CoCreate
DXF/DWG (TM*)
Translator

Version 13.00

© 1985 - 2004 CoCreate Software GmbH & Co. KG.
All Rights Reserved.

CONTENTS

Section 1: General Notes
Section 2: Supported MI, AutoCAD and SVG Versions
Section 3: Limitations
Section 4: Configuration file

SECTION 1 - General Notes

DXF/DWG translator version 13.00 is supported on the following operating systems:

• HP-UX 11.11
• Windows 2000 Professional
• Windows XP Professional

SECTION 2 - Supported MI, AutoCAD and SVG Versions

The MI version currently written by Designer Drafting 13.00 is 3.00. Following matrix shows the supported MI, AutoCAD and SVG versions of the CoCreate DXF/DWG Translator.

    _______________________________________________________________________________
                |        Translator Reads        |        Translator Writes
    ------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------------
    MI Version  |         2.50 and newer         |              3.00              -
    ------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------------
    AutoCAD:    |                                |                                -
    DWG Version |  12, 13, 14, 2000, 2002, 2004  |  12, 13, 14, 2000, 2002, 2004  -
    DXF Version |  12, 13, 14, 2000, 2002, 2004  |  12, 13, 14, 2000, 2002, 2004  -
    ------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------------
    SVG Version |                                |              1.0               -
    _______________________________________________________________________________

SECTION 3 - Limitations

Limitations on HP-UX platform

• Translator can not read release 12 DXF binary format files.
• In some cases, dimension arrow types are not correctly translates at MI->DXF/DWG translation.
• Dimension arrow types, defined in dimension overrides, are not correctly translated. They are converted into the default arrow type (ARROW_TYPE).

MI -> SVG translation

• All distances are lost (length of line is not the same in original and translated drawing), but ratio between lengths is preserved.
• MI font files can not be created or read by the translator. User can map these fonts to similar AutoCAD or TrueType fonts. Texts in SVG file format will be shown correctly only if font file is found on the system (see also switch FontFilesPath). If user wants to preserve exactly the same look of texts in translated SVG drawing as in MI file, he should convert all texts to geometry before the translation (using command TEXT_TO_GEO).

ALL DIRECTIONS

• PIXMAP-data can not be passed through the translator directly. Please have pixel-data saved separately and import this data back in the translated drawing.

MI -> DXF/DWG/SVG

• DXF/DWG file format supports only numeric values in dimension tolerances. All translated tolerances with non-numeric characters (edited tolerances) will be changed, when dimension update is performed in AutoCAD. Only dot character is treated as decimal point and as such it is preserved.
  Translator parses first number from edited tolerance text and writes it as AutoCAD tolerance value. For example:
  - value 15 ±a123b456 after update is changed to 15 ±123
  - value 15 ±a123,456 after update is changed to 15 ±123
• All non-simple hatch patterns are translated into custom-defined hatch patterns in DXF/DWG file format. In translator versions, previous to 13.00, such patterns were translated into user-defined patterns.
  Simple hatch patterns are translated to user-defined patterns. Simple hatch pattern is a pattern with following characteristics:
  • Referernce point 0,0
  • Pattern offset 0
  • Pattern distance 1
  • Pattern angle 0
  According to AutoCAD documentation, if user wants to make changes to custom-defined hatch patterns, he has to provide the pattern file.

• Compressed MI files are not supported. In order to translate them they should be uncompressed; this can be done via Designer Drafting or with help of standard Unix 'uncompress' utility.
• Old MI formats are not read; only 2.5 and newer are supported. In order to use them, they should be first converted to a newer supported format version.
• In DXF file format, a spline can be presented in tree different ways:
  • with control points, knot values and fit points
  • with control points and knot values
  • with fit points
  
  Translator can produce only the first two spline presentations (with control points, knot values, fit points and with control points and knot values).
  Splines, which have fit points in their presentation, can not look exactly the same in AutoCAD as in OSDD. To achieve the same look in both applications splines without fit points should be created. Some AutoCAD versions can have problems loading very small splines. In most cases if file with such splines is loaded into OSDD using CHECK_2D option before translation, translated file does not cause any problems in AutoCAD.
• By default translator creates splines with control points, knot values and fit points. If number of calculated fit points exceeds 10000, the spline is not translated. Calculation of fit points is based on control points and knot values. If the original spline has a lot of control points (5000 and more), after conversion it can have more than 10000 fit points. Number of control points can increase considerably if spline is translated to DXF and then back to MI file format.
  
  When translator creates splines with control points, knot values and fit points, distance between all calculated fit points must be greater than 1E-8, otherwise spline will not be translated. This filtering is done in translator, because some AutoCAD versions have problems with very small splines. Distance 1E-8 was determined by testing and seeing how AutoCAD R14 responds to small splines. To translate such splines set switch CreateSplineFitPoints to OFF. In this case all valid splines will be translated into splines, presented by control points and knot values, which are not filtered by translator.
• Old-type Designer Drafting splines are not supported. They should be first converted to the "new-style" B-splines.

• Positioning of text, including dimension text, is not completely correct. This is caused by:

  1. Font's baselines in Designer Drafting and AutoCAD are different.

  2. When text is anchored in point different than the left lower corner for correct calculations the exact data about character width is required (the only way to obtain this data is by reading Designer Drafting and AutoCAD fonts). Because of this, when translated to AutoCAD, multiline text will always be justified to the left regardless of the anchoring point.

• Line spacing in multi-line texts is not preserved at translation to R14 DXF/DWG file format, because this feature is not supported in pre-AutoCAD 2000 DXF/DWG files.
  To preserve line spacing also at translation into R14 DXF/DWG file format, split multi-line texts into one-line texts in OSDD before translation using command TEXT_SPLIT.

• Dimension text superfixes and subfixes can't be positioned exactly since AutoCAD doesn't provide this feature. They are translated to super- and subscript text. If destination format is AutoCAD 12 file, they are not translated.

• Dimension text orientation is lost in the translation in case that it is not parallel and the position is above the dimension line.

• Dimension arrow position (inside or outside) can change after the translated dimension is updated in AutoCAD, or re-translated back to Designer Drafting. This is because AutoCAD recalculates it depending on the available space between the two extension lines.

• If one-line text is rotated, contains special symbols or is not bottom left aligned it is translated into multiline text (baseline limitation).
• Hatches and overlapped objects: AutoCAD's way of filling objects that overlap is different than Designer Drafting's and in some cases the translated hatches look differently.
  For example: if inner contour completely surrounds the outer contour, OSDD will not draw the hatch, but AutoCad will draw it.
• Prefix/Postfix color can be different in Designer Drafting. In AutoCAD this is one string and can not have different colors.
• Some of the GD&T symbols do not exist in AutoCAD, therefore they are translated to '?' or similar symbol (examples are square and circular target symbols).
• Designer Drafting has more delimiter types in the GD&T Symbols than AutoCAD, therefore all Designer Drafting delimiters are translated into one AutoCAD delimiter. Difference in these different delimiters is only in spaces around them. Types of delimiters in Designer Drafting ({,},|, some GD&T Symbols already include delimiter).
• Linetypes are mapped correctly, but sometimes AutoCAD does not show them correctly. After specifying some scaling factors or zooming the drawing correct linetype show up.
• The hidden point of the new type of coordinate dimensions in detail view will become visible in a forward translation (MI->DXF).
• Short datum dimensions are converted to geometry.

• Because DXF/DWG file format does not support ISO, DIN and JIS ordinate dimensions, all horizontal and vertical coordinate dimensions are translated into ANSI ordinate dimensions at forward translation. All other coordinate dimensions (parallel, inclined...) are translated to geometry.
  To translate all dimensions into geometry, please use switch ConvertMIDimensionsToGeometry.

• Staggers and breaks are not translated, because DXF/DWG file format does not support these features in dimension entities.

• Parts in MI file format can have two different scale factors. Each part has its own scale factor, and each insertion of part has its own transformation matrix, where additional scale factor can be applied. On the other hand, only the insertions of blocks have the scale factor in DXF/DWG file format, while the blocks don't have their own scale factor. Because of differences in formats, both scale factors from MI file format are calculated into one scale factor, which is written into instance of DXF/DWG block. At backward translation scale factor is applied only to transformation matrix of part instance.

• Following table shows entities that are not supported in a determinate DXF/DWG file format, and to which entity they are converted:

Entity	supported in R12	supported in R13	converts to
Hatch	No	No	geometry (lines)
Spline	No	Yes	Polyline (approximation)
Ellipse	No	Yes	Polyline (approximation)
Construction line	No	Yes	Line
Leader_Line	No	Yes	Polyline
Mtext	No	Yes	Texts
Gdt_Symbols	No	Yes	Text

DXF/DWG -> MI

• Dimension text is parsed from dimension geometry block, since translator can not measure the dimension distance. This is not 100% reliable method, but is currently the only way to parse the dimension text. Implementation of this algorithm is based on dimensions, created by AutoCAD, and it expects all text entities in geometry block to be in a specific order.
• Dimension text is always translated to edited dimension text and will not automatically adjust to changes in the attached geometry. To update the dimension text is necessary to use CANCEL_EDIT_DIM_TEXT command in Designer Drafting. If the dimension is updated the dimension text will be recalculated from the associated geometry.
  The dim text will be recalculated according to the current setting of the DIM_UNITS. If you wish to change the setting of the DIM_UNIT, enter prior to the update the following command: CURRENT_DIM_UNITS MAIN_DIM UNITS. NOTE: The update concerns only DIM, not TEXT EXT.
• Linetype and color BYLAYER/BYBLOCK are not always translated correctly. This happens if the entities are getting their color or linetype from the block insert and the inserts are having different colors or linetypes they will be converted to the same color or linetype. This is caused by the how the inserts are translated: multiple inserts of the same block are translated into shared parts and different instances of a shared part can not be different. In order to get a correct colors after translation, but loosing shared parts, you can explode the blocks in AutoCAD.

• Blocks inserted on both, visible and invisible layers, containing elements on special layer '0' are not always translated, in case that layer '0' is set as invisible. This is not possible, since blocks are translated to shared parts and in Designer Drafting all shared part instances are equal. Set TranslateInvisibleLayers to ON or make layer '0' visible to force their translation.
• Non-split hatches may give unexpected results. Designer Drafting expects that between any two points in the contours that defines the hatch there is just one possible path. In case there are more the contour has to be split or use CreateManualHatch switch. In order to translate the hatch into geometry you can explode the hatch block in AutoCAD.
• If using CreateManualHatch switch, solid hatches bound by rounded objects may appear incorrect (cornered). This happens, because Designer Drafting allows only PLN entity for defining manual hatches.
• When translating hatches, created by selecting objects instead of picking points and have more than two contours (one outer and one inner), some data may be lost. These hatches could appear differently than in AutoCAD.
  At translating such hatches, translator writes warning into log file: Some data in hatch (<Handle>) may be lost!
  This warning does not necessarily mean that translated hatch is different. Hatch becomes different only if contours intersect, or there are more than one outer contours and any contour overlap or intersect with another contour. In case of many outer contours, translator creates a separate hatch entity for each contour. In any case, if contours intersect or not, a warning is written into log file, because translator does not have the functionality to determine if contours intersect.
• Some splines can not be translated as they are giving knot and control point values that Designer Drafting does not accept properly. Designer Drafting will give warning that certain splines are not valid.
• Splines, presented by control points, knot values and fit points can not be accurately translated to MI file format, as they are converted trough fit points. There are many possible splines which go through the same fit points. Unfortunately we do not have the algorithm for calculating control points and knots from fit points, used by AutoCAD.
  For accurate translation of these splines, new switch SplineControlPointTranslation was introduced. If this switch is set to ON, splines will be translated through control points and knot values. Translated spline will be accurate if control points and knot values in original spline are not corrupted.
• Closed splines presented by control points and knot values are translated into closed non-periodic MI B-Splines.
• Rational DXF splines with any weight different than 1 can not be accurately translated to MI format. When such spline is found in DXF file, warning "Spline is rational. Some data may be imprecise!" is written into log file.
• Radius, angular and diameter dimensions are converted to geometry.
• Text box for all texts, including dimension texts, is calculated approximately as the translator doesn't have all the information about the text (character width and height).
• Only text properties defined in text style are translated. Text formats (e.g. font, size, ...) defined within text itself are not translated to MI.
• Multilines are not translated.
• Traces are not translated.
• Solid 3D region bodies are not translated.
• 3D faces are not translated.
• Regions are not translated.
• Blocks inserted in 3D space (i.e. with extrusion vector non-parallel to Z-axis) are not translated.
• In order to find the drawing units, the translator relies on AutoCAD MEASUREMENT system variable. This variable is set to 0 when the dimension style is set to ANSI (style used when you select English in Start from Scratch) and 1 when the dimension style is set to ISO-25 (the default when you select Metric in Start from Scratch), DIN or JIS. In the first case the drawing units are set to inches, in the second case to millimeters. The user can override this behavior by setting CustomUnits switch in the configuration file to ON. This forces the translator to take the units specified in Units and UnitsScale parameters (see below).
• As the MEASUREMENT system variable was introduced in R14 of AutoCAD, setting of units based on it may produce wrong results when translating files in older formats. For these cases use the above mentioned setting.
• Linetypes are not always mapped correctly. Their pattern is represented differently in AutoCAD and Designer Drafting. In AutoCAD pattern defines lengths in millimeters and these are real numbers, in Designer Drafting pattern defines lengths in pixels as integers. Because of completely different line pattern representation it is impossible to map all linetypes correctly at back translation.
• When translating from Paper space, all entities are converted into lines and solid hatches.
  Also all distances are lost. This means that if in Paper space a line is 15 inches long, translated line will not have the same length any more.
  Because all entities are approximated by lines, translation time can be very long and translated file can become very large.
  When translating text entities from Paper space, correct TrueType or AutoCAD (.shx) font files must be provided to the translator (see configuration switch FontFilesPath). If font file is not found on the system, translator will use the default font, and all special characters (umlauts, etc.) will be translated as "?".
• External references (blocks) are not translated by translator, because Designer Drafting does not support them. When translator finds external reference in DXF/DWG file, it writes detailed information into log file and Designer Drafting shows, warning message.

Detailed information about external reference in log file:

• Part [Name of the part in which external reference is located]
• File [Name of the external reference file]
• Parent part [Name of parent part to the part, where external reference is located]
• Insertion(X,Y) [X and Y insertion point]
• Rotation [Rotation angle of external reference in degrees]
• Scale(X,Y) [X and Y scale factor of external reference]

User should load external file manually and insert it into parent file using correct insertion point, rotation and scaling factor. (example:)


• Part = externalPart
• File = C:\temp\externalPart.dwg
• Parent part = sPart
• Insertion(X,Y) = 10,20
• Rotation = 90 degrees
• Scale(X,Y) = 0.5,0.5

Move to part named 'sPart'

• create new subpart (init_subpart 'externalPart')
• load external reference (load subpart 'C:\temp\externalPart.dwg')
• input insertion points (10,20)
• rotate part (modify rotate 10,20 90)
• scale part (modify scale 10,20 0.5)

SECTION 4 - Configuration file

This part contains a short reference to the configuration file switches.

Index:

• HatchToContours
• CreateManualHatch
• CustomUnits
• Units and UnitsScale
• FontMapACADtoMI
• FontMapMItoACAD
• FontMapMI2toACAD
• LineTypeGlobalScale
• LinetypeMapACADtoMI
• ArrowMapACADtoMI
• ArrowMapMItoACAD
• KanjiTranslate
• KeepTopScale
• PolymarkerType
• StartSection
• TranslateDXFPenLineSize
• TranslateInvisibleLayers
• TranslateMIPenLineSize
• TranslateSubfixDimProp
• TranslateSuperfixDimProp
• TranslatePaperspace
• LayoutName
• ConvertMIDimensionsToGeometry
• ExplodeDXFDimensions
• KeepAttributesWithPart
• OutputACADVersion
• DXFDecimalPrecision
• RecordByLayerInfo
• CreateSplineFitPoints
• HighSplinePrecision
• SplineControlPointTranslation
• MinimumHatchSpacingDensity
• InternalHandseed
• TranslateDXFInvisibleEntities
• TranslateMIInvisibleEntities
• FontFilesPath
• SVGDarkBackground
• ContourSnapGap

Contents:

• HatchToContours

  This switch is used in DXF/DWG->MI translation. It defines whether AutoCAD hatches are converted into contours. When this switch is set to ON, all non associative hatches are converted into contours. This means that a hatch is not translated, only its contours are converted into polylines. User can hatch these contours manually in Drafting. If both switches CreateManualHatch and HatchToContours are set to ON, also all associative hatches are converted into contours. In this case, no hatch is translated into MI drawing.
  ON -> DXF/DWG hatches are converted into contours
  OFF -> DXF/DWG hatches are translated into MI hatches (default)
  Back to Index

  
  
• CreateManualHatch

  This switch is used in DXF/DWG->MI translation. It defines if AutoCAD hatches are translated into Designer Drafting automatic or manual hatches.
  OFF -> Automatic hatches (default)
  ON -> Manual hatches
  Back to Index

  
  
• CustomUnits

  This switch is used for DXF/DWG->MI translation. It controls how to set the drawing units. Default value is OFF.
  When set to ON, the drawing units will be set based on the values of Units and UnitsScale parameters.
  When set to OFF, the drawing units will be based on AutoCAD MEASUREMENT variable: 0 for inches and 1 for millimeters.
  Back to Index

  
  
• Units and UnitsScale

  Units parameter specifies the units used in the DXF/DWG -> MI translation, and UnitsScale the scale of the units used. If switch CustomUnits is set to ON, both parameters (Units and UnitsScale) should be set correctly.
  The following table is an example, which shows the relationship between these two parameters, if original file is drawn in Metric units (millimeters):

        Units                           UnitsScale
        -----------------------------------------------
        micrometer        um              0.001
        millimeter        mm              1.0
        centimeter        cm              10.0
        meter             m               1000.0
        kilometer         km              1000000.0
        microinch         unich           0.0000254
        mil               mil             0.0254
        inch              in              25.4
        foot              foot            304.8
        yard              yard            914.4
        mile              mile            1609344.0
        user unit         user unit       See below
        

  In case, that original drawing is drawn in English units (inches), values in table should be correctly recalculated.
  In the case of user unit, Units are user defined and the corresponding UnitsScale factor must be calculated. For example, if the user wants units to be 2 inches, UnitsScale must be set to 2x25.4 = 50.8.
  The default settings are mm and 1.0 for Units and UnitsScale respectively.
  Back to Index

  
  
• FontMapACADtoMI

  This setting controls the font-mapping from AutoCAD to Designer Drafting fonts. The customization process uses six parameters:

  1. source AutoCAD font name,
  2. destination 1-byte Designer Drafting font name,
  3. destination 2-byte Designer Drafting font name,
  4. width ratio (MI to AutoCAD ratio),
  5. line spacing, and
  6. vertical line spacing.

Font mapping is not performed at Paper space translation.
Back to Index


• FontMapMItoACAD

  This setting is used at MI->DXF/DWG/SVG translation. It controls the font-mapping from Designer Drafting to AutoCAD fonts. The mapping is controlled by the following parameters:

  1. source 1-byte Designer Drafting font name,
  2. destination AutoCAD font name,
  3. width ratio (MI to AutoCAD ratio),
  4. magic string (used in AutoCAD fonts), and
  5. magic number (used in AutoCAD fonts).
  6. line spacing (used for Mtext entities in AutoCad 2000 and later versions)

  Note: "Magic" information can be obtained from a DXF file containing the font.
  Back to Index

  
  
• FontMapMI2toACAD

  This setting is similar to the previous one, but it is used for mapping of 2-byte Designer Drafting fonts to AutoCAD fonts. The mapping is controlled by the following parameters:

  1. source 2-byte Designer Drafting font name,
  2. destination AutoCAD font name,
  3. width ratio (MI to AutoCAD ratio),
  4. magic string (used in AutoCAD fonts), and
  5. magic number (used in AutoCAD fonts).
  6. line spacing (used for Mtext entities in AutoCad 2000 and later versions)
  7. big font name (empty string when mapping into True Type fonts)

  Note: "Magic" information can be obtained from a DXF file containing the font.
  
  Microsoft supplies TrueType Collections (.ttc) instead of standard TrueType Fonts (.ttf) for some fonts with Windows XP operating system. User should correct default font mapping for font "msmincho", depending on supplied font files on installed operating system, before translating kanji characters into SVG file format. "msmincho.ttc" should be replaced with "msmincho.ttf" in DXFDWG.con file, if installed operating system has only "msmincho.ttf" font file.
  Back to Index

  
  
• LineTypeGlobalScale

  This setting is used to define the global line type scale for the translated DXF/DWG drawing. It can be set to zero or negative to force recalculation based on overall drawing size.
  Default is 1.0
  Back to Index

  
  
• LinetypeMapACADtoMI

  This setting(s) is used to define the mapping of AutoCAD linetypes to MI linetypes. The first parameter is the AutoCAD linetype name and the second is the name of the corresponding Designer Drafting linetype name.
  Back to Index

  
  
• ArrowMapACADtoMI

  This setting(s) define how to map arrows from AutoCAD to MI. The mapping is defined with the following parameters:

  1. name of the AutoCAD arrow,
  2. name of the Designer Drafting arrow,
  3. arrow scale, and
  4. arrow fill (ON/OFF).
  
  Back to Index
  
  
• ArrowMapMItoACAD

  This setting(s) define how to map arrows from MI to DXF/DWG/SVG file format. The mapping is defined with the following parameters:

  1. name of the Designer Drafting arrow,
  2. Designer Drafting arrow fill (ON/OFF),
  3. name of the AutoCAD arrow, and
  4. arrow scale.
  
  Back to Index
  
  
• KanjiTranslate

  This switch controls the translation of the Kanji characters. It can be ON of OFF (default).
  Back to Index

  
  
• KeepTopScale

  It is used at MI to DXF/DWG translation. It forces the top scale to be kept or to be recalculated. Default value is OFF.
  When set to ON, the Top part will be within a block in AutoCAD and its drawing scale preserved. This behavior is considered as version 8.7 behavior.
  When set to OFF, the Top part will exist as a "loose" entity, with all subsidiary parts placed within AutoCAD blocks.
  Back to Index

  
  
• PolymarkerType

  Defines the default polymarker for DXF/DWG/SVG points. By default is set to 2.
  Back to Index

  
  
• StartSection

  This switch controls the MI start section and it is intended to be used for user-supplied text describing the contents of the drawing.
  Back to Index

  
  
• TranslateDXFPenLineSize

  Defines how the DXF/DWG linesizes are converted. There are four possible values:

  1. Translate DXF Linesize into MI Linesize
  2. Translate DXF Linesize into MI Pensize
  3. Translate DXF Linesize into 0
  4. Translate DXF Linesize into MI Linesize and DXF Lineweight into MI Pensize (default)
  
  Back to Index
  
  
• TranslateInvisibleLayers

  Defines if AutoCAD layers that are "Frozen" and "Off" are translated to MI file. By default it is set to OFF.
  Back to Index

  
  
• TranslateMIPenLineSize

  This configuration switch determines how the pensize and linesize are translated. There are five possible values:

  1. Translate MI Pensize and Linesize into DXF/DWG Linesize (default)
  2. Translate MI Pensize and Linesize into 0
  3. Translate MI Linesize into DXF/DWG Linesize and MI Pensize into 0
  4. Translate MI Linesize into DXF/DWG Linesize and MI Pensize into
  DXF/DWG Lineweight
  5. Translate MI Linesize and Pensize into DXF/DWG Lineweight
  
  Back to Index
  
  
• TranslateSubfixDimProp

  This switch is used for MI->DXF/DWG translation. Controls whether dimension subfixes are translated or not. By default is set to ON.
  When translating to R12 DXF/DWG file format, this switch is automatically set to OFF.
  Back to Index

  
  
• TranslateSuperfixDimProp

  This switch is used for MI->DXF/DWG translation. Controls whether dimension superfixes are translated or not. By default is set to ON.
  When translating to R12 DXF/DWG file format, this switch is automatically set to OFF.
  Back to Index

  
  
• TranslatePaperspace

  This switch controls the translation of Paper space or Model space. By default is set to OFF.
  ON -> Paper space is translated
  OFF -> Model space is translated
  

  AutoCAD 2000 and later versions can create files with more than one Paper space. They are called Layouts. To translate selected Layout use the LayoutName switch.

  When TranslatePaperspace is set to ON, translator considers only followed switches:

  • LayoutName
  • FontFilesPath
  • KanjiTranslate
  All other switches are ignored.
  Back to Index
  
  
• LayoutName

  This switch controls which Layout is translated. It has effect only when TranslatePaperspace is set to ON and input file is at least AutoCAD 2000 file.
  If specified layout name is not found in the file, the default Paper space layout is translated.
  Back to Index

  
  
• ConvertMIDimensionsToGeometry

  This switch is used for MI->DXF/DWG translation. Controls whether dimensions are translated into geometry or into dimension entity. By default is set to OFF.
  ON -> Translates dimension into geometry.
  OFF -> Translates dimension into dimension entity.
  Back to Index

  
  
• ExplodeDXFDimensions

  This switch is used for DXF/DWG->MI translation. Controls whether dimensions are translated into geometry elements or into dimension element. By default is set to OFF.
  ON -> Translates dimension into geometry elements.
  OFF -> Translates dimension into dimension element.
  Back to Index

  
  
• KeepAttributesWithPart

  Block attributes in DXF are translated to text in MI and positioned in the parent part. Setting this switch to ON will cause a creation of additional subpart for each block containing attributes. This way the attributes are kept with the part to which they belong.
  Default value is OFF.
  Back to Index

  
  
• OutputACADVersion

  This switch is used for MI->DXF/DWG translation. It determines DXF/DWG output format version.
  

  switch value	AutoCad version file format
  AC1018	2004
  AC1015	2000, 2002
  AC1014	14
  AC1012	13
  AC1009	12

  Default value is AC1015 (AutoCAD 2000/2002).
  Back to Index

  
  
• DXFDecimalPrecision

  This switch is used in MI->DXF translation. It determines the number of decimal places for writing coordinate and angle values in DXF file. User can define precision with this switch. Default value is 14.
  Back to Index

  
  
• RecordByLayerInfo

  This switch is used in both directions of the translation. It is set to OFF by default.
  If set to ON in DXF->MI translation, it will add a special ACAD_COLOR_BY_LAYER info text to every entity that has color set to ByLayer. Similarly it will add ACAD_LINETYPE_BY_LAYER for line types.
  It will also add special ACAD_LAYER, ACAD_LAYER_STATUS and ACAD_LAYER_LINETYPE info text for each layer, to keep layer's color, linetype and status (visible, frozen and locked) at DXF->MI->DXF translation.
  At MI->DXF translation, the geometry that has above mentioned info texts attached will have assigned ByLayer color and/or line type. All this properties must belong to 'SYS:LAYER_SCOPE' standard name space (using INFO_NAMESPACE option in Designer Drafting).
  Back to Index

  
  
• CreateSplineFitPoints

  This switch is used in MI->DXF/DWG/SVG translation. It is set to ON by default. It determines into which type of DXF spline presentation are the MI splines converted.
  ON - Create splines with control points, knot values and fit points.
  OFF - Create splines with control points and knot values.
  
  Creation of splines presented with control points and knot values produces accurate splines, but AutoCAD R14 and AutoCAD 2000 may have problems loading translated files with very small splines. In AutoCAD 2002 these problems seem to be resolved.
  
  Splines which have fit points in their presentation are not so accurate as splines without fit points. User has a possibility to achieve more accuracy with switch HighSplinePrecision, but these splines will never be as accurate as splines presented with control points and knot values.
  Spline presentation with control points, knot values and fit points is supported mainly because some AutoCAD versions have problems loading very small splines without fit points, while splines with fit points are filtered by translator and can be loaded to all AutoCAD versions without problems.
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• HighSplinePrecision

  This switch is used in MI->DXF/DWG/SVG translation. It is set to OFF by default. If set to ON, more accurate splines will be created at forward translation. Such translation will also take longer and will create larger destination files. If this switch is set to OFF, translation will be quicker, but generated splines will not be so accurate. Use of this switch has a meaning only if CreateSplineFitPoints is set to ON.
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• SplineControlPointTranslation

  This switch is used in DXF/DWG->MI translation. It is set to OFF by default. It determines how splines, presented with control points, knot values and fit points are converted from DXF to MI file format:
  ON -> Convert spline using it's control points and knots.
  OFF -> Convert spline using it's fit points.
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• MinimumHatchSpacingDensity

  This parameter defines the threshold value at which hatches are translated to predefined solid hatch rather than to user defined pattern hatch. It is especially useful with very small hatch line distances. Typical values should be greater than 0.001 mm or 0.0001 inches. Default value is zero.
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• InternalHandseed

  This switch is used only for DXF->MI translation and value must be written in hexadecimal format. It sets the $HANDSEED global variable in the header of DXF/DWG file. $HANDSEED value represents next available handle in DXF/DWG file and it must be grater than any other handle in this file. Value of this switch may contain maximum of 16 hexadecimal digits. If user sets more digits, translator will ignore this switch.
  $HANDSEED global variable is not set by default.
  Use this switch with extreme caution. If the value is not correct (to low), wrong translation without warning logs can occur.
  Example:
  

        InternalHandseed        5000000000000000 

  
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• TranslateDXFInvisibleEntities

  This switch is used at DXF->MI translation. Controls whether invisible entities are translated into visible or invisible entities.
  It is set to OFF by default.
  ON -> Translate invisible entities into MI visible entities
  OFF -> Translate invisible entities into MI invisible entities
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• TranslateMIInvisibleEntities

  This switch is used at MI->DXF/DWG/SVG translation. Controls whether invisible entities are translated into visible or invisible entities.
  It is set to OFF by default.
  ON -> Translate invisible entities into DXF visible entities
  OFF -> Translate invisible entities into DXF invisible entities
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• FontFilesPath

  This switch is used only at MI->SVG and at Paper space translation. It specifies the path where TrueType or AutoCAD font files can be found. Several paths can be separated by a semicolon.
  Example:
  FontFilesPath C:\temp;C:\Program Files\AutoCad2000\Fonts
  
  Font files are needed at SVG translation, while in SVG file format texts are presented with lines. Each character's outline is read from font file and written to SVG file format. Similar is done at translating Paper space.
  
  On Windows platform only the path to AutoCAD fonts should be defined, while translator automatically finds TrueType fonts, installed on the system. On HP-UX platform, this switch must contain path to both types of font files.
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• SVGDarkBackground

  This switch is used only at MI->SVG translation. It specifies the background of generated SVG drawing. If it is set to OFF, white background is used, otherwise black background color is used (this is also the default behavior).
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• ContourSnapGap

  This switch is used at DXF/DWG->MI translation. It specifies the maximum distance between two entities in hatch contour, which will be concatenated.
  Default value is 1E-12, which is the smallest distance between two different points, due to the internal OSDD accuracy.
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