HELP ARCDXF



ARCDXF <out_dxf_file> {in_line_cover} {in_point_cover}

       {in_annotation_cover} {decimal_places} {ASCII | BINARY}

 

converts ARC/INFO coverages into an AutoCAD Drawing Interchange File

(DXF).

 

 

 

arguments

<out_dxf_file> - the name of the DXF file to be created.

 

{in_line_cover} - the name of a coverage containing arcs to be written

to the DXF file.

 

{in_point_cover} - the name of a coverage containing points to be

written to the DXF file.

 

{in_annotation_cover} - the name of a coverage containing annotation to

be written to the DXF file.  All annotations in all subclasses for

{in_annotation_cover} will be written to the DXF file.

 

{decimal_places} - the number of decimal places for coordinates and

other numbers in the DXF file.  The range of acceptable values is 0

through 16.  The default value is 2.

 

{ASCII | BINARY} - specifies whether ARCDXF will create the DXF file in

ASCII or binary format.  The default is ASCII.

 

 

 

notes

At least one input coverage must be specified.

 

All annotations for all subclasses in {in_annotation_cover} will be

written to the output DXF file.  Annotation strings are output as Text

entities.  Each level of annotation is written as a unique DXF layer.

The layer name is the annotation level number followed by the annotation

coverage name (e.g., 3ROADS for annotation level 3 from the coverage

named ROADS).

 

To convert the arcs of a polygon coverage, first use BUILD with the LINE

option to create an AAT file and then specify the polygon coverage name

as {in_line_cover}.  Label points can be converted by specifying the

same polygon coverage as the {in_point_cover}.

 

Attribute information for lines and points is taken from standard DXF

items in {line_cover} and {point_cover}. These are the same standard DXF

items created by the DXFARC command.  These can also be alternate item

names or redefined item names.  DXF items will be read from the ACODE

and XCODE files if no standard DXF items exist in the AAT and PAT files,

Standard DXF items for {in_line_cover} are

 

DXF-LAYER         16    16    C  -

DXF-COLOR          2     2    I  -

DXF-THICKNESS      4    12    F  3

DXF-TYPE          10    10    C  -

DXF-ELEVATION      4    12    F  3

DXF-CURVE          1     1    I  -

 

DXF-LAYER - character item which specifies the layer name to which the

entity belongs.  The default value will be the input coverage name if no

DXF-LAYER item or item value for the feature is found.

 

DXF-COLOR - numeric item containing the DXF color of each entity.  If

item value is zero or item does not exist, then no value will be written

to the DXF file.

 

DXF-THICKNESS - numeric item whose value is the thickness of the entity.

If item value is zero or item does not exist, then no value will be

written to the DXF file.

 

DXF-TYPE - character item which describes the line type.  Acceptable

character strings include CONTINUOUS and DASHED.  If item value is blank

or item does not exist, then no value will be written to the DXF file.

 

DXF-ELEVATION - numeric item whose value represents the elevation for

the entire entity.  If item value is blank or item does not exist, then

no value will be written to the DXF file.

 

DXF-CURVE - indicates whether the line feature is a curve (1) or a line

(0).  If it is set to 1, then a Circle or Arc entity will be written.

The first, middle and last points of the line feature are used to

compute the curve.  Arcs with a DXF-CURVE value of zero will be written

as Polyline entities.  The default is Polyline.

 

Standard DXF items for {in_point_cover}.XCODE include

 

DXF-LAYER          16  16   C -

DXF-COLOR           2   2   I -

DXF-THICKNESS       4  12   F 3

DXF-TYPE           10  10   C -

DXF-ELEVATION       4  12   F 3

DXF-ANGLE           4  12   F 3

DXF-SIZE            4  12   F 3

DXF-TEXT           xx  xx   C -

DXF-ATTRIB         xx  xx   C -

DXF-IID             4   5   B -

 

DXF-LAYER - character item which specifies the layer name to which the

entity belongs.  The default value will be the input coverage name if no

DXF-LAYER item or item value for the feature is found.

 

DXF-COLOR - numeric item containing the DXF color of each entity.  If

item value is zero or item does not exist, then no value will be written

to the DXF file.

 

DXF-THICKNESS - numeric item whose value is the thickness of the entity.

If item value is zero or item does not exist, then no value will be

written to the DXF file.

 

DXF-TYPE - character item that stores style name for Text and Attribute

entities.  Item must be blank for Points, Shapes and Inserts.  The

default text style is STANDARD for Text and Attributes.

 

DXF-ELEVATION - numeric item whose value represents elevation for the

entity.  If item value is zero or item does not exist, then no value

will be written to the DXF file.

 

DXF-ANGLE - numeric item whose value is the the angle of rotation for

the entity specified in decimal degrees.  Default value is 0.0.

 

DXF-SIZE - numeric item that stores the value for Text and Attribute

height, Shape size, or scale factor for Insert entities.  The default

size is 0.2 inches.

 

DXF-TEXT - character item that stores Text strings or Attribute values.

Must be blank for Point, Shapes and Insert entities.

 

DXF-ATTRIB - character item that stores item name of Attribute, name of

Shape, or name of Block referenced by Insert.  Must be blank for Point

and Text entities.

 

DXF-IID - stores Insert ID number to uniquely identify each insert and

to identify the Attributes that belong to them.  Attributes should have

the same IID value as the Insert they belong to.  Must be zero for

Points, Text and Shape entities.

 

Point features are output as Point, Text, Shape, Insert, or Attribute

entities depending on the presence or absence of certain DXF item values

in {in_point_cover}.XCODE.  The following combination of DXF items will

be used to determine the output entity type written to the DXF file for

each point feature.

 

 

DXF-Item   POINTS   TEXT         SHAPE       INSERT      ATTRIBUTE

DXF-TEXT   blank    Text string  blank       blank       Attribute value

DXF-ATTRIB blank    blank        Shape name  Block name  Attribute name

DXF-TYPE   blank    Text style   blank       blank       Text style

DXF-IID    zero     zero         zero        Insert ID   Insert ID

 

 

The names specified for {line_cover}, {point_cover} and

{annotation_cover} will be used as layer names in the DXF file when no

layer name is specified for DXF-LAYER.  AutoCAD accepts single-word

names as layer names; no extensions and no internal periods.  You may

need to RENAME your coverages before performing this conversion.

 

Arcs are output as Polyline, Circle, or Arc entities, depending on the

value of item DXF-CURVE in {in_line_cover}.ACODE.   If this item does

not exist, all arcs will be output as Polylines.

 

Note that the resulting DXF file will be 10 to 20 percent larger than

the coverage from which it was generated.

 

The Block name, taken from item DXF-ATTRIB for Insert entities, will be

used to generate dummy Bock definitions in the DXF file.  AutoCAD

requires that Blocks referenced by Insert entities be defined

separately.  The dummy Blocks section written to the DXF file will not

contain drawing elements.

 

The header records created by ARCDXF are located at the beginning of the

<out_dxf_file> and contains default tables and header information.

 

Three variables which define the minimum and maximum x,y extents of the

graphic features and the units of precision for coordinates and

distances will also be written to the DXF file.

 

$EXTMIN - x,y drawing extent of the lower-left corner

$EXTMAX - x,y drawing extent of the upper-right corner

$LUPREC - units of precision for coordinates and distances

 

 

 

example

The following example demonstrates the command line format to convert a

polygon coverage named POLYCOV to an AutoCAD ASCII Drawing Interchange

File with three decimal places.

 

Arc:ARCDXF

 

Usage

ARCDXF<out_dxf_file>{in_line_cover}{in_point_cover}{in_annotation_cover}

{decimal_places} {ASCII | BINARY}

 

Arc:ARCDXF OUTFILE POLYCOV POLYCOV # 3

Creating DXF file OUTFILE from:

   POLYCOV

   POLYCOV

Arc:

 

