DXF

DXF is a graphics format used by Autodesk AutoCad

Overview

Drawing eXchange Format is a CAD data file format developed by Autodesk to allow data interoperability between AutoCAD and other programs.

Format

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

For more information

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AutoCAD_DXF