You can open AutoCAD documents (versions 12 - current version) in Solid Edge with the Open command. On the Open File dialog box, after you select the AutoCAD document you want to open, click the Options button to display the AutoCAD Import Translation Wizard.
The wizard contains a series of dialog boxes that allow you to do such things as:
Preview the contents of the AutoCAD file.
Specify the layers in the AutoCAD file you want to preview.
Zoom in and out, pan, and fit the preview.
Specify a defined view orientation for the AutoCAD file.
Specify the sheets you want to translate.
Save the AutoCAD bodies to .sat format.
Import complex line strings as simple elements.
Key in a user-defined line width when mapping a line width to a color.
You can open AutoCAD documents that contain linked or embedded objects, such as Excel spreadsheets. Objects contained in the AutoCAD document appear as smart frames in Solid Edge. The OLE object can contain nested objects which are translated. As long as you have the source application, you can edit the imported OLE object. In other words, if the OLE object is an Excel spreadsheet you can edit it as long as you have Excel.
AutoCAD documents may include blocks that contain OLE objects. Solid Edge does not support OLE objects in blocks. If the block contains OLE objects, Solid Edge drops the block definition and translates the OLE objects individually. If the block contains both AutoCAD data and OLE objects Solid Edge distinguishes between the two. The OLE objects are dropped from the block definition and translated individually while the block of AutoCAD data is translated separately.
Blocks in AutoCAD are often created with the AutoCAD default origin of 0,0. Because of this, when blocks are placed within a drawing file, there may be problems with the location, relative to the origin of the file. In other words, the blocks may be placed a great distance from the origin. To solve this problem, you can use the Modify Block Origins on import parameter, located in the seacad.ini file to redefine the block origin based on the range of elements within the block. Setting the parameter value to 0 does not change the block origin when you import the file. Setting the parameter value to 1 changes the block origin to the lower left hand corner of the range.
Note:
Changing the block origin does not affect the location of the graphics relative to the origin of the file.
You can use the Multiline text as Multiline text parameter in the seacad.ini to control how Solid Edge imports AutoCAD.multiline text. By default, the parameter is set to 1, which imports multiple lines of text within a single text box. When set to 1, the AutoCAD text string wraps based on the width of the text box. You can set the parameter to 0 to import multiline text as multiple single line text boxes blocked together.
When creating Solid Edge dimensions from an AutoCAD dimension, the AutoCAD dimensions being translated must contain both the dimension properties, and dimension style objects. If either set of data is missing or incomplete the Solid Edge dimension created from this data will take on different characteristics.
In AutoCAD versions 12 and 13, the dimension styles objects were not always defined as part of the AutoCAD dimension. When importing files created in these versions, you should not translate the AutoCAD dimensions to Solid Edge as dimensions. Dimensions without this information are translated to the default Solid Edge dimension style. However it is possible that the dimension that is translated to Solid Edge will not reflect the precision, round off, or other style information found in the AutoCAD dimension.
In the translation of data from one system to another it is not always possible to support options or work flows from the foreign system in Solid Edge. Therefore the following assumptions have to be made:
Solid Edge does not support the suppression of the dimension lines. Therefore, regardless of their state in AutoCAD, in Solid Edge dimension lines are always displayed.
For import conversion, the text color of a dimension assigned as a driven or driving dimension color.
Solid Edge does not support extending the dimension line past the extension line. When importing AutoCAD files, this parameter is ignored.
AutoCAD supports 20 different Arrowhead types and allows you to create user-defined arrowheads.
The Solid Edge arrowhead used during import is defined by the Arrowhead Import Mapping which becomes part of your configuration file once you finish the AutoCAD Wizard. If there is no mapping for an AutoCAD Arrowhead, the import defaults to Closed Filled.
Since Solid Edge does not support user-defined arrowheads, all AutoCAD user-defined arrowheads default to a Solid Edge filled arrowhead. In AutoCAD, user-defined arrowheads are made simply by referencing the name of an existing AutoCAD Block. You can use the Arrowhead Import Mapping section of the configuration file to map user-defined arrowheads. To do this, add a line that contains the name of the AutoCAD Block that defines the arrowhead to the configuration file and then set the value to one of the eight Solid Edge arrowheads. For example, if you create a block called User Arrowhead 1 for your user-defined arrowhead, you will need to add the following line to the configuration file to map the user-defined arrowhead to the Solid Edge Dot arrowhead.
User Arrowhead 1 = Dot |
Since the number of arrowheads supported by AutoCAD (20) exceeds the number offered in Solid Edge (8), a section in the AutoCAD configuration file manages the mismatch between systems.
[Arrowhead Import Mapping] Closed filled = Arrow (filled) Closed blank = Arrow (hollow) Closed = Arrow (hollow) Dot = Dot Architectural tick = Back Slash Oblique = Back Slash Open = Arrow (open) Origin Indicator = Dot Origin Indicator 2 = Dot Right Angle = Arrow (open) Open 30 = Arrow (open) Dot small = Dot Dot blank = Dot Dot small blank = Dot Box = Dot Box filled = Dot Datum triangle = Dot Datum triangle filled = Dot Intergral = Back Slash None = Blank Where: the value to the left of the equal sign = is the name of a built in AutoCAD arrow or the name of a user-defined arrow. the value to the right of the equal sign = is the name of the Solid Edge arrowhead to which the AutoCAD arrowhead is being mapped. The only valid inputs for this field are: Arrow (filled) Arrow (hollow) Arrow (open) Back Slash Blank Circle Dot Slash |
Solid Edge does not support independent rotation of dimension text. Therefore, dimension text imports according to its alignment with the dimensions.
AutoCAD defines a set of control codes that can be embedded in Dimension Text to alter the appearance of a subset of the text. Solid Edge does not contain similar functionality. Therefore, many of these control codes cannot be converted into Solid Edge dimensions. These include such things as text color, height, and font. The control codes that are converted to Solid Edge include a subset of the special characters and the new line command /p.
For special character mapping, the AutoCAD control code is extracted from the string and replaced by the appropriate Solid Edge special character control code. The following table defines this mapping.
|
Name |
Symbol |
AutoCAD Control Code |
Solid Edge Control Code |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Degrees |
|
%%d |
%DG |
|
Diameter |
|
%%c |
%DI |
|
Tolerance |
%%p |
%PM |
|
|
Percent |
% |
%%% |
% |
For converting Dimension Text containing the AutoCAD new line control code, the translator starts with the basic Dimension Text format.
For Superfix/pPrefix <> Suffix/pSubfix the angle brackets <> indicate where the Dimension Value of the Dimension Text is placed.
From there, the translator parses the Superfix, Prefix, Suffix, and Subfix substring and assigns them to the corresponding string in the Solid Edge Dimension.
If the AutoCAD <> symbol for the location of the dimension text is not found the Solid Edge Dimension Style blank is created and the Text override string is used as the Solid Edge Dimension value. The only exception to this rule is when the text override contains the special value for Stacked dimensions \S. When this condition exists the string is not interpreted by Solid Edge and is displayed as entered in AutoCAD. If the string is surrounded by (?), it indicates that the dimension value did not translate.
In the following example:
AutoCAD Text Over ride = 10.0 \S +.01^ -.01 |
Interpreted as
(?) 10.0 \S +01 ^ -.01(?) |
If this same text override exists with the <> Solid Edge interprets the value and place a stacked dimension rather than the blank dimension style.
AutoCAD uses the Dimension Fit parameter to automatically control when Dimension Text, Dimension Lines, and Arrowheads are draw inside or outside of the extension lines based on the width of the dimension. Since Solid Edge does not support this feature, it ignores these AutoCAD parameters during import.
The automatic placement of arrowheads inside or outside the extension line based on the width of the dimension is not supported by Solid Edge. Therefore, Solid Edge always places the arrowheads on the inside during import.
The Alternate Units section defines the mapping of the AutoCAD Dimension parameters that enable and define the appearance of alternate or secondary units. Solid Edge only supports dual units in a stacked display. Therefore, all dual unit AutoCAD Dimensions import in a stacked display.
Mapping dissimilar fonts may result in unexpected line breaks during translation.
In AutoCAD, Multi-line text (Mtext) is a single line of text with a specific width. If the text string is too wide to fit in the specific width, the string is broken at a space or punctuation mark, and continued on the next line. Since AutoCAD does not specify where text splits, when displayed, the translator must determine that. Given the specific width, it computes the width of the string based on the Solid Edge font in which the string is displayed and breaks the string at a space or punctuation mark if the string is too wide.
Because of character width differences between different fonts the translator does not always break a string at the same place AutoCAD does.