Home » The ODA Platform » DWGdirect

DWGdirect

Overview

DWGdirect is a full-featured development environment for CAD and technical graphics applications. It features a versatile and powerful object oriented C++ API, suitable for applications of any size from simple utilities up to full CAD systems. DWGdirect is the perfect tool for a wide range of tasks: 

  • Programmatic access to all data in a DWG/DXF file.
  • Creation of DWG/DXF files of any size, containing any type of object.
  • Batch editing of DWG/DXF files (for example, turn layers on/off, replace text strings, etc.).
  • Conversion from DWG to DXF (and vice versa), and conversion to/from any supported version of DWG/DXF.
  • Rendering & editing applications (viewing, redlining, etc.).
  • Thumbnail generation.
  • Full import/export of DWG/DXF data.
  • Specialty applications which require custom object support, new file formats, etc.
  • Full CAD systems.

Key Features

  • Supported DWG/DXF/BDXF versions:
    • Read support for 2.5 through 2010
    • Write support for 12 through 2010.
  • Render DWG/DXF files using any ODA rendering device (GDI, OpenGL, DirectX), with the ability to select entities.
  • Recover and repair damaged DWG files.
  • Safely edit and manipulate DWG data programatically, including:
    • Explode an entity into a set of simpler entities.
    • Apply a transformation to an entity.
    • Modify arbitrary properties of database objects.
    • Clone a database object.
    • Many more.
  • Export DWG/DXF data to SVG, PDF, DWF, BMP, STL.
  • Import DWF files.
  • Powerful custom object support allows users to create custom objects usable within any DWGdirect host application.
  • Portable C++ implementation allows usage on Windows, Macintosh, or UNIX.
  • Support for font files (TTF/SHX), linetype files (LIN), and hatch pattern files (PAT).
  • Recompute dimension geometry from dimension settings.
  • Transaction support and undo/redo capabilities.
  • Partial load capability for DWG allows fast access to small subsets of drawing entities (entities are loaded from disk only if they are explicity accessed by the client).
  • Customizable memory management allows client application to control memory allocation/deallocation.
  • Full support for "round-trip" data.  For example, when saving a 2007 DWG file back to R14, 2007-specific properties are saved to the R14 file as xdata and then restored if the file is loaded back into a 2007-compatible application.
  • In-house ACIS support which includes rendering (wireframe and shaded) for embedded ACIS 3D solids, and access to the underlying boundary representation data stored within an ACIS entity.
  • Ability to implement custom commands.
  • Integration modules available for the following third-party components:
    • Spatial ACIS Modeler – enables full 3D solid modeling functionality within the DWGdirect API (requires separate licensing from Spatial). See ACIS for more details.
    • HOOPS Export – allows DWG/DXF files to be exported into the HOOPS high performance rendering system (requires separate licensing from TechSoft3d). See HoopsExport for more details.

Documentation

Full documentation for DWGdirect is available only to ODA members from the following page: http://www.opendesign.com/memberfiles/dwgdirect/docs.

A subset of DWGdirect documentation is included in the free DRX SDK which can be downloaded here: http://www.opendesign.com/guestfiles.

Example Applications

The following example applications are included in DWGdirect, covering a wide range of user applications:

  • OdReadEx – Demonstrates how to read a DWG/DXF file and extract entity level data from the file.
  • OdWriteEx – Demonstrates the programmatic creation of a DWG file containing examples of most supported entity and object types.
  • OdCopyEx – Load any DWG/DXF file, and save a specified version and type.
  • OdDwfImportEx – Demonstrates DWF import capabilities.
  • OdDwfExportEx – Demonstrates DWF export capabilities.
  • OdaMfcApp – MFC application which demonstrates rendering, entity selection, grip points, PDF export, custom commands, and many other features.
  • Many more.

Support & More Information

Additional questions about DWGdirect can be directed to the ODA main support page: http://www.opendesign.com/contact.

Technical support for ODA members only can be obtained on the ODA support forum: http://forum.opendesign.com/.

Availability

DWGdirect is available for download by ODA members from this page (requires ODA membership and login credentials): http://www.opendesign.com/memberfiles.

Information about joining the ODA can be found here: http://www.opendesign.com/join

Supported Operating Systems and Compilers

Note: Additional platforms may be provided upon request.

Windows 2000, ME, XP, Vista Visual Studio 6, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008 (static/dll) Borland Builder 6, 2006, 2009 (static)
Windows CE Visual Studio 2005 (ARMV4/ARMV4I static)
Windows x64 Visual Studio 2005, 2008 (static)
Linux (x86/x64) Gcc 3.3, 3.4, 4.1, 4.2 (static/dynamic)
Mac OS/X (ppc/x86/x64) Gcc using 10.3, 10.4, 10.5 SDK (static/dynamic)
SGI MIPSpro C++ Compiler 7.3 (static)
Solaris (Sparc/x86/x64) Sun C++ Compiler (static) Gcc 3.4 (static)
HP-UX (RISC) aC++ (static)
IBM AIX XL C++ Compiler (static)