DXFTOIV

Section: User Commands (1)
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NAME

DxfToIv - convert DXF files to Inventor  

SYNOPSIS

DxfToIv [-b] [-h] [-v] file.dxf  

DESCRIPTION

DxfToIv reads a model file in AutoCAD's DXF format, and constructs an Inventor scene graph, which is written to stdout.

The following command line options are allowed:

-h
Prints a help message summarizing the options.
-b
Write out the scene graph in binary Inventor format. The default is to write out the files in Inventor's ASCII format.
-v
Verbose mode. Traces the various phases of the conversion process (see below).
 

NOTES

Each "layer" of the autocad model has its own corresponding SoSeparator node in the constructed scene graph. Within a layer, if there are multiple objects that do not touch each other, each is grouped under its own separator.

Each use of a "block" in the autocad model has its own corresponding SoSeparator node, which is inserted as a child of the layer that the block is used in. All elements of a block are children of the block's SoSeparator node (unlike AutoCAD, in which elements of a block can reside in layers other than the one the block is inserted in).

Text is created using Inventor's default font; the AutoCAD font information is ignored. Text is sized and oriented to approximate the placement in the AutoCAD model, but the aligment may be slightly off.

AutoCAD models do not include surface normals nor do they have a well-defined notion of front and back sides of a face. DxfToIv computes normals on a per-vertex basis, giving connected faces of a body consistent, smoothly varying normals (subject to a crease angle of 30 degrees between adjacent faces). The normals are chosen to point "outward" relative to the volume enclosed by the surface; for flat surfaces, the choice of normal direction is arbitrary. Open surfaces are given SoShapeHints values of SURFACE|ORDERED to enable two-sided lighting so that they will appear correct from either side.

The conversion process takes place in four phases: read the DXF file and construct the initial scene graph; identify and detach separate bodies within each layer; compute the normals for the face sets; and write the resulting graph. For large DXF files, the conversion may take some time. Progress of the conversion can be traced by specifying the -v option to DxfToIv ; processing of face sets is counted by 50's.


 

Index

NAME
SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
NOTES

This document was created by man2html, using the manual pages.
Time: 13:53:39 GMT, December 07, 2024