Direct DXF to Modeling workplane

[rbrennen]

This has been bugging me for years. Our group does a lot of collaborations and many, many files have come to me in DXF format which I then need to use to create 3D models. To use these files, I must start up Annotation, import the DXF file, export the resulting sketch as an MI file, then reload the MI file into the workplane. There needs to be a single import process: DXF to Modelling workplane. All the software tools are obviously in place; they just need to be packaged for the user. -Thanks

[Wolfgang]

-...Our group does a lot of collaborations and many, many files have come to me in DXF format which I then need to use to create 3D models.

There is no need to start Annotation.
The translators can be used via command line.
Since you are already handling DXF *files* with you preferred file manager on the file system you can just convert the DXF files. Somewhere in this forum we created a Batch file which someone else added to the context menu of the file browser. So convert to DXF2MI ist just a right mouse click. This sounds very handy for you doesn' it?


2nd: if you have *a little LISP* knowledge write your own tool:

[pseudo-code]
(sd-defdialog...
select a file ( "*.dxf")

in ok-action call
(sd-sys-exec (format nil "~A\\dxfdwg\\dxfdwg.exe -i ~S ~S ~S" (sd-inq-install-dir) dxf-file tmp-mi-file tmp-log-file))
(sd-call-cmds (load tmp-mi to workplane))
check for errors during translator call
[/pseudo-code]

that's all. You can get this DXF loading into the normal LOAD-filebrowser userinterface

[rbrennen]

Thanks! I'll give it a try.

[John Scheffel]

I would agree that there should be a way to import DXF directly into a 3D Modeling workplane. But until that happens another option is to copy the geometry from Annotation and paste it into a Modeling workplane. It doesn't eliminate loading the DXF into Annotation first, but is faster and easier than saving and loading an MI file. See this thread in which I attached a PDF file with some details.

[rbrennen]

Thanks, John, for the copy/paste option. I did not know one could do that. It is a lot easier than the alternatives.