The DXF Drawing Exchange Format ASCII file is designed for the interchange of drawings between AutoCAD systems, but has become widely used as a transfer mechanism between graphics programmes. It is primarily designed for the transfer of line work drawings and thus has problems in handling the attributes that are normally found in GIS data. The MapInfo GIS and FME Translators used by the XYZ Digital Map Company Ltd have the capability to write ASCII DXF files. Line work would normally be written out as polylines, points as points, annotation as text and polygons as polylines with seed points. DXF files are created in a form which preserves the attributes of the graphic objects, but does not use the feature code to create multiple layers. Due to the limitations of DXF as a transfer format, and assuming that you are an AutoCAD user, you might like to investigate the AutoCAD Map product. This allows the direct import of MapInfo, ArcView and other format data into AutoCAD without the need to use DXF. We understand that any AutoCAD dealer can supply further information. |
