ImportDXF()

Summary

Imports features from a DXF file into a geographic file.

 

Syntax

dxf_vw = ImportDXF(string filename, string new_db_name, string layer_type, array options)

 

Argument	Contents
filename	The path and file name of the DXF file to import
new_db_name	The path and file name of the new geographic file
layer_type	The type of features to import: "Point", "Line", or "Area"

 

Option	Type	Contents
Entity Types	Array	An array of strings listing the types of entities to import; omit this option to import all entities of the correct type
Expand	Boolean	If "True" blocks in the DXF file are expanded into separate entities in the geographic file; if "False" blocks are not expanded
Fields	Varies	The string "All" to import all attributes, null to import none of the attributes, or an array of attribute field names indicating the fields to import; this option is required
Label	String	A descriptive label for the geographic file
Layer Name	String	The name of the layer in the geographic file
Layers	Array	An array of DXF layer names indicating the layers to import, or the string "All" to import all layers; a required option
Median Split	Boolean	If "True" special handling insures that entities which cross the 180 degree longitude line are imported properly; if "False" (the default), no special handling is invoked
NAD Conversion	3 strings	Input datum, output datum, and conversion file (if needed); the input and output datums should be different
Node Layer Name	String	The desired name for the endpoint layer (only when importing a line layer)
Optimize	Boolean	Whether to optimize the geographic file automatically after the import (defaults to "True")
Overlap	String	Describes what to do with areas that overlap; takes one of the following values:"Ignore" - Leave overlaps as-is and simply create a non-topological database, possibly containing overlapping areas"Merge" (the default) - Where two areas overlap, merge the intersection into one of them; which one is arbitrarily decided"New" - Create a new area where the two areas overlap
Projection	String, array	The projection name and the array of options
Table Filename	String	The path and name of the file in which attributes are stored; the file extension must be .BIN, .CSV, .DBF, or .TXT; this option is required
Topology	Boolean	For area layers, a value of "True" indicates that the resulting geographic file should have true area topology, which requires substantial complex processing. A value of "False" means that boundary edges can be duplicated, so that larger files can be imported. This option does not apply to point and line layers. If the Expand option is "True", this option is ignored
Transform	Array	Array indicating the transformation to apply to coordinates in the file. This can have three forms:1. An array of two or more four-element arrays containing local and world coordinates for control points, for example, {{real localX1, real localY1, real longitude1, real latitude1}, ...}2. An array of four elements - {real X_multiplier, real Y_multiplier, real X_offset, real Y_offset}3. Center and Extent transform {c1_x, c1_y, width_1, c2_x, c2_y, width_2}where center is shifted from (c1_x,c1_y) to (c2_x,c2_y), and vector of length width_1 out of c_1 becomes a vector of length width_2 out of c_2.

 

Returns

A string containing the name of the joined view linking the DXF layer to the block attribute table.

 

Notes

• Attributes are stored at the block level in a DXF file. If the Fields option is used, the block attribute table is created and linked to the geographic file using a Block ID field in the geographic file.

• The projection option "units=us-ft" must be specified for normal 1927 State Plane data.

• The Layers, Fields, and Table Filename options are required.

• For more details on the NAD Conversion option, see Datum Conversions.

• For more details on the Projection option, see Using Projections and Coordinate Systems.

• If no transformation is applied, longitude and latitude coordinates can be integers with six implied decimal places (millionths of a degree). For more details, see Transformations.

 

Example

ImportDXF("c:\\dxffiles\\sample.dxf", "streets.dbd", "Line", {

     {"Label", "Street Centerline File"},

     {"Layer Name", "Centerline"},

     {"Layers", "All"},

     {"Fields", "All"},

     {"Table Filename", "streetsdata.bin"},

     {"Optimize", "True"},

     {"Projection", "utm", {"zone=12", "units=m"}},

     {"NAD Conversion", "NAD27", "NAD83",}

     })

 

Error Codes

Error Type	Meaning
Error	The file is not a valid DXF file
NotFound	There is no file with the specified name; or there are no entities in the designated layers of the desired type

 

See Also

Function	Summary
ClearDXFInfo()	Frees memory used by GetDXFInfo()
ExportDXF()	Exports features in a geographic file to a DXF file
GetDXFInfo()	Collects summary information on the contents of a DXF file