and entertainment. Autodesk was founded in 1982 by John Walker, a coauthor of early versions of the company's...
- AutoCAD
AutoCAD is a CAD software application for 2D and 3D design and drafting, developed and sold by Autodesk, Inc. Initially released in late 1982, AutoCAD was one of the first CAD programs to run on personal computers, and notably the IBM PC...
- CAD
- QCad
QCad is a computer-aided design software package for 2D design and drafting. It is available for Linux, Mac OS X, Unix and Microsoft Windows. The QCad Community Edition, which lacks functionality present in the full version, is released under the GNU General Public License and is not available...
- OpenDWG
- ArcMap
ArcMap is the main component of ESRI’s ArcGIS suite of geospatial processing programs, and it 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 for clients.In addition, it...
External links