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AutoCAD 2012

DXF Reference

February 2011

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Cont ent s

Chapt er 1 DXF Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1


Organ ization of Th is Referen ce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Revi si on s t o t h e DX F Referen ce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Form at t i n g Con ven t i on s i n Th i s Referen ce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Obj ect an d En t i t y Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Group Code Val ue Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Group Codes i n Num eri cal Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Chapt er 2 HEADER Sect ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11


H EADER Sect i on Group Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Revised VPORT Header Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Special Han dli n g of Date/ Tim e Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Chapt er 3 CLASSES Sect ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31


CLASSES Sect i on Group Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Defaul t Cl ass Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Chapt er 4 TABLES Sect ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35


Sym bol Tabl e Group Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Com m on Sym bol Tabl e Group Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Com m on Group Codes for Sym bol Tabl e En t ri es . . . . . . . . . 37
A PPI D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

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BLOCK_RECORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
DIM STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
LAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
LTYPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
ST YL E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
UCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
V I EW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
VPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Chapt er 5 BLOCKS Sect ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57


BLOCKS Sect i on Group Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
BLOCK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
EN D BLK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Chapt er 6 ENTITIES Sect ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61


Com m on Group Codes for En tit ies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3D FACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
3DSOLID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
ACAD_PROX Y_EN TITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
A RC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 6
ATTD EF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 7
ATTRIB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
BO D Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 7
C I RC L E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 7
DIM ENSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Com m on Dim en sion Group Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Align ed Dim en sion Group Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Lin ear an d Rotated Dim en sion Group Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Radial an d Diam et er Dim en sion Group Codes . . . . . . . . . . . 82
An gular Dim en sion Group Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Ordi n at e Di m en si on Group Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Di m en si on St yl e Overri des . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
ELL I PSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 6
H AT C H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 7
Boun dary Path Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Pat t ern Dat a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
H ELI X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
IM AGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
INSERT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
LEAD ER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
LI GH T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
LI N E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
LW POLYLINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
M ESH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
M LI N E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 04

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M LEADERSTYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
M L EAD ER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 9
Com m on M Leader Group Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
M Leader Con t ext Dat a Group Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
M Leader Leader Node Group Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
M Leader Leader Li n e Group Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
M TEX T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
OLEFRAM E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
OLE2FRAM E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
PO I N T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3
PO LYLI N E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Pol yface M esh es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
RAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
REG I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 6
SECTI ON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
SEQ EN D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 8
SH A PE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 8
SO L I D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 9
SPLI N E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
SUN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
SURFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Ex truded Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Lof t ed Su rf ace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Revol ved Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Sw ep t Su r f ace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
TA BL E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3 8
TEX T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
TOLERAN CE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
TRACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 46
UNDERLAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
V ERTEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4 9
VIEW PORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
W I PEO U T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5 5
X LI N E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Chapt er 7 OBJECTS Sect ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159


OBJECT Sect i on Group Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Obj ect Own ersh i p . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Com m on Group Codes for Obj ect s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
ACAD_PROX Y_OBJECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
ACDBDICTION ARYW DFLT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
ACDBPLACEH OLDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
D ATATABLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
DICTIONARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
D I CTI ON ARYVAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
DIM ASSOC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

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FIELD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
GEO D ATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
GROUP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
I D BU FFER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
IM AGEDEF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
IM AGEDEF_REACTOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
LAYER_I N D EX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
LAYER_FI LTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
LAYO U T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 76
LI GH TLIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
M ATERI AL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
M LIN ESTYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
OBJECT_PTR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
PLOTSETTI N GS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
RASTERVARIABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
REN D ER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
REN D EREN VI RON M EN T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
M ENTALRAYRENDERSETTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
RENDERGLOBAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
SECTI ON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Sect i on M an ager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Sect i on Set t i n gs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Sect i on Type Set t i n gs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Sect ion Geom et ry Sett in gs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
SPATI AL_I N DEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
SPATIAL_FI LTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
SORTENTSTABLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
TABLESTYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
UNDERLAYDEFINITION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
V I SU ALSTYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
VBA_PROJECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
W I PEOUTVARI ABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
X RECO RD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Chapt er 8 THUM BNAILIM AGE Sect ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215


THUM BNAILIM AGE Sect ion Group Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Chapt er 9 Drawing Int erchange File Format s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217


ASCI I D X F Fi l es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Gen eral DX F Fi l e St ruct ure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Group Codes i n DX F Fi les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
ASCII Con t rol Ch aract ers i n DX F Fi les . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Header Group Codes in DXF Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Cl ass Group Codes i n DX F Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Sym bol Tabl e Group Codes i n DX F Fi l es . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

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Sym bol Tabl e Ex am pl e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Blocks Group Codes i n DX F Fil es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
En t i t y Group Codes i n DX F Fi l es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Obj ect Group Codes i n DX F Fi les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Wri t i n g a DX F In t erface Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Readin g a DX F File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Wri t i n g a DX F Fi l e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Bi n ary DX F Fi l es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Sl ide Fil es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Ol d Sl i de Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Sl i de Li brar y Fi l es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Chapt er 10 Advanced DXF Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241


Dat abase Obj ect s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Persisten t In ter-Object Referen ce Han dles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Poi n t er an d Own ersh ip Referen ces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
H ard an d Sof t Referen ces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Arbi t rary H an dl es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
1005 Group Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Subcl ass M arkers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Ext en sion Diction ary an d Persisten t Reactors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Ex t en ded Dat a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Object Coordin at e Syst em s (OCS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Arbitrary Axis Algorith m . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Ind ex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

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DXF Format

Th e DXF™ form at is a tagged data represen tation of all th e in form ation con tain ed in an
AutoCAD ® drawin g file. Tagged data m ean s th at each data elem en t in th e file is preceded by
an in teger n um ber th at is called a group code. A group code's value in dicates wh at type of data
elem en t follows. Th is value also in dicates th e m ean in g of a data elem en t for a given object
(or record) type. Virtually all user-specified in form ation in a drawin g file can be represen ted
in DX F form at.

Organizat ion of This Reference


Th e DXF Reference presen ts th e DXF™ group codes foun d in DX F files an d
® ®
en countered by AutoLISP an d ObjectARX application s. Th is ch apter describes
th e gen eral DXF con ven tion s. Th e rem ain in g ch apters list th e group codes
organ ized by object type. Th e group codes are presen ted in th e order in wh ich
th ey are foun d in a DXF file, an d each ch apter is n am ed accordin g to th e
associated section of a DXF file. Alth ough th e DXF file form at is used as th e
organ izin g m ech an ism for th is referen ce, specific in form ation on th e actual
form attin g of DXF files is foun d in Drawin g In terch an ge File Form ats on page
217 Advan ced con cepts relatin g to DXF group codes as th ey pertain to both
application s an d DXF files are foun d in Advan ced DX F Issues on page 241
For description s of th e AutoLISP fun ction s th at use group codes, see "Usin g
AutoLISP to M an ipulate AutoCAD Obj ects" in th e AutoLISP Developer's Guide.

Revisions t o t he DXF Reference


Th is topic lists revision s sin ce th e last update of th e DXF Reference. Th e version
n um ber of th is DXF Reference is u19.1.01.

 “ ENTITIES Section”

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 “ OBJECTS Section ”

Format t ing Convent ions in This Reference


Each group code listed in th is referen ce is presen ted by a n um eric group code
value an d a description . All group codes can apply to DXF™ files, application s
(AutoLISP or ObjectARX ), or both . W h en th e description of a code is differen t
for application s an d DX F files (or applies to on ly on e or th e oth er), th e
description is preceded by th e followin g in dicators:

 APP.Application -specific description .

 DXF.DXF file-specific description .

If th e description is com m on to both DXF files an d application s, n o in dicator


is provided.
Option al codes are in dicated as “ option al” in th e description .

Object and Ent it y Codes


In th e DXF™ form at, th e defin ition of objects differs from en tities: objects
h ave n o graph ical represen tation an d en tities do. For exam ple, diction aries
are objects, an d n ot en tities. En tities are also referred to as graphical objects
wh ile objects are referred to as nongraphical objects.
En tities appear in both th e BLOCK an d ENTITIES section s of th e DXF file. Th e
use of group codes in th e two section s is iden tical.
Som e group codes th at defin e an en tity always appear; oth ers are option al
an d appear on ly if th eir values differ from th e defaults.
Do n ot write program s th at rely on th e order given h ere. Th e en d of an en tity
is in dicated by th e n ext 0 group, wh ich begin s th e n ext en tity or in dicates th e
en d of th e section .
®
NOTE Accommodating DXF files from future releases of AutoCAD will be easier
if you write your DXF processing program in a table-driven way, ignore undefined
group codes, and make no assumptions about the order of group codes in an
entity. With each new AutoCAD release, new group codes will be added to entities
to accommodate additional features.

2 | Chapter 1 DXF Format

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Group Code Value Types
Group codes defin e th e type of th e associated value as an in teger, a
floatin g-poin t n um ber, or a strin g, accordin g to th e followin g table of group
code ran ges. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Group code value t ypes


Code range Group value t ype

0-9 String (with the introduction of extended symbol names in AutoCAD 2000, the 255-character
limit has been increased to 2049 single-byte characters not including the newline at the end
of the line)

10-39 Double precision 3D point value

40-59 Double-precision floating-point value

60-79 16-bit integer value

90-99 32-bit integer value

100 String (255-character maximum; less for Unicode strings)

102 String (255-character maximum; less for Unicode strings)

105 String representing hexadecimal (hex) handle value

110-119 Double precision floating-point value

120-129 Double precision floating-point value

130-139 Double precision floating-point value

140-149 Double precision scalar floating-point value

160-169 64-bit integer value

170-179 16-bit integer value

210-239 Double-precision floating-point value

270-279 16-bit integer value

Group Code Value Types | 3

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Group code value t ypes
Code range Group value t ype

280-289 16-bit integer value

290-299 Boolean flag value

300-309 Arbitrary text string

310-319 String representing hex value of binary chunk

320-329 String representing hex handle value

330-369 String representing hex object IDs

370-379 16-bit integer value

380-389 16-bit integer value

390-399 String representing hex handle value

400-409 16-bit integer value

410-419 String

420-429 32-bit integer value

430-439 String

440-449 32-bit integer value

450-459 Long

460-469 Double-precision floating-point value

470-479 String

480-481 String representing hex handle value

999 Comment (string)

1000-1009 String (same limits as indicated with 0-9 code range)

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Group code value t ypes
Code range Group value t ype

1010-1059 Double-precision floating-point value

1060-1070 16-bit integer value

1071 32-bit integer value

Group Codes in Numerical Order


Th e followin g table gives th e group code or group code ran ge accom pan ied
by an explan ation of th e group code value. In th e table, “ fixed” in dicates th at
th e group code always h as th e sam e purpose. If a group code isn 't fixed, its
purpose depen ds on th e con text. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d
form attin g used in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce
on page 2.

Group codes by number


Group code Descript ion

-5 APP: persistent reactor chain

-4 APP: conditional operator (used only with ssget)

-3 APP: extended data (XDATA) sentinel (fixed)

-2 APP: entity name reference (fixed)

-1 APP: entity name. The name changes each time a drawing is opened. It is never saved (fixed)

0 Text string indicating the entity type (fixed)

1 Primary text value for an entity

2 Name (attribute tag, block name, and so on)

3-4 Other text or name values

5 Entity handle; text string of up to 16 hexadecimal digits (fixed)

6 Linetype name (fixed)

Group Codes in Numerical Order | 5

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Group codes by number
Group code Descript ion

7 Text style name (fixed)

8 Layer name (fixed)

9 DXF: variable name identifier (used only in HEADER section of the DXF file)

10 Primary point; this is the start point of a line or text entity, center of a circle, and so on
DXF: X value of the primary point (followed by Y and Z value codes 20 and 30)
APP: 3D point (list of three reals)

11-18 Other points


DXF: X value of other points (followed by Y value codes 21-28 and Z value codes 31-38)
APP: 3D point (list of three reals)

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of the primary point

21-28, 31-37 DXF: Y and Z values of other points

38 DXF: entity's elevation if nonzero

39 Entity's thickness if nonzero (fixed)

40-48 Double-precision floating-point values (text height, scale factors, and so on)

48 Linetype scale; double precision floating point scalar value; default value is defined for all entity
types

49 Repeated double-precision floating-point value. M ultiple 49 groups may appear in one entity
for variable-length tables (such as the dash lengths in the LTYPE table). A 7x group always appears
before the first 49 group to specify the table length

50-58 Angles (output in degrees to DXF files and radians through AutoLISP and ObjectARX applications)

60 Entity visibility; integer value; absence or 0 indicates visibility; 1indicates invisibility

62 Color number (fixed)

66 “ Entities follow” flag (fixed)

67 Space—that is, model or paper space (fixed)

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Group codes by number
Group code Descript ion

68 APP: identifies whether viewport is on but fully off screen; is not active or is off

69 APP: viewport identification number

70-78 Integer values, such as repeat counts, flag bits, or modes

90-99 32-bit integer values

100 Subclass data marker (with derived class name as a string). Required for all objects and entity
classes that are derived from another concrete class. The subclass data marker segregates data
defined by different classes in the inheritance chain for the same object.
This is in addition to the requirement for DXF names for each distinct concrete class derived
from ObjectARX (see Subclass M arkers on page 243)

102 Control string, followed by “ {<arbitrary name>” or “ }” . Similar to the xdata 1002 group code,
except that when the string begins with “ {“ , it can be followed by an arbitrary string whose
interpretation is up to the application. The only other control string allowed is “ }” as a group
terminator. AutoCAD does not interpret these strings except during drawing audit operations.
They are for application use

105 Object handle for DIM VAR symbol table entry

110 UCS origin (appears only if code 72 is set to 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

111 UCS X-axis (appears only if code 72 is set to 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

112 UCS Y-axis (appears only if code 72 is set to 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

120-122 DXF: Y value of UCS origin, UCS X-axis, and UCS Y-axis

130-132 DXF: Z value of UCS origin, UCS X-axis, and UCS Y-axis

140-149 Double-precision floating-point values (points, elevation, and DIM STYLE settings, for example)

170-179 16-bit integer values, such as flag bits representing DIM STYLE settings

210 Extrusion direction (fixed)

Group Codes in Numerical Order | 7

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Group codes by number
Group code Descript ion
DXF: X value of extrusion direction
APP: 3D extrusion direction vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of the extrusion direction

270-279 16-bit integer values

280-289 16-bit integer value

290-299 Boolean flag value

300-309 Arbitrary text strings

310-319 Arbitrary binary chunks with same representation and limits as 1004 group codes: hexadecimal
strings of up to 254 characters represent data chunks of up to 127 bytes

320-329 Arbitrary object handles; handle values that are taken “ as is” . They are not translated during
INSERT and XREF operations

330-339 Soft-pointer handle; arbitrary soft pointers to other objects within same DXF file or drawing.
Translated during INSERT and XREF operations

340-349 Hard-pointer handle; arbitrary hard pointers to other objects within same DXF file or drawing.
Translated during INSERT and XREF operations

350-359 Soft-owner handle; arbitrary soft ownership links to other objects within same DXF file or
drawing. Translated during INSERT and XREF operations

360-369 Hard-owner handle; arbitrary hard ownership links to other objects within same DXF file or
drawing. Translated during INSERT and XREF operations

370-379 Lineweight enum value (AcDb::LineWeight). Stored and moved around as a 16-bit integer.
Custom non-entity objects may use the full range, but entity classes only use 371-379 DXF
group codes in their representation, because AutoCAD and AutoLISP both always assume a
370 group code is the entity's lineweight. This allows 370 to behave like other “ common” entity
fields

380-389 PlotStyleName type enum (AcDb::PlotStyleNameType). Stored and moved around as a 16-bit
integer. Custom non-entity objects may use the full range, but entity classes only use 381-389
DXF group codes in their representation, for the same reason as the Lineweight range above

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Group codes by number
Group code Descript ion

390-399 String representing handle value of the PlotStyleName object, basically a hard pointer, but has
a different range to make backward compatibility easier to deal with. Stored and moved around
as an object ID (a handle in DXF files) and a special type in AutoLISP. Custom non-entity objects
may use the full range, but entity classes only use 391-399 DXF group codes in their represent-
ation, for the same reason as the lineweight range above

400-409 16-bit integers

410-419 String

420-427 32-bit integer value. When used with True Color; a 32-bit integer representing a 24-bit color
value. The high-order byte (8 bits) is 0, the low-order byte an unsigned char holding the Blue
value (0-255), then the Green value, and the next-to-high order byte is the Red Value. Convering
this integer value to hexadecimal yields the following bit mask: 0x00RRGGBB. For example, a
true color with Red==200, Green==100 and Blue==50 is 0x00C86432, and in DXF, in decimal,
13132850

430-437 String; when used for True Color, a string representing the name of the color

440-447 32-bit integer value. When used for True Color, the transparency value

450-459 Long

460-469 Double-precision floating-point value

470-479 String

480-481 Hard-pointer handle; arbitrary hard pointers to other objects within same DXF file or drawing.
Translated during INSERT and XREF operations

999 DXF: The 999 group code indicates that the line following it is a comment string. SAVEAS does
not include such groups in a DXF output file, but OPEN honors them and ignores the comments.
You can use the 999 group to include comments in a DXF file that you've edited

1000 ASCII string (up to 255 bytes long) in extended data

1001 Registered application name (ASCII string up to 31 bytes long) for extended data

1002 Extended data control string (“ {” or “ }” )

Group Codes in Numerical Order | 9

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Group codes by number
Group code Descript ion

1003 Extended data layer name

1004 Chunk of bytes (up to 127 bytes long) in extended data

1005 Entity handle in extended data; text string of up to 16 hexadecimal digits

1010 A point in extended data


DXF: X value (followed by 1020 and 1030 groups)
APP: 3D point

1020, 1030 DXF: Y and Z values of a point

1011 A 3D world space position in extended data


DXF: X value (followed by 1021 and 1031 groups)
APP: 3D point

1021, 1031 DXF: Y and Z values of a world space position

1012 A 3D world space displacement in extended data


DXF: X value (followed by 1022 and 1032 groups)
APP: 3D vector

1022, 1032 DXF: Y and Z values of a world space displacement

1013 A 3D world space direction in extended data


DXF: X value (followed by 1022 and 1032 groups)
APP: 3D vector

1023, 1033 DXF: Y and Z values of a world space direction

1040 Extended data double-precision floating-point value

1041 Extended data distance value

1042 Extended data scale factor

1070 Extended data 16-bit signed integer

1071 Extended data 32-bit signed long

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HEADER Sect ion

Th e group codes described in th is ch apter pertain on ly to DXF™ files. Th e HEADER section


of a DXF file con tain s th e settin gs of variables associated with th e drawin g. Each variable is
specified by a 9 group code givin g th e variable's n am e, followed by groups th at supply th e
variable's value. Th is ch apter lists on ly th e variables th at are saved in th e drawin g file.

HEADER Sect ion Group Codes


The followin g table lists th e variables that are represented in th e HEADER section
of a DX F™ file. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

DXF header variables


Variable Group code Descript ion

$ACADM AINTVER 70 M aintenance version number (should be ignored)

$ACADVER 1 The AutoCAD drawing database version number:


AC1006 = R10;
AC1009 = R11 and R12;
AC1012 = R13; AC1014 = R14;
AC1015 = AutoCAD 2000;
AC1018 = AutoCAD 2004;
AC1021 = AutoCAD 2007;
AC1024 = AutoCAD 2010

$ANGBASE 50 Angle 0 direction

$ANGDIR 70 1 = Clockwise angles


0 = Counterclockwise angles

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DXF header variables
Variable Group code Descript ion

$ATTMODE 70 Attribute visibility:


0 = None
1 = Normal
2 = All

$AUNITS 70 Units format for angles

$AUPREC 70 Units precision for angles

$CECOLOR 62 Current entity color number:


0 = BYBLOCK; 256 = BYLAYER

$CELTSCALE 40 Current entity linetype scale

$CELTYPE 6 Entity linetype name, or BYBLOCK or BYLAYER

$CELWEIGHT 370 Lineweight of new objects

$CEPSNID 390 Plotstyle handle of new objects; if CEPSNTYPE is 3, then


this value indicates the handle

$CEPSNTYPE 380 Plot style type of new objects:


0 = Plot style by layer
1 = Plot style by block
2 = Plot style by dictionary default
3 = Plot style by object ID/ handle

$CHAM FERA 40 First chamfer distance

$CHAM FERB 40 Second chamfer distance

$CHAM FERC 40 Chamfer length

$CHAM FERD 40 Chamfer angle

$CLAYER 8 Current layer name

$CM LJUST 70 Current multiline justification:


0 = Top; 1 = M iddle; 2 = Bottom

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DXF header variables
Variable Group code Descript ion

$CM LSCALE 40 Current multiline scale

$CM LSTYLE 2 Current multiline style name

$CSHADOW 280 Shadow mode for a 3D object:


0 = Casts and receives shadows
1 = Casts shadows
2 = Receives shadows
3 = Ignores shadows

$DIM ADEC 70 Number of precision places displayed in angular dimensions

$DIM ALT 70 Alternate unit dimensioning performed if nonzero

$DIM ALTD 70 Alternate unit decimal places

$DIM ALTF 40 Alternate unit scale factor

$DIM ALTRND 40 Determines rounding of alternate units

$DIM ALTTD 70 Number of decimal places for tolerance values of an altern-


ate units dimension

$DIM ALTTZ 70 Controls suppression of zeros for alternate tolerance values:


0 = Suppresses zero feet and precisely zero inches
1 = Includes zero feet and precisely zero inches
2 = Includes zero feet and suppresses zero inches
3 = Includes zero inches and suppresses zero feet

$DIM ALTU 70 Units format for alternate units of all dimension style family
members except angular:
1 = Scientific; 2 = Decimal; 3 = Engineering;
4 = Architectural (stacked); 5 = Fractional (stacked);
6 = Architectural; 7 = Fractional

$DIM ALTZ 70 Controls suppression of zeros for alternate unit dimension


values:
0 = Suppresses zero feet and precisely zero inches
1 = Includes zero feet and precisely zero inches
2 = Includes zero feet and suppresses zero inches

HEADER Section Group Codes | 13

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DXF header variables
Variable Group code Descript ion
3 = Includes zero inches and suppresses zero feet

$DIM APOST 1 Alternate dimensioning suffix

$DIM ASO 70 1 = Create associative dimensioning


0 = Draw individual entities

$DIM ASSOC 280 Controls the associativity of dimension objects


0 = Creates exploded dimensions; there is no association
between elements of the dimension, and the lines, arcs,
arrowheads, and text of a dimension are drawn as separate
objects
1 = Creates non-associative dimension objects; the elements
of the dimension are formed into a single object, and if the
definition point on the object moves, then the dimension
value is updated
2 = Creates associative dimension objects; the elements of
the dimension are formed into a single object and one or
more definition points of the dimension are coupled with
association points on geometric objects

$DIM ASZ 40 Dimensioning arrow size

$DIM ATFIT 70 Controls dimension text and arrow placement when space
is not sufficient to place both within the extension lines:
0 = Places both text and arrows outside extension lines
1 = M oves arrows first, then text
2 = M oves text first, then arrows
3 = M oves either text or arrows, whichever fits best
AutoCAD adds a leader to moved dimension text when
DIM TMOVE is set to 1

$DIM AUNIT 70 Angle format for angular dimensions:


0 = Decimal degrees; 1 = Degrees/ minutes/ seconds;
2 = Gradians; 3 = Radians; 4 = Surveyor's units

$DIM AZIN 70 Controls suppression of zeros for angular dimensions:


0 = Displays all leading and trailing zeros
1 = Suppresses leading zeros in decimal dimensions
2 = Suppresses trailing zeros in decimal dimensions

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DXF header variables
Variable Group code Descript ion
3 = Suppresses leading and trailing zeros

$DIM BLK 1 Arrow block name

$DIM BLK1 1 First arrow block name

$DIM BLK2 1 Second arrow block name

$DIM CEN 40 Size of center mark/ lines

$DIM CLRD 70 Dimension line color:


range is 0 = BYBLOCK; 256 = BYLAYER

$DIM CLRE 70 Dimension extension line color:


range is 0 = BYBLOCK; 256 = BYLAYER

$DIM CLRT 70 Dimension text color:


range is 0 = BYBLOCK; 256 = BYLAYER

$DIM DEC 70 Number of decimal places for the tolerance values of a


primary units dimension

$DIM DLE 40 Dimension line extension

$DIM DLI 40 Dimension line increment

$DIM DSEP 70 Single-character decimal separator used when creating di-


mensions whose unit format is decimal

$DIM EXE 40 Extension line extension

$DIM EXO 40 Extension line offset

$DIM FAC 40 Scale factor used to calculate the height of text for dimen-
sion fractions and tolerances. AutoCAD multiplies DIM TXT
by DIM TFAC to set the fractional or tolerance text height

$DIM GAP 40 Dimension line gap

$DIM JUST 70 Horizontal dimension text position:

HEADER Section Group Codes | 15

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DXF header variables
Variable Group code Descript ion
0 = Above dimension line and center-justified between ex-
tension lines
1 = Above dimension line and next to first extension line
2 = Above dimension line and next to second extension
line
3 = Above and center-justified to first extension line
4 = Above and center-justified to second extension line

$DIM LDRBLK 1 Arrow block name for leaders

$DIM LFAC 40 Linear measurements scale factor

$DIM LIM 70 Dimension limits generated if nonzero

$DIM LUNIT 70 Sets units for all dimension types except Angular:
1 = Scientific; 2 = Decimal; 3 = Engineering;
4 = Architectural; 5 = Fractional; 6 = Windows desktop

$DIM LWD 70 Dimension line lineweight:


-3 = Standard
-2 = ByLayer
-1 = ByBlock
0-211 = an integer representing 100th of mm

$DIM LWE 70 Extension line lineweight:


-3 = Standard
-2 = ByLayer
-1 = ByBlock
0-211 = an integer representing 100th of mm

$DIM POST 1 General dimensioning suffix

$DIM RND 40 Rounding value for dimension distances

$DIM SAH 70 Use separate arrow blocks if nonzero

$DIM SCALE 40 Overall dimensioning scale factor

$DIM SD1 70 Suppression of first extension line:


0 = Not suppressed; 1 = Suppressed

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DXF header variables
Variable Group code Descript ion

$DIM SD2 70 Suppression of second extension line:


0 = Not suppressed; 1 = Suppressed

$DIM SE1 70 First extension line suppressed if nonzero

$DIM SE2 70 Second extension line suppressed if nonzero

$DIM SHO 70 1 = Recompute dimensions while dragging


0 = Drag original image

$DIM SOXD 70 Suppress outside-extensions dimension lines if nonzero

$DIM STYLE 2 Dimension style name

$DIM TAD 70 Text above dimension line if nonzero

$DIM TDEC 70 Number of decimal places to display the tolerance values

$DIM TFAC 40 Dimension tolerance display scale factor

$DIM TIH 70 Text inside horizontal if nonzero

$DIM TIX 70 Force text inside extensions if nonzero

$DIM TM 40 M inus tolerance

$DIM TM OVE 70 Dimension text movement rules:


0 = M oves the dimension line with dimension text
1 = Adds a leader when dimension text is moved
2 = Allows text to be moved freely without a leader

$DIM TOFL 70 If text is outside extensions, force line extensions between


extensions if nonzero

$DIM TOH 70 Text outside horizontal if nonzero

$DIM TOL 70 Dimension tolerances generated if nonzero

$DIM TOLJ 70 Vertical justification for tolerance values:


0 = Top; 1 = M iddle; 2 = Bottom

HEADER Section Group Codes | 17

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DXF header variables
Variable Group code Descript ion

$DIM TP 40 Plus tolerance

$DIM TSZ 40 Dimensioning tick size:


0 = No ticks

$DIM TVP 40 Text vertical position

$DIM TXSTY 7 Dimension text style

$DIM TXT 40 Dimensioning text height

$DIM TZIN 70 Controls suppression of zeros for tolerance values:


0 = Suppresses zero feet and precisely zero inches
1 = Includes zero feet and precisely zero inches
2 = Includes zero feet and suppresses zero inches
3 = Includes zero inches and suppresses zero feet

$DIM UPT 70 Cursor functionality for user-positioned text:


0 = Controls only the dimension line location
1 = Controls the text position as well as the dimension line
location

$DIM ZIN 70 Controls suppression of zeros for primary unit values:


0 = Suppresses zero feet and precisely zero inches
1 = Includes zero feet and precisely zero inches
2 = Includes zero feet and suppresses zero inches
3 = Includes zero inches and suppresses zero feet

$DISPSILH 70 Controls the display of silhouette curves of body objects in


Wireframe mode:
0 = Off; 1 = On

$DRAGVS 349 Hard-pointer ID to visual style while creating 3D solid


primitives. The defualt value is NULL

$DWGCODEPAGE 3 Drawing code page; set to the system code page when a
new drawing is created, but not otherwise maintained by
AutoCAD

$ELEVATION 40 Current elevation set by ELEV command

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DXF header variables
Variable Group code Descript ion

$ENDCAPS 280 Lineweight endcaps setting for new objects:


0 = none; 1 = round; 2 = angle; 3 = square

$EXTM AX 10, 20, 30 X, Y, and Z drawing extents upper-right corner (in WCS)

$EXTM IN 10, 20, 30 X, Y, and Z drawing extents lower-left corner (in WCS)

$EXTNAM ES 290 Controls symbol table naming:


0 = Release 14 compatibility. Limits names to 31 characters
in length. Names can include the letters A to Z, the numer-
als 0 to 9, and the special characters dollar sign ($), under-
score (_), and hyphen (-).
1 = AutoCAD 2000. Names can be up to 255 characters in
length, and can include the letters A to Z, the numerals 0
to 9, spaces, and any special characters not used for other
purposes by Microsoft Windows and AutoCAD

$FILLETRAD 40 Fillet radius

$FILLM ODE 70 Fill mode on if nonzero

$FINGERPRINTGUID 2 Set at creation time, uniquely identifies a particular drawing

$HALOGAP 280 Specifies a gap to be displayed where an object is hidden


by another object; the value is specified as a percent of one
unit and is independent of the zoom level. A haloed line is
shortened at the point where it is hidden when HIDE or
the Hidden option of SHADEM ODE is used

$HANDSEED 5 Next available handle

$HIDETEXT 290 Specifies HIDETEXT system variable:


0 = HIDE ignores text objects when producing the hidden
view
1 = HIDE does not ignore text objects

$HYPERLINKBASE 1 Path for all relative hyperlinks in the drawing. If null, the
drawing path is used

HEADER Section Group Codes | 19

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DXF header variables
Variable Group code Descript ion

$INDEXCTL 280 Controls whether layer and spatial indexes are created and
saved in drawing files:
0 = No indexes are created
1 = Layer index is created
2 = Spatial index is created
3 = Layer and spatial indexes are created

$INSBASE 10, 20, 30 Insertion base set by BASE command (in WCS)

$INSUNITS 70 Default drawing units for AutoCAD DesignCenter blocks:


0 = Unitless; 1 = Inches; 2 = Feet; 3 = M iles; 4 = M illimeters;
5 = Centimeters; 6 = M eters; 7 = Kilometers; 8 = M i-
croinches;
9 = M ils; 10 = Yards; 11 = Angstroms; 12 = Nanometers;
13 = M icrons; 14 = Decimeters; 15 = Decameters;
16 = Hectometers; 17 = Gigameters; 18 = Astronomical
units;
19 = Light years; 20 = Parsecs

$INTERFERECOLOR 62 Represents the ACI color index of the "interference objects"


created during the interfere command.Default value is 1

$INTERFEREOBJVS 345 Hard-pointer ID to the visual style for interference objects.


Default visual style is Conceptual.

$INTERFEREVPVS 346 Hard-pointer ID to the visual style for the viewport during
interference checking. Default visual style is 3d Wireframe.

$INTERSECTIONCOLOR 70 Specifies the entity color of intersection polylines:


Values 1-255 designate an AutoCAD color index (ACI)
0 = Color BYBLOCK
256 = Color BYLAYER
257 = Color BYENTITY

$INTERSECTIONDISPLAY 290 Specifies the display of intersection polylines:


0 = Turns off the display of intersection polylines
1 = Turns on the display of intersection polylines

$JOINSTYLE 280 Lineweight joint setting for new objects:


0=none; 1= round; 2 = angle; 3 = flat

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DXF header variables
Variable Group code Descript ion

$LIM CHECK 70 Nonzero if limits checking is on

$LIM M AX 10, 20 XY drawing limits upper-right corner (in WCS)

$LIM M IN 10, 20 XY drawing limits lower-left corner (in WCS)

$LTSCALE 40 Global linetype scale

$LUNITS 70 Units format for coordinates and distances

$LUPREC 70 Units precision for coordinates and distances

$LWDISPLAY 290 Controls the display of lineweights on the M odel or Layout


tab:
0 = Lineweight is not displayed
1 = Lineweight is displayed

$M AXACTVP 70 Sets maximum number of viewports to be regenerated

$M EASUREM ENT 70 Sets drawing units: 0 = English; 1 = M etric

$M ENU 1 Name of menu file

$M IRRTEXT 70 M irror text if nonzero

$OBSCOLOR 70 Specifies the color of obscured lines. An obscured line is a


hidden line made visible by changing its color and linetype
and is visible only when the HIDE or SHADEM ODE com-
mand is used. The OBSCUREDCOLOR setting is visible only
if the OBSCUREDLTYPE is turned ON by setting it to a value
other than 0.
0 and 256 = Entity color
1-255 = An AutoCAD color index (ACI)

$OBSLTYPE 280 Specifies the linetype of obscured lines. Obscured linetypes


are independent of zoom level, unlike regular AutoCAD
linetypes. Value 0 turns off display of obscured lines and is
the default. Linetype values are defined as follows:
0 = Off
1 = Solid

HEADER Section Group Codes | 21

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DXF header variables
Variable Group code Descript ion
2 = Dashed
3 = Dotted
4 = Short Dash
5 = M edium Dash
6 = Long Dash
7 = Double Short Dash
8 = Double M edium Dash
9 = Double Long Dash
10 = M edium Long Dash
11 = Sparse Dot

$ORTHOM ODE 70 Ortho mode on if nonzero

$PDM ODE 70 Point display mode

$PDSIZE 40 Point display size

$PELEVATION 40 Current paper space elevation

$PEXTM AX 10, 20, 30 M aximum X, Y, and Z extents for paper space

$PEXTM IN 10, 20, 30 M inimum X, Y, and Z extents for paper space

$PINSBASE 10, 20, 30 Paper space insertion base point

$PLIM CHECK 70 Limits checking in paper space when nonzero

$PLIM M AX 10, 20 M aximum X and Y limits in paper space

$PLIM M IN 10, 20 M inimum X and Y limits in paper space

$PLINEGEN 70 Governs the generation of linetype patterns around the


vertices of a 2D polyline:
1 = Linetype is generated in a continuous pattern around
vertices of the polyline
0 = Each segment of the polyline starts and ends with a
dash

$PLINEWID 40 Default polyline width

22 | Chapter 2 HEADER Section

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DXF header variables
Variable Group code Descript ion

$PROJECTNAM E 1 Assigns a project name to the current drawing. Used when


an external reference or image is not found on its original
path. The project name points to a section in the registry
that can contain one or more search paths for each project
name defined. Project names and their search directories
are created from the Files tab of the Options dialog box

$PROXYGRAPHICS 70 Controls the saving of proxy object images

$PSLTSCALE 70 Controls paper space linetype scaling:


1 = No special linetype scaling
0 = Viewport scaling governs linetype scaling

$PSTYLEM ODE 290 Indicates whether the current drawing is in a Color-Depend-


ent or Named Plot Style mode:
0 = Uses named plot style tables in the current drawing
1 = Uses color-dependent plot style tables in the current
drawing

$PSVPSCALE 40 View scale factor for new viewports:


0 = Scaled to fit
>0 = Scale factor (a positive real value)

$PUCSBASE 2 Name of the UCS that defines the origin and orientation
of orthographic UCS settings (paper space only)

$PUCSNAM E 2 Current paper space UCS name

$PUCSORG 10, 20, 30 Current paper space UCS origin

$PUCSORGBACK 10, 20, 30 Point which becomes the new UCS origin after changing
paper space UCS to BACK when PUCSBASE is set to WORLD

$PUCSORGBOTTOM 10, 20, 30 Point which becomes the new UCS origin after changing
paper space UCS to BOTTOM when PUCSBASE is set to
WORLD

$PUCSORGFRONT 10, 20, 30 Point which becomes the new UCS origin after changing
paper space UCS to FRONT when PUCSBASE is set to
WORLD

HEADER Section Group Codes | 23

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DXF header variables
Variable Group code Descript ion

$PUCSORGLEFT 10, 20, 30 Point which becomes the new UCS origin after changing
paper space UCS to LEFT when PUCSBASE is set to WORLD

$PUCSORGRIGHT 10, 20, 30 Point which becomes the new UCS origin after changing
paper space UCS to RIGHT when PUCSBASE is set to
WORLD

$PUCSORGTOP 10, 20, 30 Point which becomes the new UCS origin after changing
paper space UCS to TOP when PUCSBASE is set to WORLD

$PUCSORTHOREF 2 If paper space UCS is orthographic (PUCSORTHOVIEW not


equal to 0), this is the name of the UCS that the orthograph-
ic UCS is relative to. If blank, UCS is relative to WORLD

$PUCSORTHOVIEW 70 Orthographic view type of paper space UCS:


0 = UCS is not orthographic;
1 = Top; 2 = Bottom;
3 = Front; 4 = Back;
5 = Left; 6 = Right

$PUCSXDIR 10, 20, 30 Current paper space UCS X axis

$PUCSYDIR 10, 20, 30 Current paper space UCS Y axis

$QTEXTM ODE 70 Quick Text mode on if nonzero

$REGENM ODE 70 REGENAUTO mode on if nonzero

$SHADEDGE 70 0 = Faces shaded, edges not highlighted


1 = Faces shaded, edges highlighted in black
2 = Faces not filled, edges in entity color
3 = Faces in entity color, edges in black

$SHADEDIF 70 Percent ambient/ diffuse light; range 1-100; default 70

$SHADOWPLANELOCA- 40 Location of the ground shadow plane. This is a Z axis ordin-


TION ate.

$SKETCHINC 40 Sketch record increment

24 | Chapter 2 HEADER Section

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DXF header variables
Variable Group code Descript ion

$SKPOLY 70 0 = Sketch lines; 1 = Sketch polylines

$SORTENTS 280 Controls the object sorting methods; accessible from the
Options dialog box User Preferences tab. SORTENTS uses
the following bitcodes:
0 = Disables SORTENTS
1 = Sorts for object selection
2 = Sorts for object snap
4 = Sorts for redraws
8 = Sorts for M SLIDE command slide creation
16 = Sorts for REGEN commands
32 = Sorts for plotting
64 = Sorts for PostScript output

$SPLINESEGS 70 Number of line segments per spline patch

$SPLINETYPE 70 Spline curve type for PEDIT Spline

$SURFTAB1 70 Number of mesh tabulations in first direction

$SURFTAB2 70 Number of mesh tabulations in second direction

$SURFTYPE 70 Surface type for PEDIT Smooth

$SURFU 70 Surface density (for PEDIT Smooth) in M direction

$SURFV 70 Surface density (for PEDIT Smooth) in N direction

$TDCREATE 40 Local date/ time of drawing creation (see “ Special Handling


of Date/ Time Variables” )

$TDINDWG 40 Cumulative editing time for this drawing (see “ Special


Handling of Date/ Time Variables” )

$TDUCREATE 40 Universal date/ time the drawing was created (see “ Special
Handling of Date/ Time Variables” )

$TDUPDATE 40 Local date/ time of last drawing update (see “ Special


Handling of Date/ Time Variables” )

HEADER Section Group Codes | 25

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DXF header variables
Variable Group code Descript ion

$TDUSRTIM ER 40 User-elapsed timer

$TDUUPDATE 40 Universal date/ time of the last update/ save (see “ Special
Handling of Date/ Time Variables” )

$TEXTSIZE 40 Default text height

$TEXTSTYLE 7 Current text style name

$THICKNESS 40 Current thickness set by ELEV command

$TILEM ODE 70 1 for previous release compatibility mode; 0 otherwise

$TRACEWID 40 Default trace width

$TREEDEPTH 70 Specifies the maximum depth of the spatial index

$UCSBASE 2 Name of the UCS that defines the origin and orientation
of orthographic UCS settings

$UCSNAME 2 Name of current UCS

$UCSORG 10, 20, 30 Origin of current UCS (in WCS)

$UCSORGBACK 10, 20, 30 Point which becomes the new UCS origin after changing
model space UCS to BACK when UCSBASE is set to WORLD

$UCSORGBOTTOM 10, 20, 30 Point which becomes the new UCS origin after changing
model space UCS to BOTTOM when UCSBASE is set to
WORLD

$UCSORGFRONT 10, 20, 30 Point which becomes the new UCS origin after changing
model space UCS to FRONT when UCSBASE is set to
WORLD

$UCSORGLEFT 10, 20, 30 Point which becomes the new UCS origin after changing
model space UCS to LEFT when UCSBASE is set to WORLD

$UCSORGRIGHT 10, 20, 30 Point which becomes the new UCS origin after changing
model space UCS to RIGHT when UCSBASE is set to WORLD

26 | Chapter 2 HEADER Section

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DXF header variables
Variable Group code Descript ion

$UCSORGTOP 10, 20, 30 Point which becomes the new UCS origin after changing
model space UCS to TOP when UCSBASE is set to WORLD

$UCSORTHOREF 2 If model space UCS is orthographic (UCSORTHOVIEW not


equal to 0), this is the name of the UCS that the orthograph-
ic UCS is relative to. If blank, UCS is relative to WORLD

$UCSORTHOVIEW 70 Orthographic view type of model space UCS:


0 = UCS is not orthographic;
1 = Top; 2 = Bottom;
3 = Front; 4 = Back;
5 = Left; 6 = Right

$UCSXDIR 10, 20, 30 Direction of the current UCS X axis (in WCS)

$UCSYDIR 10, 20, 30 Direction of the current UCS Y axis (in WCS)

$UNITM ODE 70 Low bit set = Display fractions, feet-and-inches, and survey-
or's angles in input format

$USERI1 - 5 70 Five integer variables intended for use by third-party de-


velopers

$USERR1 - 5 40 Five real variables intended for use by third-party developers

$USRTIM ER 70 0 = Timer off; 1 = Timer on

$VERSIONGUID 2 Uniquely identifies a particular version of a drawing. Up-


dated when the drawing is modified

$VISRETAIN 70 0 = Don't retain xref-dependent visibility settings


1 = Retain xref-dependent visibility settings

$WORLDVIEW 70 1 = Set UCS to WCS during DVIEW/ VPOINT


0 = Don't change UCS

$XCLIPFRAM E 290 Controls the visibility of xref clipping boundaries:


0 = Clipping boundary is not visible
1 = Clipping boundary is visible

HEADER Section Group Codes | 27

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DXF header variables
Variable Group code Descript ion

$XEDIT 290 Controls whether the current drawing can be edited in-
place when being referenced by another drawing.
0 = Can't use in-place reference editing
1 = Can use in-place reference editing

Revised VPORT Header Variables


®
Th e followin g h eader variables existed before AutoCAD Release 11 but n ow
h ave in depen den t settin gs for each active viewport. OPEN h on ors th ese
variables wh en read from DXF™ files. If a VPORT sym bol table with *ACTIVE
en tries is presen t (as is true for an y DXF file produced by Release 11 or later),
th e values in th e VPORT table en tries override th e values of th ese h eader
variables.

Revised VPORT header variables


Variable Group code Descript ion

$FASTZOOM 70 Fast zoom enabled if nonzero

$GRIDM ODE 70 Grid mode on if nonzero

$GRIDUNIT 10, 20 Grid X and Y spacing

$SNAPANG 50 Snap grid rotation angle

$SNAPBASE 10, 20 Snap/ grid base point (in UCS)

$SNAPISOPAIR 70 Isometric plane: 0 = Left; 1 = Top; 2 = Right

$SNAPM ODE 70 Snap mode on if nonzero

$SNAPSTYLE 70 Snap style: 0 = Standard; 1 = Isometric

$SNAPUNIT 10, 20 Snap grid X and Y spacing

$VIEWCTR 10, 20 XY center of current view on screen

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Revised VPORT header variables
Variable Group code Descript ion

$VIEWDIR 10, 20, 30 Viewing direction (direction from target in


WCS)

$VIEWSIZE 40 Height of view

Special Handling of Dat e/ Time Variables


Th e CDATE an d DATE system variables provide access to th e curren t date an d
tim e. Th e TDCREATE, TDINDW G, TDUPDATE, an d TDUSRTIM ER system
variables (an d th e $TDCREATE, $TDUCREATE, $TDUPDATE, an d
$TDUUPDATE DXF h eader variables) provide access to tim es an d dates
associated with the current drawin g. Th e values are represented as real numbers
with special m ean in gs, as described below.
DATE is th e curren t date an d tim e represen ted as a Julian date an d fraction
of a day in a real n um ber.
<Julian date>.<Fraction of day>
For exam ple, on Decem ber 31, 1999, at 9:58:35 p.m . GM T, th e DATE variable
con tain s
2451544.91568287
Th e date an d tim e are taken from th e com puter's clock wh en th e variable is
read. Th e tim e is represen ted as a fraction of a day, an d th e tim es return ed by
DATE m ay be truly subtracted to com pute differen ces in tim e. To extract th e
secon ds sin ce m idn igh t from th e value return ed by DATE, use th e AutoLISP
expression s
(setq s (getvar "DATE"))
(setq seconds (* 86400.0 (- s (fix s))))

Note th at DATE return s on ly a true Julian date if th e system 's clock is set to
UTC/ Zulu (Green wich M ean Tim e). TDCREATE and TDUPDATE h ave th e sam e
form at as DATE, but th eir values represen t th e creation tim e an d last update
tim e of th e curren t drawin g.
TDINDW G an d TDUSRTIM ER (an d th e $TDINDW G an d $TDUSRTIM ER DXF
h eader variables) use a form at similar to that of DATE, but their values represent
elapsed tim es, as in
<Number of days>.<Fraction of day>

Special Handling of Date/ Time Variables | 29

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CDATE is th e curren t date an d tim e in calen dar an d clock form at. Th e value
is return ed as a real n um ber in th e form
YYYYM M DD.HHM M SSh sec
wh ere
YYYY = year
M M = m on th (01-12)
DD = day (01-31)
HH = h our (00-23)
M M = m in ute (00-59)
SS = secon d (00-59)
h sec = h un dredth s of a secon d (00-99)
For exam ple, if th e curren t date is Decem ber 31, 2005, an d th e tim e is
9:58:35.75 p.m ., CDATE would return th e value:
20051231.21583575
Note th at CDATE values can be com pared for later an d earlier values but th at
subtractin g th em yields n um bers th at are n ot m ean in gful.

30 | Chapter 2 HEADER Section

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CLASSES Sect ion

Th e group codes described in th is ch apter are foun d on ly in DXF™ files. Th e CLASSES section
h olds th e in form ation for application -defin ed classes wh ose in stan ces appear in th e BLOCKS,
ENTITIES, an d OBJECTS section s of th e database. It is assum ed th at a class defin ition is
perm an en tly fixed in th e class h ierarch y. All fields are required.

CLASSES Sect ion Group Codes


Each entry in the CLASSES section contains th e groups described in the following
table.

CLASSES sect ion group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Record type (CLASS). Identifies beginning of a CLASS record

1 Class DXF record name; always unique

2 C++ class name. Used to bind with software that defines object class
behavior; always unique

3 Application name. Posted in Alert box when a class definition listed in


this section is not currently loaded

90 Proxy capabilities flag. Bit-coded value that indicates the capabilities of


this object as a proxy:
0 = No operations allowed (0)
1 = Erase allowed (0x1)
2 = Transform allowed (0x2)
4 = Color change allowed (0x4)
8 = Layer change allowed (0x8)

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CLASSES sect ion group codes
Group code Descript ion
16 = Linetype change allowed (0x10)
32 = Linetype scale change allowed (0x20)
64 = Visibility change allowed (0x40)
128 = Cloning allowed (0x80)
256 = Lineweight change allowed (0x100)
512 = Plot Style Name change allowed (0x200)
895 = All operations except cloning allowed (0x37F)
1023 = All operations allowed (0x3FF)
1024 = Disables proxy warning dialog (0x400)
32768 = R13 format proxy (0x8000)

91 Instance count for a custom class

280 Was-a-proxy flag. Set to 1 if class was not loaded when this DXF file was
created, and 0 otherwise

281 Is-an-entity flag. Set to 1 if class was derived from the AcDbEntity class
and can reside in the BLOCKS or ENTITIES section. If 0, instances may
appear only in the OBJECTS section

Default Class Values


®
AutoCAD registers th e classes listed in th e followin g table. (Th is m ay n ot be
a com plete list of the classes found in a DXF file. It depen ds on the applications
curren tly in use by AutoCAD.)

Default class values


DXF record name C++ class name Code Code Code
code 1 code 2 90 280 281

ACDBDICTIONARYWDFLT AcDbDictionaryWithDefault 0 0 0

ACDBPLACEHOLDER AcDbPlaceHolder 0 0 0

ARCALIGNEDTEXT AcDbArcAlignedText 0 0 1

DICTIONARYVAR AcDbDictionaryVar 0 0 0

HATCH AcDbHatch 0 0 1

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Default class values
DXF record name C++ class name Code Code Code
code 1 code 2 90 280 281

IDBUFFER AcDbIdBuffer 0 0 0

IM AGE AcDbRasterImage 127 0 1

IM AGEDEF AcDbRasterImageDef 0 0 0

IM AGEDEF_REACTOR AcDbRasterImageDefReactor 1 0 0

LAYER_INDEX AcDbLayerIndex 0 0 0

LAYOUT AcDbLayout 0 0 0

LWPOLYLINE AcDbPolyline 0 0 1

OBJECT_PTR CAseDLPNTableRecord 1 0 0

OLE2FRAM E AcDbOle2Frame 0 0 1

PLOTSETTINGS AcDbPlotSettings 0 0 0

RASTERVARIABLES AcDbRasterVariables 0 0 0

RTEXT RText 0 0 1

SORTENTSTABLE AcDbSortentsTable 0 0 0

SPATIAL_INDEX AcDbSpatialIndex 0 0 0

SPATIAL_FILTER AcDbSpatialFilter 0 0 0

WIPEOUT AcDbWipeout 127 0 1

WIPEOUTVARIABLES AcDbWipeoutVariables 0 0 0

Default Class Values | 33

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34

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TABLES Sect ion

Th e group codes described in th is ch apter are foun d in DX F™ files an d used by application s.


Th e TABLES section con tain s several tables, each of wh ich can con tain a variable n um ber of
en tries. Th ese codes are also used by AutoLISP® an d ObjectARX ® application s in en tity
defin ition lists.

Symbol Table Group Codes


Th e order of th e tables m ay ch an ge, but th e LTYPE table always precedes th e
LAYER table. Each table is in troduced with a 0 group code with th e label TABLE.
Th is is followed by a 2 group code iden tifyin g th e particular table (APPID,
DIM STYLE, LAYER, LTYPE, STYLE, UCS, VIEW, VPORT, or BLOCK_RECORD),
a 5 group code (a handle), a 100 group code (AcDbSym bolTable subclass m arker),
an d a 70 group code th at specifies th e m axim um n um ber of table en tries th at
m ay follow. Table n am es are output in uppercase. Th e DIM STYLE h an dle is a
105 group code, an d n ot a 5 group code.
Th e tables in a drawin g can con tain deleted item s, but th ese are n ot written to
th e DXF file. As a result, fewer table en tries m ay follow th e table h eader th an
are in dicated by th e 70 group code, so do n ot use th e coun t in th e 70 group
code as an in dex to read in th e table. Th is group code is provided so th at a
program th at reads DXF files can allocate an array large en ough to h old all th e
table en tries th at follow.
Following th is header for each table are the table en tries. Each table en try consists
of a 0 group iden tifyin g th e item type (sam e as table n am e, such as LTYPE or
LAYER), a 2 group givin g th e n am e of th e table en try, a 70 group specifyin g
flags relevan t to th e table entry (defined for each following table), and addition al
groups th at give th e value of th e table en try. Th e en d of each table is in dicated
by a 0 group with th e value ENDTAB.
Both sym bol table records an d sym bol tables are database objects. At a very
®
m in imum , with all prevailin g usage within AutoCAD , this im plies th at a han dle

35

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is presen t, position ed after th e 2 group codes for both th e sym bol table record
objects an d th e sym bol table objects.
Th e DIM STYLE table is th e on ly record type in th e system with a h an dle code
of 105 because of its earlier usage of group code 5. As a rule, program m ers
sh ould n ot be con cern ed about th is exception un less it is in th e con text of
th e DIM STYLE table section . Th is is th e on ly con text in wh ich th is exception
sh ould occur.

Common Symbol Table Group Codes


Th e followin g table sh ows group codes th at apply to all sym bol tables. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Group codes t hat apply t o all symbol t ables


Group code Descript ion

-1 APP: entity name (changes each time a drawing is opened)

0 Object type (TABLE)

2 Table name

5 Handle

102 “ {ACAD_XDICTIONARY” indicates the start of an extension dictionary group. This group exists
only if persistent reactors have been attached to this object (optional)

360 Hard owner ID/ handle to owner dictionary (optional)

102 End of group, “ }” (optional)

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner object

100 Subclass marker (AcDbSymbolTable)

70 M aximum number of entries in table

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Common Group Codes for Symbol Table Ent ries
Th e followin g table sh ows group codes th at apply to all sym bol table en tries.
W h en you refer to th e table of group codes by en tity type, wh ich lists th e
codes associated with specific en tities, keep in m in d th at th e codes sh own
h ere can also be presen t. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g
used in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Group codes t hat apply t o all symbol t able ent ries


Group code Descript ion

-1 APP: entity name (changes each time a drawing is opened)

0 Entity type (table name)

5 Handle (all except DIM STYLE)

105 Handle (DIM STYLE table only)

102 Start of application-defined group “ {application_name” . For example, “ {ACAD_REACTORS” in-


dicates the start of the AutoCAD persistent reactors group (optional)

application- Codes and values within the 102 groups are application defined (optional)
defined codes

102 End of group, “ }” (optional)

102 “ {ACAD_REACTORS” indicates the start of the AutoCAD persistent reactors group. This group
exists only if persistent reactors have been attached to this object (optional)

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary (optional)

102 End of group, “ }” (optional)

102 “ {ACAD_XDICTIONARY” indicates the start of an extension dictionary group. This group exists
only if persistent reactors have been attached to this object (optional)

360 Hard-owner ID/ handle to owner dictionary (optional)

102 End of group, “ }” (optional)

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner object

Common Group Codes for Symbol Table Entries | 37

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Group codes t hat apply t o all symbol t able ent ries
Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbSymbolTableRecord)

APPID
Th e followin g group codes apply to APPID sym bol table en tries. In addition
to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Sym bol
Table En tries on page 37. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g
used in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

APPID group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbRegAppTableRecord)

2 User-supplied (or application-supplied) application name (for extended data). These table
entries maintain a set of names for all registered applications

70 Standard flag values (bit-coded values):


16 = If set, table entry is externally dependent on an xref
32 = If both this bit and bit 16 are set, the externally dependent xref has been successfully re-
solved
64 = If set, the table entry was referenced by at least one entity in the drawing the last time
the drawing was edited. (This flag is for the benefit of AutoCAD commands. It can be ignored
by most programs that read DXF files and need not be set by programs that write DXF files)

BLOCK_RECORD
Th e followin g group codes apply to BLOCK_RECORD sym bol table en tries.
In addition to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for
Sym bol Table En tries on page 37. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d
form attin g used in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce
on page 2.

BLOCK_RECORD group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbBlockTableRecord)

38 | Chapter 4 TABLES Section

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BLOCK_RECORD group codes
Group code Descript ion

2 Block name

340 Hard-pointer ID/ handle to associated LAYOUT object

70 Block insertion units.

280 Block explodability

281 Block scalability

310 DXF: Binary data for bitmap preview (optional)

1001 Xdata application name “ ACAD” (optional)

1000 Xdata string data “ DesignCenter Data” (optional)

1002 Begin xdata “ {“ (optional)

1070 Autodesk Design Center version number

1070 Insert units:


0 = Unitless; 1 = Inches; 2 = Feet; 3 = M iles; 4 = M illimeters;
5 = Centimeters; 6 = M eters; 7 = Kilometers; 8 = M icroinches;
9 = Mils; 10 = Yards; 11 = Angstroms; 12 = Nanometers;
13 = M icrons; 14 = Decimeters; 15 = Decameters;
16 = Hectometers; 17 = Gigameters; 18 = Astronomical units;
19 = Light years; 20 = Parsecs

1002 End xdata “ }“

DIMSTYLE
Th e followin g group codes apply to DIM STYLE sym bol table en tries. Th e
DIM STYLE system variables are described in “ System Variables,” in th e
Command Reference. In addition to the group codes described h ere, see Comm on
Group Codes for Sym bol Table En tries on page 37. For in form ation about

DIMSTYLE | 39

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abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s
in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

DIM STYLE group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbDimStyleTableRecord)

2 Dimension style name

70 Standard flag values (bit-coded values):


16 = If set, table entry is externally dependent on an xref
32 = If both this bit and bit 16 are set, the externally dependent xref has been successfully re-
solved
64 = If set, the table entry was referenced by at least one entity in the drawing the last time
the drawing was edited. (This flag is for the benefit of AutoCAD commands. It can be ignored
by most programs that read DXF files and need not be set by programs that write DXF files)

3 DIM POST

4 DIM APOST

5 DIM BLK (obsolete, now object ID)

6 DIM BLK1 (obsolete, now object ID)

7 DIM BLK2 (obsolete, now object ID)

40 DIM SCALE

41 DIM ASZ

42 DIM EXO

43 DIM DLI

44 DIM EXE

45 DIM RND

46 DIM DLE

47 DIM TP

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DIM STYLE group codes
Group code Descript ion

48 DIMTM

140 DIMTXT

141 DIMCEN

142 DIMTSZ

143 DIMALTF

144 DIMLFAC

145 DIMTVP

146 DIMTFAC

147 DIMGAP

148 DIMALTRND

71 DIMTOL

72 DIMLIM

73 DIMTIH

74 DIMTOH

75 DIMSE1

76 DIMSE2

77 DIMTAD

78 DIMZIN

79 DIMAZIN

170 DIMALT

DIMSTYLE | 41

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DIM STYLE group codes
Group code Descript ion

171 DIM ALTD

172 DIM TOFL

173 DIM SAH

174 DIM TIX

175 DIM SOXD

176 DIM CLRD

177 DIM CLRE

178 DIM CLRT

179 DIM ADEC

270 DIM UNIT (obsolete, now use DIM LUNIT AND DIM FRAC)

271 DIM DEC

272 DIM TDEC

273 DIM ALTU

274 DIM ALTTD

275 DIM AUNIT

276 DIM FRAC

277 DIM LUNIT

278 DIM DSEP

279 DIM TM OVE

280 DIM JUST

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DIM STYLE group codes
Group code Descript ion

281 DIMSD1

282 DIMSD2

283 DIMTOLJ

284 DIMTZIN

285 DIMALTZ

286 DIMALTTZ

287 DIMFIT (obsolete, now use DIM ATFIT and DIMTM OVE)

288 DIMUPT

289 DIMATFIT

340 DIMTXSTY (handle of referenced STYLE)

341 DIMLDRBLK (handle of referenced BLOCK)

342 DIMBLK (handle of referenced BLOCK)

343 DIMBLK1 (handle of referenced BLOCK)

344 DIMBLK2 (handle of referenced BLOCK)

371 DIMLWD (lineweight enum value)

372 DIMLWE (lineweight enum value)

LAYER
Th e followin g group codes apply to LAYER sym bol table en tries. In addition
to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Sym bol

LAYER | 43

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Table En tries on page 37. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g
used in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

LAYER group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbLayerTableRecord)

2 Layer name

70 Standard flags (bit-coded values):


1 = Layer is frozen; otherwise layer is thawed
2 = Layer is frozen by default in new viewports
4 = Layer is locked
16 = If set, table entry is externally dependent on an xref
32 = If both this bit and bit 16 are set, the externally dependent xref has been successfully re-
solved
64 = If set, the table entry was referenced by at least one entity in the drawing the last time the
drawing was edited. (This flag is for the benefit of AutoCAD commands. It can be ignored by
most programs that read DXF files and need not be set by programs that write DXF files)

62 Color number (if negative, layer is off)

6 Linetype name

290 Plotting flag. If set to 0, do not plot this layer

370 Lineweight enum value

390 Hard-pointer ID/ handle of PlotStyleName object

347 Hard-pointer ID/ handle to M aterial object

Xref-depen den t layers are output durin g SAVEAS. For th ese layers, th e
associated lin etype n am e in th e DXF file is always CONTINUOUS.

LTYPE
Th e followin g group codes apply to LTYPE sym bol table en tries. In addition
to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Sym bol

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Table En tries on page 37. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g
used in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

LTYPE group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbLinetypeTableRecord)

2 Linetype name

70 Standard flag values (bit-coded values):


16 = If set, table entry is externally dependent on an xref
32 = If both this bit and bit 16 are set, the externally dependent xref has been successfully re-
solved
64 = If set, the table entry was referenced by at least one entity in the drawing the last time
the drawing was edited. (This flag is for the benefit of AutoCAD commands. It can be ignored
by most programs that read DXF files and need not be set by programs that write DXF files)

3 Descriptive text for linetype

72 Alignment code; value is always 65, the ASCII code for A

73 The number of linetype elements

40 Total pattern length

49 Dash, dot or space length (one entry per element)

74 Complex linetype element type (one per element). Default is 0 (no embedded shape/ text)
The following codes are bit values:
1 = If set, code 50 specifies an absolute rotation; if not set, code 50 specifies a relative rotation
2 = Embedded element is a text string
4 = Embedded element is a shape

75 Shape number (one per element) if code 74 specifies an embedded shape


If code 74 specifies an embedded text string, this value is set to 0
If code 74 is set to 0, code 75 is omitted

340 Pointer to STYLE object (one per element if code 74 > 0)

46 S = Scale value (optional); multiple entries can exist

LTYPE | 45

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LTYPE group codes
Group code Descript ion

50 R = (relative) or A = (absolute) rotation value in radians of embedded shape or text; one per
element if code 74 specifies an embedded shape or text string

44 X = X offset value (optional); multiple entries can exist

45 Y = Y offset value (optional); multiple entries can exist

9 Text string (one per element if code 74 = 2)

Th e group codes 74, 75, 340, 46, 50, 44, 45, an d 9 are n ot return ed by th e
tblsearch or tblnext fun ction s. You m ust use tblobjname to retrieve th ese
values with in an application .

STYLE
Th e followin g group codes apply to STYLE sym bol table en tries. In addition
to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Sym bol
Table En tries on page 37. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g
used in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

STYLE group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbTextStyleTableRecord)

2 Style name

70 Standard flag values (bit-coded values):


1 = If set, this entry describes a shape
4 = Vertical text
16 = If set, table entry is externally dependent on an xref
32 = If both this bit and bit 16 are set, the externally dependent xref has been successfully re-
solved
64 = If set, the table entry was referenced by at least one entity in the drawing the last time
the drawing was edited. (This flag is for the benefit of AutoCADcommands. It can be ignored
by most programs that read DXF files and need not be set by programs that write DXF files)

40 Fixed text height; 0 if not fixed

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STYLE group codes
Group code Descript ion

41 Width factor

50 Oblique angle

71 Text generation flags:


2 = Text is backward (mirrored in X)
4 = Text is upside down (mirrored in Y)

42 Last height used

3 Primary font file name

4 Bigfont file name; blank if none

1071 A long value which contains a truetype font’s pitch and family, charset, and italic and bold flags

A STYLE table item is also used to record sh ape file LOAD com m an d requests.
In th is case th e first bit (1) is set in th e 70 group flags an d on ly th e 3 group
(sh ape file n am e) is m ean in gful (all th e oth er groups are output, h owever).

UCS
Th e followin g group codes apply to UCS sym bol table en tries. In addition to
th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Sym bol Table
En tries on page 37. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used
in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

UCS group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbUCSTableRecord)

2 UCS name

70 Standard flag values (bit-coded values):


16 = If set, table entry is externally dependent on an xref
32 = If both this bit and bit 16 are set, the externally dependent xref has been successfully re-
solved

UCS | 47

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UCS group codes
Group code Descript ion
64 = If set, the table entry was referenced by at least one entity in the drawing the last time
the drawing was edited. (This flag is for the benefit of AutoCAD commands. It can be ignored
by most programs that read DXF files and need not be set by programs that write DXF files)

10 Origin (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of origin (in WCS)

11 X-axis direction (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values of X-axis direction (in WCS)

12 Y-axis direction (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

22, 32 DXF: Y and Z values of Y-axis direction (in WCS)

79 Always 0

146 Elevation

346 ID/ handle of base UCS if this is an orthographic. This code is not present if the 79 code is 0. If
this code is not present and 79 code is non-zero, then base UCS is assumed to be WORLD

71 Orthographic type (optional; always appears in pairs with the 13, 23, 33 codes):
1 = Top; 2 = Bottom
3 = Front; 4 = Back
5 = Left; 6 = Right

13 Origin for this orthographic type relative to this UCS


DXF: X value of origin point; APP: 3D point

23, 33 DXF: Y and Z values of origin point

Each 71/ 13,23,33 pair defin es th e UCS origin for a particular orth ograph ic
type relative to th is UCS. For exam ple, if th e followin g pair is presen t, th en

48 | Chapter 4 TABLES Section

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in vokin g th e UCS/ LEFT com m an d wh en UCSBASE is set to th is UCS will cause
th e n ew UCS origin to becom e (1,2,3).
71: 5
13: 1.0
23: 2.0
33: 3.0

If th is pair were n ot presen t, th en in vokin g th e UCS/ LEFT com m an d would


cause th e n ew UCS origin to be set to th is UCS's origin poin t.

VIEW
Th e followin g group codes apply to VIEW sym bol table en tries. In addition
to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Sym bol
Table En tries on page 37. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g
used in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

VIEW group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbViewTableRecord)

2 Name of view

70 Standard flag values (bit-coded values):


1 = If set, this is a paper space view
16 = If set, table entry is externally dependent on an xref
32 = If both this bit and bit 16 are set, the externally dependent xref has been successfully re-
solved
64 = If set, the table entry was referenced by at least one entity in the drawing the last time
the drawing was edited. (This flag is for the benefit of AutoCAD commands. It can be ignored
by most programs that read DXF files and does not need to be set by programs that write DXF
files)

40 View height (in DCS)

10 View center point (in DCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

20 DXF: Y value of view center point (in DCS)

41 View width (in DCS)

VIEW | 49

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VIEW group codes
Group code Descript ion

11 View direction from target (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values of view direction from target (in WCS)

12 Target point (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

22, 32 DXF: Y and Z values of target point (in WCS)

42 Lens length

43 Front clipping plane (offset from target point)

44 Back clipping plane (offset from target point)

50 Twist angle

71 View mode (see VIEWMODE system variable)

281 Render mode:


0 = 2D Optimized (classic 2D)
1 = Wireframe
2 = Hidden line
3 = Flat shaded
4 = Gouraud shaded
5 = Flat shaded with wireframe
6 = Gouraud shaded with wireframe
All rendering modes other than 2D Optimized engage the new 3D graphics pipeline. These
values directly correspond to the SHADEMODE command and the AcDbAbstractViewTableRe-
cord::RenderM ode enum

72 1 if there is a UCS associated to this view; 0 otherwise

73 1 if the camera is plottable

332 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to background object (optional)

334 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to live section object (optional)

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VIEW group codes
Group code Descript ion

348 Hard-pointer ID/ handle to visual style object (optional)

361 Sun hard ownership ID

Th e followin g codes appear on ly if code 72 is set to 1. Th ey defin e th e UCS


that is associated to this view. Th is UCS will becom e th e current UCS whenever
th is view is restored (if code 72 is 0, th e UCS is un ch an ged).

VIEW wit h UCS group codes


Group code Descript ion

110 UCS origin (appears only if code 72 is set to 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

120, 130 DXF: Y and Z values of UCS origin

111 UCS X-axis (appears only if code 72 is set to 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

121, 131 DXF: Y and Z values of UCS X-axis

112 UCS Y-axis (appears only if code 72 is set to 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

122, 132 DXF: Y and Z values of UCS Y-axis

79 Orthographic type of UCS (appears only if code 72 is set to 1):


0 = UCS is not orthographic
1 = Top; 2 = Bottom
3 = Front; 4 = Back
5 = Left; 6 = Right

146 UCS elevation (appears only if code 72 is set to 1)

345 ID/ handle of AcDbUCSTableRecord if UCS is a named UCS. If not present, then UCS is
unnamed (appears only if code 72 is set to 1)

346 ID/ handle of AcDbUCSTableRecord of base UCS if UCS is orthographic (79 code is non-
zero). If not present and 79 code is non-zero, then base UCS is taken to be WORLD (appears
only if code 72 is set to 1)

VIEW | 51

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VPORT
Th e followin g group codes apply to VPORT sym bol table en tries. Th e VPORT
table is un ique: it m ay con tain several en tries with th e sam e n am e (in dicatin g
a m ultiple-viewport con figuration ). Th e en tries correspon din g to th e active
viewport con figuration all h ave th e n am e *ACTIVE. Th e first such en try
describes th e curren t viewport. In addition to th e group codes described h ere,
see Com m on Group Codes for Sym bol Table En tries on page 37. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

VPORT group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbViewportTableRecord)

2 Viewport name

70 Standard flag values (bit-coded values):


16 = If set, table entry is externally dependent on an xref
32 = If both this bit and bit 16 are set, the externally dependent xref has been successfully re-
solved
64 = If set, the table entry was referenced by at least one entity in the drawing the last time
the drawing was edited. (This flag is for the benefit of AutoCAD commands. It can be ignored
by most programs that read DXF files and does not need to be set by programs that write DXF
files)

10 Lower-left corner of viewport


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

20 DXF: Y value of lower-left corner of viewport

11 Upper-right corner of viewport


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

21 DXF: Y value of upper-right corner of viewport

12 View center point (in DCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

22 DXF: Y value of view center point (in DCS)

13 Snap base point (in DCS)

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VPORT group codes
Group code Descript ion
DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

23 DXF: Y value of snap base point (in DCS)

14 Snap spacing X and Y


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

24 DXF: Y value of snap spacing X and Y

15 Grid spacing X and Y


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

25 DXF: Y value of grid spacing X and Y

16 View direction from target point (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

26, 36 DXF: Y and Z values of view direction from target point


(in WCS)

17 View target point (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

27, 37 DXF: Y and Z values of view target point (in WCS)

42 Lens length

43 Front clipping plane (offset from target point)

44 Back clipping plane (offset from target point)

45 View height

50 Snap rotation angle

51 View twist angle

72 Circle sides

331 or 441 Soft or hard-pointer ID/ handle to frozen layer objects; repeats for each frozen layers

VPORT | 53

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VPORT group codes
Group code Descript ion

70 Bit flags and perspective mode

1 Plot style sheet

281 Render mode:


0 = 2D Optimized (classic 2D)
1 = Wireframe
2 = Hidden line
3 = Flat shaded
4 = Gouraud shaded
5 = Flat shaded with wireframe
6 = Gouraud shaded with wireframe
All rendering modes other than 2D Optimized engage the new 3D graphics pipeline. These
values directly correspond to the SHADEMODE command and the AcDbAbstractViewTableRe-
cord::RenderM ode enum

71 View mode (see VIEWMODE system variable)

74 UCSICON setting

110 UCS origin


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

120, 130 DXF: Y and Z values of UCS origin

111 UCS X-axis


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

121, 131 DXF: Y and Z values of UCS X-axis

112 UCS Y-axis


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

122, 132 DXF: Y and Z values of UCS Y-axis

345 ID/ handle of AcDbUCSTableRecord if UCS is a named UCS. If not present, then UCS is unnamed

346 ID/ handle of AcDbUCSTableRecord of base UCS if UCS is orthographic (79 code is non-zero).
If not present and 79 code is non-zero, then base UCS is taken to be WORLD

54 | Chapter 4 TABLES Section

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VPORT group codes
Group code Descript ion

79 Orthographic type of UCS


0 = UCS is not orthographic
1 = Top; 2 = Bottom
3 = Front; 4 = Back
5 = Left; 6 = Right

146 Elevation

170 Shade plot setting

61 M ajor grid lines

332 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to background object (optional)

333 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to shade plot object (optional)

348 Hard-pointer ID/ handle to visual style object (optional)

292 Default Lighting On flag

282 Default Lighting type


0 = One distant light
1 = Two distant lights

141 Brightness

142 Contrast

63, 421, 431 Ambient color (only output when non-black)

VPORT | 55

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56

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BLOCKS Sect ion

Th e group codes described in th is ch apter are foun d in DX F™ files an d used by application s.


Th e BLOCKS section con tain s an en try for each block referen ce in th e drawin g.

BLOCKS Sect ion Group Codes


Th e BLOCKS section of the DXF file con tain s all th e block defin ition s, in cludin g
an on ym ous blocks gen erated by th e HATCH com m an d an d by associative
dim en sion in g. Each block defin ition con tain s th e en tities th at m ake up th at
block as it is used in th e drawin g. Th e form at of th e en tities in th is section is
iden tical to th ose in th e ENTITIES section . All en tities in th e BLOCKS section
appear between block an d en dblk en tities. Block an d en dblk en tities appear
only in th e BLOCKS section . Block defin itions are n ever n ested (that is, n o block
or en dblk en tity ever appears with in an oth er block-en dblk pair), alth ough a
block defin ition can con tain an in sert en tity.
Extern al referen ces are written in th e DXF file as block defin ition s, except th at
th ey also in clude a strin g (group code 1) th at specifies th e path an d file n am e
of th e extern al referen ce.
Th e block table h an dle, alon g with an y xdata an d persisten t reactors, appears
in each block defin ition im m ediately followin g th e BLOCK record, wh ich
con tain s all of th e specific in form ation th at a block table record stores.

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BLOCK
Th e followin g group codes apply to block en tities. For in form ation about
abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s
in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Block group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Entity type (BLOCK)

5 Handle

102 Start of application-defined group “ {application_name” . For example, “ {ACAD_REACTORS” in-


dicates the start of the AutoCAD persistent reactors group (optional)

application- Codes and values within the 102 groups are application defined (optional)
defined codes

102 End of group, “ }” (optional)

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner object

100 Subclass marker (AcDbEntity)

8 Layer name

100 Subclass marker (AcDbBlockBegin)

2 Block name

70 Block-type flags (bit-coded values, may be combined):


0 = Indicates none of the following flags apply
1 = This is an anonymous block generated by hatching, associative dimensioning, other internal
operations, or an application
2 = This block has non-constant attribute definitions (this bit is not set if the block has any at-
tribute definitions that are constant, or has no attribute definitions at all)
4 = This block is an external reference (xref)
8 = This block is an xref overlay
16 = This block is externally dependent
32 = This is a resolved external reference, or dependent of an external reference (ignored on
input)
64 = This definition is a referenced external reference (ignored
on input)

58 | Chapter 5 BLOCKS Section

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Block group codes
Group code Descript ion

10 Base point
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of base point

3 Block name

1 Xref path name

4 Block description (optional)

Th e UCS in effect wh en a block defin ition is created becom es th e W CS for all


en tities in th e block defin ition . Th e n ew origin for th ese en tities is sh ifted to
m atch th e base poin t defin ed for th e block defin ition . All en tity data is
tran slated to fit th is n ew W CS.

Model Space and Paper Space Block Definit ions


Th ree em pty defin ition s always appear in th e BLOCKS section . Th ey are titled
*M odel_Space, *Paper_Space an d *Paper_Space0. Th ese defin ition s m an ifest
th e represen tation s of m odel space an d paper space as block defin ition s
in tern ally. Th e in tern al n am e of th e first paper space layout is *Paper_Space,
th e secon d is *Paper_Space0, th e th ird is *Paper_Space1, an d so on .

Model Space and Paper Space Ent it y Segregat ion


Th e in terleavin g between m odel space an d paper space n o lon ger occurs.
In stead, all paper space en tities are output, followed by m odel space en tities.
Th e flag distin guish in g th em is th e group code 67.

ENDBLK
Th e followin g group codes apply to en dblk objects. For in form ation about
abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s
in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Endblk group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Entity type (ENDBLK)

ENDBLK | 59

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Endblk group codes
Group code Descript ion

5 Handle

102 Start of application-defined group “ {application_name” . For example, “ {ACAD_REACTORS” in-


dicates the start of the AutoCAD persistent reactors group (optional)

application- Codes and values within the 102 groups are application defined (optional)
defined codes

102 End of group, “ }” (optional)

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner object

100 Subclass marker (AcDbEntity)

8 Layer name

100 Subclass marker (AcDbBlockEnd)

60 | Chapter 5 BLOCKS Section

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ENTITIES Sect ion

Th is ch apter presen ts th e group codes th at apply to graph ical objects. Th ese codes are foun d
in th e ENTITIES section of a DXF™ file an d are used by AutoLISP® an d ObjectARX ® application s
in en tity defin ition lists.

Common Group Codes for Ent it ies


Th e followin g table sh ows group codes th at apply to virtually all graph ical
objects. Som e of th e group codes sh own h ere are in cluded with an en tity
defin ition on ly if th e en tity h as n on default values for th e property. W h en you
refer to th e group codes by en tity type, th e lists of codes associated with specific
en tities, keep in m in d th at th e codes sh own h ere are also presen t.

NOTE Do not write programs that rely on the order shown in these DXF code tables.
Although these tables show the order of group codes as they usually appear, the
®
order can change under certain conditions or may be changed in a future AutoCAD
release. The code that controls an entity should be driven by a case (switch) or a
table so that it can process each group correctly even if the order is unexpected.

W h en a group is om itted, its default value upon in put (wh en usin g OPEN) is
indicated in the third colum n . If th e value of a group code is equal to the default,
it is om itted upon output (wh en usin g SAVEAS). For in form ation about
abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s
in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Group codes t hat apply t o all graphical object s


Group code Descript ion If omit t ed,
default s t o…

-1 APP: entity name (changes each time a drawing is opened) not omitted

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Group codes t hat apply t o all graphical object s
Group code Descript ion If omit t ed,
default s t o…

0 Entity type not omitted

5 Handle not omitted

102 Start of application-defined group no default


“ {application_name” (optional)

application- Codes and values within the 102 groups are application-defined (optional) no default
defined codes

102 End of group, “ }” (optional) no default

102 “ {ACAD_REACTORS” indicates the start of the AutoCAD persistent reactors no default
group. This group exists only if persistent reactors have been attached
to this object (optional)

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary (optional) no default

102 End of group, “ }” (optional) no default

102 “ {ACAD_XDICTIONARY” indicates the start of an extension dictionary no default


group. This group exists only if an extension dictionary has been attached
to the object (optional)

360 Hard-owner ID/ handle to owner dictionary (optional) no default

102 End of group, “ }” (optional) no default

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner BLOCK_RECORD object not omitted

100 Subclass marker (AcDbEntity) not omitted

67 Absent or zero indicates entity is in model space. 1 indicates entity is in 0


paper space (optional).

410 APP: layout tab name not omitted

8 Layer name not omitted

62 | Chapter 6 ENTITIES Section

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Group codes t hat apply t o all graphical object s
Group code Descript ion If omit t ed,
default s t o…

6 Linetype name (present if not BYLAYER). The special name BYBLOCK in- BYLAYER
dicates a floating linetype (optional)

347 Hard-pointer ID/ handle to material object (present if not BYLAYER) BYLAYER

62 Color number (present if not BYLAYER); zero indicates the BYBLOCK BYLAYER
(floating) color; 256 indicates BYLAYER; a negative value indicates that
the layer is turned off (optional)

370 Lineweight enum value. Stored and moved around as a 16-bit integer. not omitted

48 Linetype scale (optional) 1.0

60 Object visibility (optional): 0 = Visible; 1 = Invisible 0

92 Number of bytes in the proxy entity graphics represented in the sub- no default
sequent 310 groups, which are binary chunk records (optional)

310 Proxy entity graphics data (multiple lines; 256 characters max. per line) no default
(optional)

420 A 24-bit color value that should be dealt with in terms of bytes with values no default
of 0 to 255. The lowest byte is the blue value, the middle byte is the
green value, and the third byte is the red value. The top byte is always
0. The group code cannot be used by custom entities for their own data
because the group code is reserved for AcDbEntity, class-level color data
and AcDbEntity, class-level transparency data

430 Color name. The group code cannot be used by custom entities for their no default
own data because the group code is reserved for AcDbEntity, class-level
color data and AcDbEntity, class-level transparency data

440 Transparency value. The group code cannot be used by custom entities no default
for their own data because the group code is reserved for AcDbEntity,
class-level color data and AcDbEntity, class-level transparency data

390 Hard-pointer ID/ handle to the plot style object no default

284 Shadow mode no default

Common Group Codes for Entities | 63

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Group codes t hat apply t o all graphical object s
Group code Descript ion If omit t ed,
default s t o…
0 = Casts and receives shadows
1 = Casts shadows
2 = Receives shadows
3 = Ignores shadows

3DFACE
Th e followin g group codes apply to 3dface en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

3dface group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbFace)

10 First corner (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of first corner (in WCS)

11 Second corner (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values of second corner (in WCS)

12 Third corner (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

22, 32 DXF: Y and Z values of third corner (in WCS)

13 Fourth corner (in WCS). If only three corners are entered, this is the same as the third corner
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

23, 33 DXF: Y and Z values of fourth corner (in WCS)

70 Invisible edge flags (optional; default = 0):

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3dface group codes
Group code Descript ion
1 = First edge is invisible
2 = Second edge is invisible
4 = Third edge is invisible
8 = Fourth edge is invisible

3DSOLID
Th e followin g group codes apply to 3dsolid en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

3dsolid group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbM odelerGeometry)

70 M odeler format version number (currently = 1)

1 Proprietary data (multiple lines < 255 characters each)

3 Additional lines of proprietary data (if previous group 1 string is greater than 255 characters)
(optional)

100 Subclass marker (AcDb3dSolid)

350 Soft-owner ID/ handle to history object

ACAD_PROXY_ENTITY
Th e followin g group codes apply to proxy en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For

3DSOLID | 65

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in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Acad_proxy_ent it y group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 DXF: AcDbProxyEntity

90 DXF: Proxy entity class ID (always 498)

91 DXF: Application entity's class ID. Class IDs are based on the order of the class in the CLASSES
section. The first class is given the ID of 500, the next is 501, and so on

92 DXF: Size of graphics data in bytes

310 DXF: Binary graphics data (multiple entries can appear) (optional)

93 DXF: Size of entity data in bits

310 DXF: Binary entity data (multiple entries can appear) (optional)

330 or 340 DXF: An object ID (multiple entries can appear) (optional)


or 350 or 360

94 DXF: 0 (indicates end of object ID section)

95 DXF: Object drawing format when it becomes a proxy (a 32-bit unsigned integer):
Low word is AcDbDwgVersion
High word is M aintenanceReleaseVersion

70 DXF: Original custom object data format:


0 = DWG format
1 = DXF format

ARC
The followin g group codes apply to arc entities. In addition to th e group codes
described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For

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in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Arc group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbCircle)

39 Thickness (optional; default = 0)

10 Center point (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of center point (in OCS)

40 Radius

100 Subclass marker (AcDbArc)

50 Start angle

51 End angle

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

ATTDEF
Th e followin g group codes apply to attdef (attribute defin ition ) en tities. In
addition to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for
En tities on page 61. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used
in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

At t def group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbText)

39 Thickness (optional; default = 0)

ATTDEF | 67

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At t def group codes
Group code Descript ion

10 First alignment point (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of text start point (in OCS)

40 Text height

1 Default value (string)

50 Text rotation (optional; default = 0)

41 Relative X scale factor (width) (optional; default = 1). This value is also adjusted when fit-type
text is used

51 Oblique angle (optional; default = 0)

7 Text style name (optional; default = STANDARD)

71 Text generation flags (optional; default = 0); see TEXT on page 144 group codes

72 Horizontal text justification type (optional; default = 0); see TEXT on page 144 group codes

11 Second alignment point (in OCS) (optional)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point
M eaningful only if 72 or 74 group values are nonzero

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values of second alignment point (in OCS) (optional)

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction

100 Subclass marker (AcDbAttributeDefinition)

280 Version number:


0 = 2010

3 Prompt string

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At t def group codes
Group code Descript ion

2 Tag string (cannot contain spaces)

70 Attribute flags:
1 = Attribute is invisible (does not appear)
2 = This is a constant attribute
4 = Verification is required on input of this attribute
8 = Attribute is preset (no prompt during insertion)

73 Field length (optional; default = 0) (not currently used)

74 Vertical text justification type (optional, default = 0); see group code 73 inTEXT on page 144

280 Lock position flag. Locks the position of the attribute within the block reference

100 Subclass marker (AcDbXrecord)

280 Duplicate record cloning flag (determines how to merge duplicate entries):
1 = Keep existing

70 M Text flag:
2 = multiline attribute
4 = constant multiline attribute definition

70 isReallyLocked flag:
0 = unlocked
1 = locked

70 Number of secondary attributes or attribute definitions

340 hard-pointer id of secondary attribute(s) or attribute definition(s)

10 Alignment point of attribute or attribute definition


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20,30 DXF: Y and Z values of insertion point

40 current annotation scale

2 attribute or attribute definition tag string

ATTDEF | 69

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At t def group codes
Group code Descript ion

0 Entity type (M TEXT)

100 Subclass marker (AcDbEntity)

67 Absent or zero indicates entity is in model space. 1 indicates entity is in paper space (optional)

8 Layer name

100 Subclass marker (AcDbM Text)

10 Insertion point
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20,30 DXF: Y and Z values of insertion point

40 Nominal (initial) text height

41 Reference rectangle width

46 Defined annotation height

71 Attachment point:
1 = Top left; 2 = Top center; 3 = Top right
4 = M iddle left; 5 = M iddle center; 6 = M iddle right
7 = Bottom left; 8 = Bottom center; 9 = Bottom right

72 Drawing direction:
1 = Left to right
3 = Top to bottom
5 = By style (the flow direction is inherited from the associated text style)

1 Text string
If the text string is less than 250 characters, all characters appear in group 1. If the text string
is greater than 250 characters, the string is divided into 250-character chunks, which appear
in one or more group 3 codes. If group 3 codes are used, the last group is a group 1 and has
fewer than 250 characters.

3 Additional text (always in 250-character chunks) (optional)

7 DXF: X value; APP: 3D vectText style name (STANDARD if not provided) (optional)

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At t def group codes
Group code Descript ion

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220,230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

11 X-axis direction vector (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

21,31 DXF: Y and Z values of X-axis direction vector (in WCS)

42 Horizontal width of the characters that make up the mtext entity.


This value will always be equal to or less than the value of group code 41 (read-only, ignored
if supplied).

43 Vertical height of the mtext entity (read-only, ignored if supplied)

50 Rotation angle in radians

73 M text line spacing style (optional):


1 = At least (taller characters will override)
2 = Exact (taller characters will not override)

44 M text line spacing factor (optional):


Percentage of default (3-on-5) line spacing to be applied.
Valid values range from 0.25 to 4.00

90 Background fill setting:


0 = Background fill off
1 = Use background fill color
2 = Use drawing window color as background fill color

63 Background color (if color index number)

420-429 Background color (if RGB color)

430-439 Background color (if color name)

45 Fill box scale (optional):


Determines how much border is around the text.

ATTDEF | 71

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At t def group codes
Group code Descript ion

63 Background fill color (optional):


Color to use for background fill when group code 90 is 1.

441 Transparency of background fill color (not implemented)

If group 72 an d/ or 74 values are n on zero th en th e first align m en t poin t values


are ign ored an d n ew values are calculated by AutoCAD, based on th e secon d
align m en t poin t an d th e len gth an d h eigh t of th e text strin g itself (after
applyin g th e text style). If th e 72 an d 74 values are zero or m issin g, th en th e
secon d align m en t poin t is m ean in gless.

ATTRIB
Th e followin g group codes apply to attrib (attribute) en tities. In addition to
th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on
page 61. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

At t rib group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbText)

39 Thickness (optional; default = 0)

10 Text start point (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of text start point (in OCS)

40 Text height

1 Default value (string)

100 Subclass marker (AcDbAttribute)

280 Version number:


0 = 2010

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At t rib group codes
Group code Descript ion

2 Attribute tag (string; cannot contain spaces)

70 Attribute flags:
1 = Attribute is invisible (does not appear)
2 = This is a constant attribute
4 = Verification is required on input of this attribute
8 = Attribute is preset (no prompt during insertion)

73 Field length (optional; default = 0) (not currently used)

50 Text rotation (optional; default = 0)

41 Relative X scale factor (width) (optional; default = 1). This value is also adjusted when fit-type
text is used

51 Oblique angle (optional; default = 0)

7 Text style name (optional; default = STANDARD)

71 Text generation flags (optional; default = 0). See TEXT on page 144 group codes

72 Horizontal text justification type (optional; default = 0). See TEXT on page 144 group codes

74 Vertical text justification type (optional; default = 0). See group code 73 inTEXT on page 144

11 Alignment point (in OCS) (optional)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point
Present only if 72 or 74 group is present and nonzero

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values of alignment point (in OCS) (optional)

210 Extrusion direction. Present only if the entity's extrusion direction is not parallel to the WCS Z
axis (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)
DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

280 Lock position flag. Locks the position of the attribute within the block reference

100 Subclass marker (AcDbXrecord)

ATTRIB | 73

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At t rib group codes
Group code Descript ion

280 Duplicate record cloning flag (determines how to merge duplicate entries):
1 = Keep existing

70 M Text flag:
2 = multiline attribute
4 = constant multiline attribute definition

70 isReallyLocked flag:
0 = unlocked
1 = locked

70 Number of secondary attributes or attribute definitions

340 Hard-pointer id of secondary attribute(s) or attribute definition(s)

10 Alignment point of attribute or attribute definition


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20,30 DXF: Y and Z values of insertion point

40 current annotation scale

2 attribute or attribute definition tag string

0 Entity type (M TEXT)

100 Subclass marker (AcDbEntity)

67 Absent or zero indicates entity is in model space. 1 indicates entity is in paper space (optional)

8 Layer name

100 Subclass marker (AcDbM Text)

10 Insertion point
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20,30 DXF: Y and Z values of insertion point

40 Nominal (initial) text height

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At t rib group codes
Group code Descript ion

41 Reference rectangle width

46 Defined annotation height

71 Attachment point:
1 = Top left; 2 = Top center; 3 = Top right
4 = Middle left; 5 = M iddle center; 6 = M iddle right
7 = Bottom left; 8 = Bottom center; 9 = Bottom right

72 Drawing direction:
1 = Left to right
3 = Top to bottom
5 = By style (the flow direction is inherited from the associated text style)

1 Text string
If the text string is less than 250 characters, all characters appear in group 1. If the text string
is greater than 250 characters, the string is divided into 250-character chunks, which appear
in one or more group 3 codes. If group 3 codes are used, the last group is a group 1 and has
fewer than 250 characters.

3 Additional text (always in 250-character chunks) (optional)

7 DXF: X value; APP: 3D vectText style name (STANDARD if not provided) (optional)

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220,230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

11 X-axis direction vector (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

21,31 DXF: Y and Z values of X-axis direction vector (in WCS)

42 Horizontal width of the characters that make up the mtext entity.


This value will always be equal to or less than the value of group code 41 (read-only, ignored
if supplied).

43 Vertical height of the mtext entity (read-only, ignored if supplied)

ATTRIB | 75

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At t rib group codes
Group code Descript ion

50 Rotation angle in radians

73 M text line spacing style (optional):


1 = At least (taller characters will override)
2 = Exact (taller characters will not override)

44 M text line spacing factor (optional):


Percentage of default (3-on-5) line spacing to be applied.
Valid values range from 0.25 to 4.00

90 Background fill setting:


0 = Background fill off
1 = Use background fill color
2 = Use drawing window color as background fill color

63 Background color (if color index number)

420-429 Background color (if RGB color)

430-439 Background color (if color name)

45 Fill box scale (optional):


Determines how much border is around the text.

63 Background fill color (optional):


Color to use for background fill when group code 90 is 1.

441 Transparency of background fill color (not implemented)

If group 72 an d/ or 74 values are n on zero th en th e text in sertion poin t values


are ign ored, an d n ew values are calculated by AutoCAD based on th e text
align m en t poin t an d th e len gth of th e text strin g itself (after applyin g th e text
style). If th e 72 an d 74 values are zero or m issin g, th en th e text align m en t
poin t is ign ored an d recalculated based on th e text in sertion poin t an d th e
len gth of th e text strin g itself (after applyin g th e text style).

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BODY
Th e followin g group codes apply to body en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Body group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbM odelerGeometry)

70 M odeler format version number (currently = 1)

1 Proprietary data (multiple lines < 255 characters each)

3 Additional lines of proprietary data (if previous group 1 string is greater than 255 characters)
(optional)

CIRCLE
Th e followin g group codes apply to circle en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Circle group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbCircle)

39 Thickness (optional; default = 0)

10 Center point (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of center point (in OCS)

40 Radius

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

BODY | 77

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Circle group codes
Group code Descript ion

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

DIMENSION
Dim en sion en tity defin ition s con sist of group codes th at are com m on to all
dim en sion types, followed by codes specific to th e type.

Common Dimension Group Codes


Th e followin g group codes apply to all dim en sion en tity types. In addition to
th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on
page 61. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Common dimension group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbDimension)

280 Version number:


0 = 2010

2 Name of the block that contains the entities that make up the dimension picture

10 Definition point (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of definition point (in WCS)

11 M iddle point of dimension text (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values of middle point of dimension text (in OCS)

70 Dimension type:
Values 0-6 are integer values that represent the dimension type. Values 32, 64, and 128
are bit values, which are added to the integer values (value 32 is always set in R13 and
later releases)

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Common dimension group codes
Group code Descript ion
0 = Rotated, horizontal, or vertical; 1 = Aligned
2 = Angular; 3 = Diameter; 4 = Radius
5 = Angular 3 point; 6 = Ordinate
32 = Indicates that the block reference (group code 2) is referenced by this dimension
only
64 = Ordinate type. This is a bit value (bit 7) used only with integer value 6. If set, ordinate
is X-type; if not set, ordinate is Y-type
128 = This is a bit value (bit 8) added to the other group 70 values if the dimension text
has been positioned at a user-defined location rather than at the default location

71 Attachment point:
1 = Top left; 2 = Top center; 3 = Top right
4 = M iddle left; 5 = M iddle center; 6 = M iddle right
7 = Bottom left; 8 = Bottom center; 9 = Bottom right

72 Dimension text line-spacing style (optional):


1 (or missing) = At least (taller characters will override)
2 = Exact (taller characters will not override)

41 Dimension text-line spacing factor (optional):


Percentage of default (3-on-5) line spacing to be applied. Valid values range from 0.25
to 4.00

42 Actual measurement (optional; read-only value)

1 Dimension text explicitly entered by the user. Optional; default is the measurement. If
null or “ <>” , the dimension measurement is drawn as the text, if “ “ (one blank space),
the text is suppressed. Anything else is drawn as the text

53 The optional group code 53 is the rotation angle of the dimension text away from its default
orientation (the direction of the dimension line) (optional)

51 All dimension types have an optional 51 group code, which indicates the horizontal direc-
tion for the dimension entity. The dimension entity determines the orientation of dimension
text and lines for horizontal, vertical, and rotated linear dimensions
This group value is the negative of the angle between the OCS X axis and the UCS X axis.
It is always in the XY plane of the OCS

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

Common Dimension Group Codes | 79

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Common dimension group codes
Group code Descript ion

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

3 Dimension style name

Xdata belon gin g to th e application ID "ACAD" follows a dim en sion en tity if


an y dim en sion overrides h ave been applied to th is en tity. See Dim en sion Style
Overrides on page 86.
For all dim en sion types, th e followin g group codes represen t 3D W CS poin ts:

 (10, 20, 30)

 (13, 23, 33)

 (14, 24, 34)

 (15, 25, 35)

For all dim en sion types, th e followin g group codes represen t 3D OCS poin ts:

 (11, 21, 31)

 (12, 22, 32)

 (16, 26, 36)

Aligned Dimension Group Codes


Th e followin g group codes apply to align ed dim en sion s. In addition to th e
group codes described h ere, th ose listed in Com m on Group Codes for En tities
on page 61 an d Com m on Dim en sion Group Codes on page 78 can also be
present. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form atting used in th is table,
see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Aligned dimension group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbAlignedDimension)

12 Insertion point for clones of a dimension—Baseline and Continue (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

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Aligned dimension group codes
Group code Descript ion

22, 32 DXF: Y and Z values of insertion point for clones of a dimension—Baseline and Continue (in
OCS)

13 Definition point for linear and angular dimensions (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

23, 33 DXF: Y and Z values of definition point for linear and angular dimensions (in WCS)

14 Definition point for linear and angular dimensions (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

24, 34 DXF: Y and Z values of definition point for linear and angular dimensions (in WCS)

Th e poin t (13,23,33) specifies th e start poin t of th e first exten sion lin e an d


th e poin t (14,24,34) specifies th e start poin t of th e secon d exten sion lin e.
Poin t (10,20,30) specifies th e dim en sion lin e location . Th e poin t (11,21,31)
specifies th e m idpoin t of th e dim en sion text.

Linear and Rot at ed Dimension Group Codes


Th e followin g group codes apply to lin ear an d rotated dim en sion s (n ote th at
linear and rotated dimension s are part of the AcDbAlign edDim en sion subclass).
In addition to th e group codes described h ere, th ose listed in Com m on Group
Codes for En tities on page 61 an d Com m on Dim en sion Group Codes on page
78 can also be presen t. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g
used in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Linear and rot at ed dimension group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbAlignedDimension)

12 Insertion point for clones of a dimension—Baseline and Continue (in OCS)

Linear and Rotated Dimension Group Codes | 81

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Linear and rot at ed dimension group codes
Group code Descript ion
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

22, 32 DXF: Y and Z values of insertion point for clones of a dimension—Baseline and Continue (in
OCS)

13 Definition point for linear and angular dimensions (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

23, 33 DXF: Y and Z values of definition point for linear and angular dimensions (in WCS)

14 Definition point for linear and angular dimensions (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

24, 34 DXF: Y and Z values of definition point for linear and angular dimensions (in WCS)

50 Angle of rotated, horizontal, or vertical dimensions

52 Linear dimension types with an oblique angle have an optional group code 52. When added
to the rotation angle of the linear dimension (group code 50), it gives the angle of the extension
lines

100 Subclass marker (AcDbRotatedDimension)

Radial and Diamet er Dimension Group Codes


Th e followin g group codes apply to radial an d diam eter dim en sion s. In
addition to th e group codes described h ere, th ose listed in Com m on Group
Codes for En tities on page 61 an d Com m on Dim en sion Group Codes on page
78 can also be presen t. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g
used in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Radial and diamet er dimension group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbRadialDimension or AcDbDiametricDimension)

15 Definition point for diameter, radius, and angular dimensions (in WCS)
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

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Radial and diamet er dimension group codes
Group code Descript ion

25, 35 DXF: Y and Z values of definition point for diameter, radius, and angular dimensions (in
WCS)

40 Leader length for radius and diameter dimensions

Th e poin t (15,25,35) specifies th e first poin t of th e dim en sion lin e on th e


circle/ arc an d th e poin t (10,20,30) specifies th e poin t opposite th e first poin t.
Th e poin t (11,21,31) specifies th e m idpoin t of th e dim en sion text.

Th e poin t (15,25,35) specifies th e first poin t of th e dim en sion lin e on th e


circle/ arc an d th e poin t (10,20,30) specifies th e cen ter of th e circle/ arc. Th e
poin t (11,21,31) specifies th e m idpoin t of th e dim en sion text.

Angular Dimension Group Codes


Th e followin g group codes apply to an gular dim en sion s. In addition to th e
group codes described h ere, th ose listed in Com m on Group Codes for En tities
on page 61 an d Com m on Dim en sion Group Codes on page 78 can also be

Angular Dimension Group Codes | 83

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present. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form atting used in th is table,
see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Angular dimension group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDb3PointAngularDimension)

13 Definition point for linear and angular dimensions (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

23, 33 DXF: Y and Z values of definition point for linear and angular dimensions (in WCS)

14 Definition point for linear and angular dimensions (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

24, 34 DXF: Y and Z values of definition point for linear and angular dimensions (in WCS)

15 Definition point for diameter, radius, and angular dimensions (in WCS) DXF: X value; APP: 3D
point

25, 35 DXF: Y and Z values of definition point for diameter, radius, and angular dimensions (in WCS)

16 Point defining dimension arc for angular dimensions (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

26, 36 DXF: Y and Z values of point defining dimension arc for angular dimensions (in OCS)

Th e poin ts (13,23,33) an d (14,24,34) specify th e en dpoin ts of th e lin e used


to determ in e th e first exten sion lin e. Poin ts (10,20,30) an d (15,25,35) specify
th e en dpoin ts of th e lin e used to determ in e th e secon d exten sion lin e. Poin t
(16,26,36) specifies th e location of the dim ension line arc. The point (11,21,31)
specifies th e m idpoin t of th e dim en sion text.

Th e poin t (15,25,35) specifies th e vertex of th e an gle. Th e poin ts (13,23,33)


an d (14,24,34) specify th e en dpoin ts of th e exten sion lin es. Th e poin t

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(10,20,30) specifies th e location of th e dim en sion lin e arc an d th e poin t
(11,21,31) specifies th e m idpoin t of th e dim en sion text.

Ordinat e Dimension Group Codes


Th e followin g group codes apply to ordin ate dim en sion s. In addition to th e
group codes described h ere, th ose listed in Com m on Group Codes for En tities
on page 61 an d Com m on Dim en sion Group Codes on page 78 can also be
present. For inform ation about abbreviation s and formattin g used in this table,
see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Ordinat e dimension group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbOrdinateDimension)

13 Definition point for linear and angular dimensions (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

23, 33 DXF: Y and Z values of definition point for linear and angular dimensions (in WCS)

14 Definition point for linear and angular dimensions (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

24, 34 DXF: Y and Z values of definition point for linear and angular dimensions (in WCS)

Th e poin t (13,23,33) specifies th e feature location an d th e poin t (14,24,34)


specifies th e leader en dpoin t. Th e poin t (11,21,31) specifies th e m idpoin t of
th e dim en sion text. Poin t (10,20,30) is placed at th e origin of th e UCS th at is
curren t wh en th e dim en sion is created.

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Dimension St yle Overrides
Dim en sion style overrides can be applied to dim en sion , leader, an d toleran ce
en tities. An y overrides applied to th ese en tities are stored in th e en tity as
xdata. Th e overridden dim en sion variable group codes an d th e related values
are con tained within group 1002 con trol strin gs. Th e following exam ple sh ows
th e xdata of a dim en sion en tity wh ere th e DIM TOL an d DIM CLRE variables
h ave been overridden .
(setq diment (car (entsel))) ; Select dimension entity
(setq elst (entget diment '("ACAD"))) ; Get entity definition list
(assoc -3 elst) ; Extract xdata only

Th is code return s th e followin g:


(-3 ("ACAD" Start of the ACAD APPID section
of xdata
(1000 . "DSTYLE") (1002 . "{") Beginning of the dimstyle subsec
tion
(1070 . 177) (1070 . 3) The DIMCLRE (code 177) override +
value (3)
(1070 . 71) (1070 . 1) The DIMTOL (code 71) override +
value (1)
(1002 . "}") )) End dimstyle subsection and ACAD
section

ELLIPSE
Th e followin g group codes apply to ellipse en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For

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in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Ellipse group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbEllipse)

10 Center point (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of center point (in WCS)

11 Endpoint of major axis, relative to the center (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values of endpoint of major axis, relative to the center (in WCS)

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

40 Ratio of minor axis to major axis

41 Start parameter (this value is 0.0 for a full ellipse)

42 End parameter (this value is 2pi for a full ellipse)

HATCH
Th e followin g group codes apply to h atch an d M Polygon en tities. In addition
to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on
page 61. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Hat ch group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbHatch)

10 Elevation point (in OCS)

HATCH | 87

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Hat ch group codes
Group code Descript ion
DXF: X value = 0; APP: 3D point (X and Y always equal 0, Z represents the elevation)

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of elevation point (in OCS)


Y value = 0, Z represents the elevation

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction

2 Hatch pattern name

70 Solid fill flag (solid fill = 1; pattern fill = 0); for M Polygon, the version of M Polygon

63 For M Polygon, pattern fill color as the ACI

71 Associativity flag (associative = 1; non-associative = 0); for M Polygon, solid-fill flag (has solid
fill = 1; lacks solid fill = 0)

91 Number of boundary paths (loops)

varies Boundary path data. Repeats number of times specified by code 91. See Boundary Path Data
on page 90

75 Hatch style:
0 = Hatch “ odd parity” area (Normal style)
1 = Hatch outermost area only (Outer style)
2 = Hatch through entire area (Ignore style)

76 Hatch pattern type:


0 = User-defined; 1 = Predefined; 2 = Custom

52 Hatch pattern angle (pattern fill only)

41 Hatch pattern scale or spacing (pattern fill only)

73 For M Polygon, boundary annotation flag (boundary is an annotated boundary = 1; boundary


is not an annotated boundary = 0)

77 Hatch pattern double flag (pattern fill only):

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Hat ch group codes
Group code Descript ion
0 = not double; 1 = double

78 Number of pattern definition lines

varies Pattern line data. Repeats number of times specified by code 78. See Pattern Data on page 94

47 Pixel size used to determine the density to perform various intersection and ray casting operations
in hatch pattern computation for associative hatches and hatches created with the Flood
method of hatching

98 Number of seed points

11 For M Polygon, offset vector

99 For M Polygon, number of degenerate boundary paths (loops), where a degenerate boundary
path is a border that is ignored by the hatch

10 Seed point (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point (multiple entries)

20 DXF: Y value of seed point (in OCS); (multiple entries)

450 Indicates solid hatch or gradient; if solid hatch, the values for the remaining codes are ignored
but must be present. Optional; if code 450 is in the file, then the following codes must be in
the file: 451, 452, 453, 460, 461, 462, and 470. If code 450 is not in the file, then the following
codes must not be in the file: 451, 452, 453, 460, 461, 462, and 470
0 = Solid hatch
1 = Gradient

451 Zero is reserved for future use

452 Records how colors were defined and is used only by dialog code:
0 = Two-color gradient
1 = Single-color gradient

453 Number of colors:


0 = Solid hatch
2 = Gradient

460 Rotation angle in radians for gradients (default = 0, 0)

HATCH | 89

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Hat ch group codes
Group code Descript ion

461 Gradient definition; corresponds to the Centered option on the Gradient Tab of the Boundary
Hatch and Fill dialog box. Each gradient has two definitions, shifted and unshifted. A Shift value
describes the blend of the two definitions that should be used. A value of 0.0 means only the
unshifted version should be used, and a value of 1.0 means that only the shifted version should
be used.

462 Color tint value used by dialog code (default = 0, 0; range is 0.0 to 1.0). The color tint value is
a gradient color and controls the degree of tint in the dialog when the Hatch group code 452
is set to 1.

463 Reserved for future use:


0 = First value
1 = Second value

470 String (default = LINEAR)

Boundary Pat h Dat a


Th e boun dary of each h atch object is defin ed by a path (or loop) th at con sists
of on e or m ore segm en ts. Path segm en t data varies depen din g on th e en tity
type (or types) th at m ake up th e path . Each path segm en t is defin ed by its
own set of group codes. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g
used in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Hat ch boundary pat h dat a group codes


Group code Descript ion

92 Boundary path type flag (bit coded):


0 = Default; 1 = External; 2 = Polyline
4 = Derived; 8 = Textbox; 16 = Outermost

varies Polyline boundary type data (only if boundary = polyline). See Polyline boundary data table
below

93 Number of edges in this boundary path (only if boundary is not a polyline)

72 Edge type (only if boundary is not a polyline):


1 = Line; 2 = Circular arc; 3 = Elliptic arc; 4 = Spline

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Hat ch boundary pat h dat a group codes
Group code Descript ion

varies Edge type data (only if boundary is not a polyline). See appropriate Edge data table below

97 Number of source boundary objects

330 Reference to source boundary objects (multiple entries)

Polyline boundary dat a group codes


Group code Descript ion

72 Has bulge flag

73 Is closed flag

93 Number of polyline vertices

10 Vertex location (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point (multiple entries)

20 DXF: Y value of vertex location (in OCS) (multiple entries)

42 Bulge (optional, default = 0)

Line edge dat a group codes


Group code Descript ion

10 Start point (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

20 DXF: Y value of start point (in OCS)

11 Endpoint (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

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Line edge dat a group codes
Group code Descript ion

21 DXF: Y value of endpoint (in OCS)

Arc edge dat a group codes


Group code Descript ion

10 Center point (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

20 DXF: Y value of center point (in OCS)

40 Radius

50 Start angle

51 End angle

73 Is counterclockwise flag

Ellipse edge dat a group codes


Group code Descript ion

10 Center point (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

20 DXF: Y value of center point (in OCS)

11 Endpoint of major axis relative to center point (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

21 DXF: Y value of endpoint of major axis (in OCS)

40 Length of minor axis (percentage of major axis length)

50 Start angle

51 End angle

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Ellipse edge dat a group codes
Group code Descript ion

73 Is counterclockwise flag

Spline edge dat a group codes


Group code Descript ion

94 Degree

73 Rational

74 Periodic

95 Number of knots

96 Number of control points

40 Knot values (multiple entries)

10 Control point (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

20 DXF: Y value of control point (in OCS)

42 Weights (optional, default = 1)

97 Number of fit data

11 Fit datum (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

21 DXF: Y value of fit datum (in OCS)

12 Start tangent
DXF: X value; APP: 2D vector

22 DXF: Y value of start tangent (in OCS)

13 End tangent
DXF: X value; APP: 2D vector

Boundary Path Data | 93

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Spline edge dat a group codes
Group code Descript ion

23 DXF: Y value of end tangent (in OCS)

Pat t ern Dat a


Th e followin g pattern data codes repeat for each pattern defin ition lin e. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Hat ch pat t ern dat a group codes


Group code Descript ion

53 Pattern line angle

43 Pattern line base point, X component

44 Pattern line base point, Y component

45 Pattern line offset, X component

46 Pattern line offset, Y component

79 Number of dash length items

49 Dash length (multiple entries)

HELIX
Th e followin g group codes apply to h elix en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Helix group codes


Group code Descript ion

Spline data

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Helix group codes
Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbHelix)

90 M ajor release number

91 M aintainance release number

10, 20, 30 Axis base point

11, 21, 31 Start point

12, 22, 32 Axis vector

40 Radius

41 Number of turns

42 Turn height

290 Handedness; 0 = left, 1 = right

280 Constrain type


0 = Constrain turn height
1 = Constrain turns
2 = Constrain height

IMAGE
Th e followin g group codes apply to im age en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Image group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbRasterImage)

90 Class version

IMAGE | 95

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Image group codes
Group code Descript ion

10 Insertion point (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of insertion point (in WCS)

11 U-vector of a single pixel (points along the visual bottom of the image, starting at the insertion
point) (in WCS)
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values U-vector (in WCS)

12 V-vector of a single pixel (points along the visual left side of the image, starting at the insertion
point) (in WCS)
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

22, 32 DXF: Y and Z values of V-vector (in WCS)

13 Image size in pixels


DXF: U value; APP: 2D point (U and V values)

23 DXF: V value of image size in pixels

340 Hard reference to imagedef object

70 Image display properties:


1 = Show image
2 = Show image when not aligned with screen
4 = Use clipping boundary
8 = Transparency is on

280 Clipping state: 0 = Off; 1 = On

281 Brightness value (0-100; default = 50)

282 Contrast value (0-100; default = 50)

283 Fade value (0-100; default = 0)

360 Hard reference to imagedef_reactor object

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Image group codes
Group code Descript ion

71 Clipping boundary type. 1 = Rectangular; 2 = Polygonal

91 Number of clip boundary vertices that follow

14 Clip boundary vertex (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point (multiple entries)
NOTE 1) For rectangular clip boundary type, two opposite corners must be specified. Default
is (-0.5,-0.5), (size.x-0.5, size.y-0.5). 2) For polygonal clip boundary type, three or more vertices
must be specified. Polygonal vertices must be listed sequentially

24 DXF: Y value of clip boundary vertex (in OCS) (multiple entries)

290 Clip M ode: 0 = Outside M ode; 1 = Inside M ode

INSERT
The following group codes apply to insert (block referen ce) en tities. In addition
to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on
page 61. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Insert group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbBlockReference)

66 Variable attributes-follow flag (optional; default = 0); if the value of attributes-follow flag is 1,
a series of attribute entities is expected to follow the insert, terminated by a seqend entity

2 Block name

10 Insertion point (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of insertion point (in OCS)

41 X scale factor (optional; default = 1)

42 Y scale factor (optional; default = 1)

INSERT | 97

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Insert group codes
Group code Descript ion

43 Z scale factor (optional; default = 1)

50 Rotation angle (optional; default = 0)

70 Column count (optional; default = 1)

71 Row count (optional; default = 1)

44 Column spacing (optional; default = 0)

45 Row spacing (optional; default = 0)

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

LEADER
Th e followin g group codes apply to leader en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Leader group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbLeader)

3 Dimension style name

71 Arrowhead flag: 0 = Disabled; 1 = Enabled

72 Leader path type: 0 = Straight line segments; 1 = Spline

73 Leader creation flag (default = 3):


0 = Created with text annotation
1 = Created with tolerance annotation
2 = Created with block reference annotation

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Leader group codes
Group code Descript ion
3 = Created without any annotation

74 Hookline direction flag:


0 = Hookline (or end of tangent for a splined leader) is the opposite direction from the horizontal
vector
1 = Hookline (or end of tangent for a splined leader) is the same direction as horizontal vector
(see code 75)

75 Hookline flag: 0 = No hookline; 1 = Has a hookline

40 Text annotation height

41 Text annotation width

76 Number of vertices in leader (ignored for OPEN)

10 Vertex coordinates (one entry for each vertex)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of vertex coordinates

77 Color to use if leader's DIM CLRD = BYBLOCK

340 Hard reference to associated annotation (mtext, tolerance, or insert entity)

210 Normal vector


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of normal vector

211 “ Horizontal” direction for leader


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

221, 231 DXF: Y and Z values of “ horizontal” direction for leader

212 Offset of last leader vertex from block reference insertion point
DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

222, 232 DXF: Y and Z values of offset

LEADER | 99

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Leader group codes
Group code Descript ion

213 Offset of last leader vertex from annotation placement point


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

223, 233 DXF: Y and Z values of offset

Xdata belon gin g to th e application ID "ACAD" follows a leader en tity if an y


dim en sion overrides h ave been applied to th is en tity. See Dim en sion Style
Overrides on page 86.

LIGHT
Th e followin g group codes apply to ligh t en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Light group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbLight)

90 Version number

1 Light name

70 Light type (distant = 1; point = 2; spot = 3)

290 Status

291 Plot glyph

40 Intensity

10 Light Position
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: X, Y, and Z values of the light position

11 Target location

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Light group codes
Group code Descript ion
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

21, 31 DXF: X, Y, and Z values of the target location

72 Attenuation type
0 = None
1 = Inverse Linear
2 = Inverse Square

292 Use attenuation limits

41 Attenuation start limit

42 Attenuation end limit

50 Hotspot angle

51 Falloff angle

293 Cast shadows

73 Shadow Type
0 = Ray traced shadows
1 = Shadow maps

91 Shadow map size

280 Shadow map softness

LINE
Th e followin g group codes apply to lin e en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For

LINE | 101

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in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Line group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbLine)

39 Thickness (optional; default = 0)

10 Start point (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of start point (in WCS)

11 Endpoint (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values of endpoint (in WCS)

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

LWPOLYLINE
Th e followin g group codes apply to lwpolylin e en tities. In addition to th e
group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page
61. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table,
see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Lwpolyline group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbPolyline)

90 Number of vertices

70 Polyline flag (bit-coded); default is 0:


1 = Closed; 128 = Plinegen

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Lw polyline group codes
Group code Descript ion

43 Constant width (optional; default = 0). Not used if variable width (codes 40 and/ or 41) is set

38 Elevation (optional; default = 0)

39 Thickness (optional; default = 0)

10 Vertex coordinates (in OCS), multiple entries; one entry for each vertex
DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

20 DXF: Y value of vertex coordinates (in OCS), multiple entries; one entry for each vertex

91 Vertex identifier

40 Starting width (multiple entries; one entry for each vertex) (optional; default = 0; multiple
entries). Not used if constant width (code 43) is set

41 End width (multiple entries; one entry for each vertex) (optional; default = 0; multiple entries).
Not used if constant width (code 43) is set

42 Bulge (multiple entries; one entry for each vertex) (optional; default = 0)

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

MESH
Th e followin g group codes apply to th e m esh en tity. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

M esh group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbSubDM esh)

71 Version number

MESH | 103

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M esh group codes
Group code Descript ion

72 "Blend Crease" property


0 = Turn off
1 = Turn on

91 Number of subdivision level

92 Vertex count of level 0

10 Vertex position

93 Size of face list of level 0

90 Face list item

94 Edge count of level 0

90 Vertex index of each edge

95 Edge crease count of level 0

140 Edge create value

90 Count of sub-entity which property has been overridden

91 Sub-entity marker

92 Count of property was overridden

90 Property type
0 = Color
1 = M aterial
2 = Transparency
3 = M aterial mapper

MLINE
Th e followin g group codes apply to m lin e en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For

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in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

M line group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbM line)

2 String of up to 32 characters. The name of the style used for this mline. An entry for this style
must exist in the M LINESTYLE dictionary.
Do not modify this field without also updating the associated entry in the MLINESTYLE dictionary

340 Pointer-handle/ ID of M LINESTYLE object

40 Scale factor

70 Justification: 0 = Top; 1 = Zero; 2 = Bottom

71 Flags (bit-coded values):


1 = Has at least one vertex (code 72 is greater than 0)
2 = Closed
4 = Suppress start caps
8 = Suppress end caps

72 Number of vertices

73 Number of elements in M LINESTYLE definition

10 Start point (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of start point (in WCS)

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

11 Vertex coordinates (multiple entries; one entry for each vertex) DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values of vertex coordinates

12 Direction vector of segment starting at this vertex (multiple entries; one for each vertex)

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M line group codes
Group code Descript ion
DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

22, 32 DXF: Y and Z values of direction vector of segment starting at this vertex

13 Direction vector of miter at this vertex (multiple entries: one for each vertex)
DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

23, 33 DXF: Y and Z values of direction vector of miter

74 Number of parameters for this element (repeats for each element in segment)

41 Element parameters (repeats based on previous code 74)

75 Number of area fill parameters for this element (repeats for each element in segment)

42 Area fill parameters (repeats based on previous code 75)

Th e group code 41 param eterization is a list of real values, on e real per group
code 41. Th e list m ay con tain zero or m ore item s. Th e first group code 41
value is th e distan ce from th e segm en t vertex alon g th e m iter vector to th e
point wh ere th e lin e elem en t's path in tersects th e m iter vector. Th e n ext group
code 41 value is th e distan ce alon g th e lin e elem en t's path from th e poin t
defin ed by th e first group 41 to th e actual start of th e lin e elem en t. Th e n ext
is th e distan ce from th e start of th e lin e elem en t to th e first break (or cut) in
th e lin e elem en t. Th e successive group code 41 values con tin ue to list th e start
an d stop poin ts of th e lin e elem en t in th is segm en t of th e m lin e. Lin etypes
do n ot affect group 41 lists.
Th e group code 42 param eterization is also a list of real values. Sim ilar to th e
41 param eterization , it describes th e param eterization of th e fill area for th is
m lin e segm en t. Th e values are in terpreted iden tically to th e 41 param eters
an d wh en taken as a wh ole for all lin e elem en ts in th e m lin e segm en t, th ey
defin e th e boun dary of th e fill area for th e m lin e segm en t.
A com m on exam ple of th e use of th e group code 42 m ech an ism is wh en an
un filled m lin e crosses over a filled m lin e an d m ledit is used to cause th e filled
m lin e to appear un filled in th e crossin g area. Th is would result in two group
42s for each lin e elem en t in th e affected m lin e segm en t; on e for th e fill stop
an d on e for th e fill start.

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Th e 2 group codes in m lin e en tities an d m lin estyle objects are redun dan t
fields. These groups should not be modified under an y circumstan ces, alth ough
it is safe to read th em an d use th eir values. Th e correct fields to m odify are as
follows:
M l i n e Th e 340 group in th e sam e object, wh ich in dicates th e proper
M LINESTYLE object.

M l i n est y l e Th e 3 group value in th e M LINESTYLE diction ary, wh ich precedes


th e 350 group th at h as th e h an dle or en tity n am e of th e curren t m lin estyle.

MLEADERSTYLE
Th e followin g group codes apply to m leaderstyle en tities. In addition to th e
group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page
61. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table,
see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

M Leaderst yle group codes


Group code Descript ion

170 Content Type

171 DrawMLeaderOrder Type

172 DrawLeaderOrder Type

90 M axLeader Segments Points

40 First Segment Angle Constraint

41 Second Segment Angle Constraint

173 LeaderLineType

91 LeaderLineColor

340 LeaderLineType ID

92 LeaderLineWeight

290 Enable Landing

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M Leaderst yle group codes
Group code Descript ion

42 Landing Gap

291 Enable Dogleg

43 Dogleg Length

3 M leader Style Description

341 Arrowhead ID

44 Arrowhead Size

300 Default M Text Contents

342 mTextStyleId

174 Text Left Attachment Type

175 Text Angle Type

176 Text Alignment Type

178 Text Right Attachment Type

93 Text Color

45 Text Height

292 Enable Frame Text

297 Text Align Always Left

46 Align Space

343 Block Content ID

94 Block Content Color

47 Block Content Scale on X-axis

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M Leaderst yle group codes
Group code Descript ion

49 Block Content Scale on Y-axis

140 Block Content Scale on Z-axis

293 Enable Block Content Scale

141 Block Content Rotation

294 Enable Block Content Rotation

177 Block Content Connection Type

142 Scale

295 Overwrite Property Value

296 Is Annotative

143 Break Gap Size

271 Text attachment direction for M Text contents:


0 = Horizontal
1 = Vertical

272 Bottom text attachment direction:


9 = Center
10 = Underline and Center

273 Top text attachment direction:


9 = Center
10 = Overline and Center

MLEADER
M Leader en tity defin ition s con sist of group codes th at are com m on to all
M Leader types, followed by codes specific to th e type.

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Common MLeader Group Codes
Th e followin g group codes apply to all m leaderstyle en tity types. In addition
to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on
page 61. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Common M Leader Line Group Codes


Group code Descript ion

340 Leader Style Id

90 Property Override Flag

170 LeaderLineType

91 Leade LineColor

341 LeaderLineTypeID

171 LeaderLine Weight

290 Enable Landing

291 Enable Dogleg

41 Dogleg Length

342 Arrowhead ID

42 Arrowhead Size

172 Content Type

343 Text Style ID

173 Text Left Attachment Type

95 Text Right Attachement Type

174 Text Angle Type

175 Text Alignment Type

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Common M Leader Line Group Codes
Group code Descript ion

92 Text Color

292 Enable Frame Text

344 Block Content ID

93 Block Content Color

10 Block Content Scale

43 Block Content Rotation

176 Block Content Connection Type

293 Enable Annotation Scale

94 Arrowhead Index

345 Arrowhead ID

330 Block AttributerId

177 Block Attribute Index

44 Block Attribute Width

302 Block Attribute Text String

294 Text Direction Negative

178 Text Align in IPE

179 Text Attachment Point

271 Text attachment direction for M Text con-


tents:
0 = Horizontal
1 = Vertical

272 Bottom text attachment direction:

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Common M Leader Line Group Codes
Group code Descript ion
9 = Center
10 = Underline and Center

273 Top text attachment direction:


9 = Center
10 = Overline and Center

MLeader Cont ext Dat a Group Codes


Th e followin g group codes apply to all m leader en tity types’ con text data. In
addition to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for
En tities on page 61. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used
in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

M Leader Cont ext Dat a group codes


Group code Descript ion

40 Content Scale

10,20,30 Content Base Position

41 Text Height

140 Arrowhead Size

145 Landing Gap

290 hasM Text

304 Default Text Contents

11,21,31 Text Normal Direction

340 Text Style ID

12,22,32 Text Location

13,23,33 Text Direction

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M Leader Cont ext Dat a group codes
Group code Descript ion

42 Text Rotation

43 Text Width

44 Text Height

45 Text Line Spacing Factor

170 Text Line Spacing Style

90 Text Color

171 Text Attachment

172 Text Flow Direction

91 Text Background Color

141 Text Background Scale Factor

92 Text Background Transparency

291 Is Text Background Color On

292 Is Text Background Fill On

173 Text Column Type

293 Use Text Auto Height

142 Text Column Width

143 Text Column Gutter Width

294 Text Column Flow Reversed

144 Text Column Height

295 Text Use Word Break

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M Leader Cont ext Dat a group codes
Group code Descript ion

296 HasBlock

341 Block Content ID

14,24,34 Block Content Normal Direction

15,25,35 Block Content Position

16 Block Content Scale

46 Block Content Rotation

93 Block Content Color

47 Block Transformation M atrix

110 M Leader Plane Origin Point

111 M Leader Plane X-Axis Direction

112 M Leader Plane Y-Axis Direction

297 M Leader Plane Normal Reversed

10,20,30 Vertex

90 Break Point Index

43 Text Width

44 Text Height

45 Text Line Spacing Factor

170 Text Line Spacing Style

90 Text Color

171 Text Attachment

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M Leader Cont ext Dat a group codes
Group code Descript ion

172 Text Flow Direction

91 Text Background Color

141 Text Background Scale Factor

92 Text Background Transparency

291 Is Text Background Color On

292 Is Text Background Fill On

173 Text Column Type

293 Use Text Auto Height

142 Text Column Width

143 Text Column Gutter Width

294 Text Column Flow Reversed

144 Text Column Height

295 Text Use Word Break

296 HasBlock

341 Block Content ID

14,24,34 Block Content Normal Direction

15,25,35 Block Content Position

16 Block Content Scale

46 Block Content Rotation

93 BLock Content Color

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M Leader Cont ext Dat a group codes
Group code Descript ion

47 BLock Transformation M atrix

110 M leader Plane Origin Point

111 M Leader Plane X-Axis Direction

112 M Leader Plane Y-Axis Direction

297 M Leader Plane Normal Reversed

MLeader Leader Node Group Codes


Th e followin g group codes apply to all m leader en tity types’ leader n ode. In
addition to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for
En tities on page 61. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used
in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

M Leader Leader Node Group Codes


Group code Descript ion

290 Has Set Last Leader Line Point

291 Has Set Dogleg Vector

10,20,30 Last Leader Line Point

11,21,31 Dogleg Vector

12,22,32 Break Start Point

13,23,33 Break End Point

90 Leader Branch Index

40 Dogleg Length

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MLeader Leader Line Group Codes
Th e followin g group codes apply to all m leader en tity types’ leader lin e. In
addition to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for
En tities on page 61. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used
in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Leader Line Group Codes


Group code Descript ion

10,20,30 Vertex

90 Break Point Index

11,21,31 Break Start Point

12,22,32 Break End Point

91 Leader Line Index

MTEXT
Th e followin g group codes apply to m text en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

M t ext group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbM Text)

10 Insertion point
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of insertion point

40 Nominal (initial) text height

41 Reference rectangle width

71 Attachment point:

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M t ext group codes
Group code Descript ion
1 = Top left; 2 = Top center; 3 = Top right
4 = M iddle left; 5 = M iddle center; 6 = M iddle right
7 = Bottom left; 8 = Bottom center; 9 = Bottom right

72 Drawing direction:
1 = Left to right
3 = Top to bottom
5 = By style (the flow direction is inherited from the associated text style)

1 Text string. If the text string is less than 250 characters, all characters appear in group 1. If the
text string is greater than 250 characters, the string is divided into 250-character chunks, which
appear in one or more group 3 codes. If group 3 codes are used, the last group is a group 1
and has fewer than 250 characters

3 Additional text (always in 250-character chunks) (optional)

7 Text style name (STANDARD if not provided) (optional)

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

11 X-axis direction vector (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector
A group code 50 (rotation angle in radians) passed as DXF input is converted to the equivalent
direction vector (if both a code 50 and codes 11, 21, 31 are passed, the last one wins). This is
provided as a convenience for conversions from text objects

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values of X-axis direction vector (in WCS)

42 Horizontal width of the characters that make up the mtext entity. This value will always be
equal to or less than the value of group code 41 (read-only, ignored if supplied)

43 Vertical height of the mtext entity (read-only, ignored if supplied)

50 Rotation angle in radians

73 M text line spacing style (optional):


1 = At least (taller characters will override)

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M t ext group codes
Group code Descript ion
2 = Exact (taller characters will not override)

44 M text line spacing factor (optional):


Percentage of default (3-on-5) line spacing to be applied. Valid values range from 0.25 to 4.00

90 Background fill setting:


0 = Background fill off
1 = Use background fill color
2 = Use drawing window color as background fill color

420 - 429 Background color (if RGB color)

430 - 439 Background color (if color name)

45 Fill box scale (optional):


Determines how much border there is around the text.

63 Background fill color (optional):


Color to use for background fill when group code 90 is 1.

441 Transparency of background fill color (not implemented)

75 Column type

76 Column count

78 Column Flow Reversed

79 Column Autoheight

48 Column width

49 Column gutter

50 Column heights; this code is followed by a column count (Int16), and then the number of
column heights

X data with th e "DCO15" application ID m ay follow an m text en tity. Th is


con tain s in form ation related to th e dbCon n ect feature.

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OLEFRAME
Th e followin g group codes apply to olefram e en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Oleframe group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbOleFrame)

70 OLE version number

90 Length of binary data

310 Binary data (multiple lines)

1 End of OLE data (the string “ OLE” )

OLE2FRAME
Th e followin g group codes apply to ole2fram e en tities. Th is in form ation is
read-on ly. Durin g OPEN, th e values are ign ored because th ey are part of th e
OLE bin ary object, an d are obtain ed by access fun ction s. In addition to th e
group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page
61. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table,
see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Ole2frame group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbOle2Frame)

70 OLE version number

3 Length of binary data

10 Upper-left corner (WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of upper-left corner (in WCS)

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Ole2frame group codes
Group code Descript ion

11 Lower-right corner (WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values of lower-right corner (in WCS)

71 OLE object type, 1 = Link; 2 = Embedded; 3 = Static

72 Tile mode descriptor:


0 = Object resides in model space
1 = Object resides in paper space

90 Length of binary data

310 Binary data (multiple lines)

1 End of OLE data (the string “ OLE” )

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Sam ple DXF output:
OLE2FRAME
5
2D
100
AcDbEntity
67
1
8
0
100
AcDbOle2Frame
70
2
3
Paintbrush Picture
10
4.43116
20
5.665992
30
0.0
11
6.4188
21
4.244939
31
0.0
71
2
72
1
90
23680
310
0155764BD60082B91140114B08C8F9A916400000000000000000506DC0D0D9AC
310
1940114B08C8F9A916400000000000000000506DC0D0D9AC194002303E5CD1FA
310
10400000000000000000764BD60082B9114002303E5CD1FA1040000000000000
...
...

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AutoLISP entnext fun ction sam ple output:
Command: (setq e (entget e3))
((-1 . <Entity name: 7d50428>) (0 . "OLE2FRAME") (5 . "2D")
(100 . "AcDbEntity") (67 . 1) (8 . "0") (100 . "AcDbOle2Frame")
(70 . 2) (3 "Paintbrush Picture") (10 4.43116 5.66599 0.0)
(11 6.4188 4.24494 0.0) (71 . 2) (72 . 1))

POINT
Th e followin g group codes apply to poin t en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Point group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbPoint)

10 Point location (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of point location (in WCS)

39 Thickness (optional; default = 0)

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

50 Angle of the X axis for the UCS in effect when the point was drawn (optional, default = 0); used
when PDM ODE is nonzero

POLYLINE
Th e followin g group codes apply to polylin e en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For

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in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Polyline group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDb2dPolyline or AcDb3dPolyline)

66 Obsolete; formerly an “ entities follow flag” (optional; ignore if present)

10 DXF: always 0
APP: a “ dummy” point; the X and Y values are always 0, and the Z value is the polyline's
elevation (in OCS when 2D, WCS when 3D)

20 DXF: always 0

30 DXF: polyline's elevation (in OCS when 2D; WCS when 3D)

39 Thickness (optional; default = 0)

70 Polyline flag (bit-coded; default = 0):


1 = This is a closed polyline (or a polygon mesh closed in the M direction)
2 = Curve-fit vertices have been added
4 = Spline-fit vertices have been added
8 = This is a 3D polyline
16 = This is a 3D polygon mesh
32 = The polygon mesh is closed in the N direction
64 = The polyline is a polyface mesh
128 = The linetype pattern is generated continuously around the vertices of this polyline

40 Default start width (optional; default = 0)

41 Default end width (optional; default = 0)

71 Polygon mesh M vertex count (optional; default = 0)

72 Polygon mesh N vertex count (optional; default = 0)

73 Smooth surface M density (optional; default = 0)

74 Smooth surface N density (optional; default = 0)

75 Curves and smooth surface type (optional; default = 0); integer codes, not bit-coded:

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Polyline group codes
Group code Descript ion
0 = No smooth surface fitted
5 = Quadratic B-spline surface
6 = Cubic B-spline surface
8 = Bezier surface

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

X data with th e "AUTOCAD_POSTSCRIPT_FIGURE" application ID m ay follow a


polylin e en tity. Th is con tain s in form ation related to PostScript im ages an d
PostScript fill in form ation .

Polyface Meshes
A polyface m esh is represen ted in DXF as a varian t of a polylin e en tity. Th e
polylin e h eader is iden tified as in troducin g a polyface m esh by th e presen ce
of the 64 bit in the polyline flags (70) group. The 71 group specifies th e n um ber
of vertices in th e m esh , an d th e 72 group specifies th e n um ber of faces.
Alth ough th ese coun ts are correct for all m esh es created with th e PFACE
com m an d, application s are n ot required to place correct values in th ese fields.
Followin g th e polylin e h eader is a sequen ce of vertex en tities th at specify th e
vertex coordin ates, followed by faces th at com pose th e m esh .
Th e AutoCAD en tity structure im poses a lim it on th e n um ber of vertices th at
a given face en tity can specify. You can represen t m ore com plex polygon s by
decom posin g th em in to trian gular wedges. Th eir edges sh ould be m ade
in visible to preven t visible artifacts of th is subdivision from bein g drawn . Th e
PFACE com m an d perform s th is subdivision autom atically, but wh en
application s gen erate polyface m esh es directly, th e application s m ust do th is
th em selves. Th e n um ber of vertices per face is th e key param eter in th is
subdivision process. Th e PFACEVM AX system variable provides an application
with th e n um ber of vertices per face en tity. Th is value is read-on ly an d is set
to 4.
Polyface m esh es created with th e PFACE com m an d are always gen erated with
all th e vertex coordin ate en tities first, followed by th e face defin ition en tities.
Th e code with in AutoCAD th at processes polyface m esh es requires th is
orderin g. Program s th at gen erate polyface m esh es in DXF sh ould gen erate all

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th e vertices, an d th en all th e faces. However, program s th at read polyface
m esh es from DXF sh ould be toleran t of odd vertex an d face orderin g.

RAY
Th e followin g group codes apply to ray en tities. In addition to th e group codes
described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Ray group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbRay)

10 Start point (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of start point (in WCS)

11 Unit direction vector (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values of unit direction vector (in WCS)

REGION
Th e followin g group codes apply to region en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Region group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbM odelerGeometry)

70 M odeler format version number (currently = 1)

1 Proprietary data (multiple lines < 255 characters each)

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Region group codes
Group code Descript ion

3 Additional lines of proprietary data (if previous group 1 string is greater than 255 characters)
(optional)

SECTION
Th e followin g group codes apply to section en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Sect ion group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbSection)

90 Section state

91 Section flags

1 Name

10, 20, 30 Vertical direction

40 Top height

41 Bottom height

70 Indicator transparency

63, 411 Indicator color

92 Number of vertices

11, 21, 31 Vertex (repeats for number of vertices)

93 Number of back line vertices

12, 22, 32 Back line vertex (repeats for number of back line vertices)

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Sect ion group codes
Group code Descript ion

360 Hard-pointer ID/ handle to geometry settings object

SEQEND
Th e followin g group codes apply to seqen d en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Seqend group codes


Group code Descript ion

-2 APP: name of entity that began the sequence. This entity marks the end of vertex (vertex
type name) for a polyline, or the end of attribute entities (attrib type name) for an insert
entity that has attributes (indicated by 66 group present and nonzero in insert entity).
This code is not saved in a DXF file

SHAPE
Th e followin g group codes apply to sh ape en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Shape group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbShape)

39 Thickness (optional; default = 0)

10 Insertion point (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of insertion point (in WCS)

40 Size

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Shape group codes
Group code Descript ion

2 Shape name

50 Rotation angle (optional; default = 0)

41 Relative X scale factor (optional; default = 1)

51 Oblique angle (optional; default = 0)

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

SOLID
Th e followin g group codes apply to solid en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Solid group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbTrace)

10 First corner
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of first corner

11 Second corner
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values of second corner

12 Third corner
XF: X value; APP: 3D point

22, 32 DXF: Y and Z values of third corner

SOLID | 129

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Solid group codes
Group code Descript ion

13 Fourth corner. If only three corners are entered to define the SOLID, then the fourth corner
coordinate is the same as the third.
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

23, 33 DXF: Y and Z values of fourth corner

39 Thickness (optional; default = 0)

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

SPLINE
Th e followin g group codes apply to splin e en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Spline group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbSpline)

210 Normal vector (omitted if the spline is nonplanar)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of normal vector (optional)

70 Spline flag (bit coded):


1 = Closed spline
2 = Periodic spline
4 = Rational spline
8 = Planar
16 = Linear (planar bit is also set)

71 Degree of the spline curve

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Spline group codes
Group code Descript ion

72 Number of knots

73 Number of control points

74 Number of fit points (if any)

42 Knot tolerance (default = 0.0000001)

43 Control-point tolerance (default = 0.0000001)

44 Fit tolerance (default = 0.0000000001)

12 Start tangent—may be omitted (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

22, 32 DXF: Y and Z values of start tangent—may be omitted (in WCS)

13 End tangent—may be omitted (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

23, 33 DXF: Y and Z values of end tangent—may be omitted (in WCS)

40 Knot value (one entry per knot)

41 Weight (if not 1); with multiple group pairs, they are present if all are not 1

10 Control points (in WCS); one entry per control point


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of control points (in WCS); one entry per control point

11 Fit points (in WCS); one entry per fit point


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values of fit points (in WCS); one entry per fit point

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SUN
Th e followin g group codes apply to th e sun en tity. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Sun group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbSun)

90 Version number

290 Status

63 Color

40 Intensity

291 Shadows

91 Julian day

92 Time (in seconds past midnight)

292 Daylight savings time

70 Shadow type
0 = Ray traced shadows
1 = Shadow maps

71 Shadow map size

280 Shadow softness

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SURFACE
Surface en tity defin ition s con sist of group codes that are com m on to all surface
types, followed by codes specific to th e type.

Common Surface group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbM odelerGeometry)

70 M odeler format version number (currently = 1)

1 Proprietary data (multiple lines < 255 characters each)

3 Additional lines of proprietary data (if previous group 1 string is greater than 255 characters)
(optional)

100 Subclass markar (AcDbSurface)

71 Number of U isolines

72 Number of V isolines

Ext ruded Surface


Th e followin g group codes apply to extruded surfaces. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Ext ruded Surface group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass markar (AcDbExtrudedSurface)

90 Class ID

90 Size of binary data

310 Binary data

10, 20, 30 Sweep vector

SURFACE | 133

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Ext ruded Surface group codes
Group code Descript ion

40 Transform matrix of extruded entity (16 reals; row major format; default = identity matrix)

42 Draft angle (in radians)

43 Draft start distance

44 Draft end distance

45 Twist angle

48 Scale factor

49 Align angle (in radians)

46 Transform matrix of sweep entity (16 reals; row major format; default = identity matrix)

47 Transform matrix of path entity (16 reals; row major format; default = identity matrix)

290 Solid flag

70 Sweep alignment option


0 = No alignment
1 = Align sweep entity to path
2 = Translate sweep entity to path
3 = Translate path to sweep entity

292 Align start flag

293 Bank flag

294 Base point set flag

295 Sweep entity transform computed flag

296 Path entity transform computed flag

11, 21, 31 Reference vector for controlling twist

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Loft ed Surface
Th e followin g group codes apply to lofted surfaces. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Loft ed Surface group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbLoftedSurface)

40 Transform matrix of loft entity (16 reals; row major format; default = identity matrix)

Entity data for cross sections

Entity data for guide curves

Entity data for path curves

70 Plane normal lofting type

41 Start draft angle (in radians)

42 End draft angle (in radians)

43 Start draft magnitude

44 End draft magnitude

290 Arc length parametrization flag

291 No twist flag

292 Align direction flag

293 Create simple surfaces flag

294 Create closed surface flag

295 Solid flag

296 Create ruled surface flag

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Loft ed Surface group codes
Group code Descript ion

297 Virtual guide flag

Revolved Surface
The followin g group codes apply to revolved surfaces. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Revolved Surface group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass markar (AcDbRevolvedSurface)

90 ID of revolve entity

90 Size of binary data

310 Binary data

10, 20, 30 Axis point

11, 21, 31 Axis vector

40 Revolve angle (in radians)

41 Start angle (in radians)

42 Transform matrix of revolved entity (16 reals; row major format; default = identity matrix)

43 Draft angle (in radians)

44 Start draft distance

45 End draft distance

46 Twist angle (in radians)

290 Solid flag

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Revolved Surface group codes
Group code Descript ion

291 Close to axis flag

Swept Surface
Th e followin g group codes apply to swept surfaces. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Swept Surface group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass markar (AcDbSweptSurface)

90 ID of sweep entity

90 Size of binary data

310 Binary data

90 ID of path entity

90 Size of binary data

310 Proprietary data

40 Transform matrix of sweep entity (16 reals; row major format; default = identity matrix)

41 Transform matrix of path entity (16 reals; row major format; default = identity matrix)

42 Draft angle (in radians)

43 Draft start distance

44 Draft end distance

45 Twist angle

48 Scale factor

Swept Surface | 137

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Swept Surface group codes
Group code Descript ion

49 Align angle (in radians)

46 Transform matrix of sweep entity (16 reals; row major format; default = identity matrix)

47 Transform matrix of path entity (16 reals; row major format; default = identity matrix)

290 Solid flag

70 Sweep alignment option


0 = No alignment
1 = Align sweep entity to path
2 = Translate sweep entity to path
3 = Translate path to sweep entity

292 Align start flag

293 Bank flag

294 Base point set flag

295 Sweep entity transform computed flag

296 Path entity transform computed flag

11, 21, 31 Reference vector for controlling twist

TABLE
Th e followin g group codes apply to table en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Table group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Entity name (ACAD_TABLE)

5 Entity handle

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Table group codes
Group code Descript ion

330 Soft-pointer ID to the owner dictionary

100 Subclass marker. (AcDbEntity)

92 Number of bytes in the proxy entity graphics

310 Data for proxy entity graphics (multiple lines; 256-character maximum per line)

100 Subclass marker. (AcDbBlockReference)

2 Block name; an anonymous block begins with a *T value

10,20,30 Insertion point

100 Subclass marker. (AcDbTable)

280 Table data version number:


0 = 2010

342 Hard pointer ID of the TABLESTYLE object

343 Hard pointer ID of the owning BLOCK record

11,21,31 Horizontal direction vector

90 Flag for table value (unsigned integer)

91 Number of rows

92 Number of columns

93 Flag for an override

94 Flag for an override of border color

95 Flag for an override of border lineweight

96 Flag for an override of border visibility

141 Row height; this value is repeated, 1 value per row

TABLE | 139

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Table group codes
Group code Descript ion

142 Column height; this value is repeated, 1 value per column

171 Cell type; this value is repeated, 1 value per cell:


1 = text type
2 = block type

172 Cell flag value; this value is repeated, 1 value per cell

173 Cell merged value; this value is repeated, 1 value per cell

174 Boolean flag indicating if the autofit option is set for the cell; this value is repeated, 1 value per
cell

175 Cell border width (applicable only for merged cells); this value is repeated, 1 value per cell

176 Cell border height ( applicable for merged cells); this value is repeated, 1 value per cell

91 Cell override flag; this value is repeated, 1 value per cell


(from AutoCAD 2007)

178 Flag value for a virtual edge

145 Rotation value (real; applicable for a block-type cell and a text-type cell)

344 Hard pointer ID of the FIELD object. This applies only to a text-type cell. If the text in the cell
contains one or more fields, only the ID of the FIELD object is saved. The text string (group
codes 1 and 3) is ignored

1 Text string in a cell. If the string is shorter than 250 characters, all characters appear in code 1.
If the string is longer than 250 characters, it is divided into chunks of 250 characters. The chunks
are contained in one or more code 2 codes. If code 2 codes are used, the last group is a code
1 and is shorter than 250 characters. This value applies only to text-type cells and is repeated,
1 value per cell

2 Text string in a cell, in 250-character chunks; optional. This value applies only to text-type cells
and is repeated, 1 value per cell

340 Hard-pointer ID of the block table record. This value applies only to block-type cells and is re-
peated, 1 value per cell

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Table group codes
Group code Descript ion

144 Block scale (real). This value applies only to block-type cells and is repeated, 1 value per cell

179 Number of attribute definitions in the block table record (applicable only to a block-type cell)

331 Soft pointer ID of the attribute definition in the block table record, referenced by group code
179 (applicable only for a block-type cell). This value is repeated once per attribute definition

300 Text string value for an attribute definition, repeated once per attribute definition and applicable
only for a block-type cell

7 Text style name (string); override applied at the cell level

140 Text height value; override applied at the cell level

170 Cell alignment value; override applied at the cell level

64 Value for the color of cell content; override applied at the cell level

63 Value for the background (fill) color of cell content; override applied at the cell level

69 True color value for the top border of the cell; override applied at the cell level

65 True color value for the right border of the cell; override applied at the cell level

66 True color value for the bottom border of the cell; override applied at the cell level

68 True color value for the left border of the cell; override applied at the cell level

279 Lineweight for the top border of the cell; override applied at the cell level

275 Lineweight for the right border of the cell; override applied at the cell level

276 Lineweight for the bottom border of the cell; override applied at the cell level

278 Lineweight for the left border of the cell; override applied at the cell level

283 Boolean flag for whether the fill color is on; override applied at the cell level

289 Boolean flag for the visibility of the top border of the cell; override applied at the cell level

TABLE | 141

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Table group codes
Group code Descript ion

285 Boolean flag for the visibility of the right border of the cell; override applied at the cell level

286 Boolean flag for the visibility of the bottom border of the cell; override applied at the cell level

288 Boolean flag for the visibility of the left border of the cell; override applied at the cell level

70 Flow direction; override applied at the table entity level

40 Horizontal cell margin; override applied at the table entity level

41 Vertical cell margin; override applied at the table entity level

280 Flag for whether the title is suppressed; override applied at the table entity level

281 Flag for whether the header row is suppressed; override applied at the table entity level

7 Text style name (string); override applied at the table entity level. There may be one entry for
each cell type

140 Text height (real); override applied at the table entity level. There may be one entry for each
cell type

170 Cell alignment (integer); override applied at the table entity level. There may be one entry for
each cell type

63 Color value for cell background or for the vertical, left border of the table; override applied at
the table entity level. There may be one entry for each cell type

64 Color value for cell content or for the horizontal, top border of the table; override applied at
the table entity level. There may be one entry for each cell type

65 Color value for the horizontal, inside border lines; override applied at the table entity level

66 Color value for the horizontal, bottom border lines; override applied at the table entity level

68 Color value for the vertical, inside border lines; override applied at the table entity level

69 Color value for the vertical, right border lines; override applied at the table entity level

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Table group codes
Group code Descript ion

283 Flag for whether background color is enabled (default = 0); override applied at the table entity
level. There may be one entry for each cell type:
0 = Disabled
1 = Enabled

274-279 Lineweight for each border type of the cell (default = kLnWtByBlock); override applied at the
table entity level. There may be one group for each cell type

284-289 Flag for visibility of each border type of the cell (default = 1); override applied at the table entity
level. There may be one group for each cell type:
0 = Invisible
1 = Visible

97 Standard/ title/ header row data type

98 Standard/ title/ header row unit type

4 Standard/ title/ header row format string

177 Cell override flag value (before AutoCAD 2007)

92 Extended cell flags (from AutoCAD 2007)

301 Cell value block begin (from AutoCAD 2007)

302 Text string in a cell. If the string is shorter than 250 characters, all characters appear in code
302. If the string is longer than 250 characters, it is divided into chunks of 250 characters. The
chunks are contained in one or more code 303 codes. If code 393 codes are used, the last
group is a code 1 and is shorter than 250 characters. This value applies only to text-type cells
and is repeated, 1 value per cell (from AutoCAD 2007)

303 Text string in a cell, in 250-character chunks; optional. This value applies only to text-type cells
and is repeated, 302 value per cell (from AutoCAD 2007)

Group code 178 is a flag value for a virtual edge. A virtual edge is used wh en
a grid lin e is sh ared by two cells. For exam ple, if a table con tain s on e row an d
two colum n s an d it con tain s cell A an d cell B, th e cen tral grid lin e con tain s
th e righ t edge of cell A an d th e left edge of cell B. On e edge is real, an d th e
oth er edge is virtual. Th e virtual edge poin ts to th e real edge; both edges h ave
th e sam e set of properties, in cludin g color, lin eweigh t, an d visibility.

TABLE | 143

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TEXT
Th e followin g group codes apply to text en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Text group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbText)

39 Thickness (optional; default = 0)

10 First alignment point (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of first alignment point (in OCS)

40 Text height

1 Default value (the string itself)

50 Text rotation (optional; default = 0)

41 Relative X scale factor—width (optional; default = 1)


This value is also adjusted when fit-type text is used

51 Oblique angle (optional; default = 0)

7 Text style name (optional, default = STANDARD)

71 Text generation flags (optional, default = 0):


2 = Text is backward (mirrored in X)
4 = Text is upside down (mirrored in Y)

72 Horizontal text justification type (optional, default = 0) integer codes (not bit-coded)
0 = Left; 1= Center; 2 = Right
3 = Aligned (if vertical alignment = 0)
4 = M iddle (if vertical alignment = 0)
5 = Fit (if vertical alignment = 0)
See the Group 72 and 73 integer codes table for clarification

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Text group codes
Group code Descript ion

11 Second alignment point (in OCS) (optional)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point
This value is meaningful only if the value of a 72 or 73 group is nonzero (if the justification is
anything other than baseline/ left)

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values of second alignment point (in OCS) (optional)

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

100 Subclass marker (AcDbText)

73 Vertical text justification type (optional, default = 0): integer codes (not bit-coded):
0 = Baseline; 1 = Bottom; 2 = M iddle; 3 = Top
See the Group 72 and 73 integer codes table for clarification

Th e followin g table describes th e group codes 72 (h orizon tal align m en t) an d


73 (vertical align m en t) in greater detail.

Group 72 and 73 int eger codes


Group 73 Group 1 2 3 4 5
72
0

3 (top) TLeft TCenter TRight

2 (middle) M Left MCenter M Right

1 (bottom) BLeft BCenter BRight

0 (baseline) Left Center Right Aligned M iddle Fit

If group 72 an d/ or 73 values are n on zero th en th e first align m en t poin t values


are ignored and AutoCAD calculates n ew values based on the second alignm ent
poin t an d th e len gth an d h eigh t of th e text strin g itself (after applyin g th e
text style). If th e 72 an d 73 values are zero or m issin g, th en th e secon d
align m en t poin t is m ean in gless.

TEXT | 145

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TOLERANCE
Th e followin g group codes apply to toleran ce en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Tolerance group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbFcf)

3 Dimension style name

10 Insertion point (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of insertion point (in WCS)

1 String representing the visual representation of the tolerance

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

11 X-axis direction vector (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values of X-axis direction vector (in WCS)

TRACE
Th e followin g group codes apply to trace en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Trace group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbTrace)

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Trace group codes
Group code Descript ion

10 First corner (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of first corner (in OCS)

11 Second corner (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values of second corner (in OCS)

12 Third corner (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

22, 32 DXF: Y and Z values of third corner (in OCS)

13 Fourth corner (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

23, 33 DXF: Y and Z values of fourth corner (in OCS)

39 Thickness (optional; default = 0)

210 Extrusion direction (optional; default = 0, 0, 1)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction (optional)

UNDERLAY
Th e followin g group codes apply to un derlays. In addition to th e group codes
described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

UNDERLAY | 147

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Please n ote th at UNDERLAY group codes are com m on to DW FUNDERLAY
an d DGNUNDERLAY. Th e differen tiation between DW FUNDERLAY an d DGN
UNDERLAY occurs in group code 0, defin in g th e object n am e.

Underlay group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name. Defined as “ DWFUNDERLAY” for DWFUNDERLAY entit-


ies, or “ DGNUNDERLAY” for DGNUNDERLAY entities.

100 Subclass marker (AcDbUnderlayReference)

340 The ID of the AcDbUnderlayDefinition object

10,20,30 The X,Y, and Z coordinates of the insertion point of the underlay.
These are OCS/ ECS coordinates

41,42,43 DXF: X, Y, and Z scale factors

50 Rotation Angle (in OCS/ ECS. CCW from the coordinate system X axis
and around the Z axis)

210,220,230 Normal vector (in WCS)

280 Flags
1 = Clipping is on
2 = Underlay is on
4 = M onochrome
8 = Adjust for background
16 = Clip is inside mode

281 Contrast (value between 20 and 100)

282 Fade (value between 0 and 80)

11, 21 Repeating: 2d points in OCS/ ECS. If only two, then they are the lower
left and upper right corner points of a clip rectangle. If more than
two, then they are the vertices of a clipping polygon

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VERTEX
Th e followin g group codes apply to vertex en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Vert ex group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbVertex)

100 Subclass marker (AcDb2dVertex or AcDb3dPolylineVertex)

10 Location point (in OCS when 2D, and WCS when 3D)
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of location point (in OCS when 2D, and WCS when 3D)

40 Starting width (optional; default is 0)

41 Ending width (optional; default is 0)

42 Bulge (optional; default is 0). The bulge is the tangent of one fourth the included angle for an
arc segment, made negative if the arc goes clockwise from the start point to the endpoint. A
bulge of 0 indicates a straight segment, and a bulge of 1 is a semicircle

70 Vertex flags:
1 = Extra vertex created by curve-fitting
2 = Curve-fit tangent defined for this vertex. A curve-fit tangent direction of 0 may be omitted
from DXF output but is significant if this bit is set
4 = Not used
8 = Spline vertex created by spline-fitting
16 = Spline frame control point
32 = 3D polyline vertex
64 = 3D polygon mesh
128 = Polyface mesh vertex

50 Curve fit tangent direction

71 Polyface mesh vertex index (optional; present only if nonzero)

72 Polyface mesh vertex index (optional; present only if nonzero)

VERTEX | 149

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Vert ex group codes
Group code Descript ion

73 Polyface mesh vertex index (optional; present only if nonzero)

74 Polyface mesh vertex index (optional; present only if nonzero)

91 Vertex identifier

Every vertex th at is part of a polyface m esh h as its vertex flag 128 bit set. If
th e en tity supplies th e coordin ate of a vertex of th e m esh , its 64 bit is set as
well, an d th e 10, 20, 30 groups give th e vertex coordin ate. Th e vertex in dex
values are determ in ed by th e order in wh ich th e vertex en tities appear with in
th e polylin e, with th e first bein g n um bered 1.
If th e vertex defin es a face of th e m esh , its vertex flags group h as th e 128 bit
set but n ot th e 64 bit. In th is case, th e 10, 20, 30 (location ) groups of th e face
en tity are irrelevan t an d are always written as 0 in a DXF file. Th e vertex
in dexes th at defin e th e m esh are given by 71, 72, 73, an d 74 group codes, th e
values of wh ich specify on e of th e previously defin ed vertexes by in dex. If th e
in dex is n egative, th e edge th at begin s with th at vertex is in visible. Th e first
0 vertex m arks th e en d of th e vertices of th e face.

VIEWPORT
Th e followin g group codes apply to viewport en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Viewport group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbViewport)

10 Center point (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of center point (in WCS)

40 Width in paper space units

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Viewport group codes
Group code Descript ion

41 Height in paper space units

68 Viewport status field:


-1 = On, but is fully off screen, or is one of the viewports that is not active because the $MAX-
ACTVP count is currently being exceeded.
0 = Off
<positive value > = On and active. The value indicates the order of stacking for the viewports,
where 1 is the active viewport, 2 is the next, and so forth

69 Viewport ID

12 View center point (in DCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

22 DXF: View center point Y value (in DCS)

13 Snap base point


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

23 DXF: Snap base point Y value

14 Snap spacing
DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

24 DXF: Snap spacing Y value

15 Grid spacing
DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

25 DXF: Grid spacing Y value

16 View direction vector (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

26, 36 DXF: Y and Z values of view direction vector (in WCS)

17 View target point (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

27, 37 DXF: Y and Z values of view target point (in WCS)

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Viewport group codes
Group code Descript ion

42 Perspective lens length

43 Front clip plane Z value

44 Back clip plane Z value

45 View height (in model space units)

50 Snap angle

51 View twist angle

72 Circle zoom percent

331 Frozen layer object ID/ handle (multiple entries may exist) (optional)

90 Viewport status bit-coded flags:


1 (0x1) = Enables perspective mode
2 (0x2) = Enables front clipping
4 (0x4) = Enables back clipping
8 (0x8) = Enables UCS follow
16 (0x10) = Enables front clip not at eye
32 (0x20) = Enables UCS icon visibility
64 (0x40) = Enables UCS icon at origin
128 (0x80) = Enables fast zoom
256 (0x100) = Enables snap mode
512 (0x200) = Enables grid mode
1024 (0x400) = Enables isometric snap style
2048 (0x800) = Enables hide plot mode
4096 (0x1000) = kIsoPairTop. If set and kIsoPairRight is not set, then isopair top is enabled. If
both kIsoPairTop and kIsoPairRight are set, then isopair left is enabled
8192 (0x2000) = kIsoPairRight. If set and kIsoPairTop is not set, then isopair right is enabled
16384 (0x4000) = Enables viewport zoom locking
32768 (0x8000) = Currently always enabled
65536 (0x10000) = Enables non-rectangular clipping
131072 (0x20000) = Turns the viewport off
262144 (0x40000) = Enables the display of the grid beyond the drawing limits
524288 (0x80000) = Enable adaptive grid display
1048576 (0x100000) = Enables subdivision of the grid below the set grid spacing when the
grid display is adaptive

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Viewport group codes
Group code Descript ion
2097152 (0x200000) = Enables grid follows workplane switching

340 Hard-pointer ID/ handle to entity that serves as the viewport's clipping boundary (only present
if viewport is non-rectangular)

1 Plot style sheet name assigned to this viewport

281 Render mode:


0 = 2D Optimized (classic 2D)
1 = Wireframe
2 = Hidden line
3 = Flat shaded
4 = Gouraud shaded
5 = Flat shaded with wireframe
6 = Gouraud shaded with wireframe
All rendering modes other than 2D Optimized engage the new 3D graphics pipeline. These
values directly correspond to the SHADEM ODE command and the AcDbAbstractViewTableRe-
cord::RenderM ode enum

71 UCS per viewport flag:


0 = The UCS will not change when this viewport becomes active.
1 = This viewport stores its own UCS which will become the current UCS whenever the viewport
is activated

74 Display UCS icon at UCS origin flag:


Controls whether UCS icon represents viewport UCS or current UCS (these will be different if
UCSVP is 1 and viewport is not active). However, this field is currently being ignored and the
icon always represents the viewport UCS

110 UCS origin


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

120, 130 DXF: Y and Z values of UCS origin

111 UCS X-axis


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

121, 131 DXF: Y and Z values of UCS X-axis

112 UCS Y-axis

VIEWPORT | 153

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Viewport group codes
Group code Descript ion
DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

122, 132 DXF: Y and Z values of UCS Y-axis

345 ID/ handle of AcDbUCSTableRecord if UCS is a named UCS. If not present, then UCS is unnamed

346 ID/ handle of AcDbUCSTableRecord of base UCS if UCS is orthographic (79 code is non-zero).
If not present and 79 code is non-zero, then base UCS is taken to be WORLD

79 Orthographic type of UCS:


0 = UCS is not orthographic
1 = Top; 2 = Bottom
3 = Front; 4 = Back
5 = Left; 6 = Right

146 Elevation

170 ShadePlot mode:


0 = As Displayed
1 = Wireframe
2 = Hidden
3 = Rendered

61 Frequency of major grid lines compared to minor grid lines

332 Background ID/ Handle (optional)

333 Shade plot ID/ Handle (optional)

348 Visual style ID/ Handle (optional)

292 Default lighting flag. On when no user lights are specified.

282 Default lighting type:


0 = One distant light
1 = Two distant lights

141 View brightness

142 View contrast

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Viewport group codes
Group code Descript ion

63,421,431 Ambient light color. Write only if not black color.

361 Sun ID/ Handle (optional)

335 Soft pointer reference to viewport object (for layer VP property override)

343 Soft pointer reference to viewport object (for layer VP property override)

344 Soft pointer reference to viewport object (for layer VP property override)

91 Soft pointer reference to viewport object (for layer VP property override)

NOTE The ZOOM XP factor is calculated with the following formula: group_41
/ group_45 (or pspace_height / mspace_height).

WIPEOUT
Th e followin g group codes apply to wipeout en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Wipeout group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbRasterImage)

90 Class version

10 Insertion point (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of insertion point (in WCS)

11 U-vector of a single pixel (points along the visual bottom of the image, starting at the insertion
point) (in WCS)
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

WIPEOUT | 155

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Wipeout group codes
Group code Descript ion

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values U-vector (in WCS)

12 V-vector of a single pixel (points along the visual left side of the image, starting at the insertion
point) (in WCS)
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

22, 32 DXF: Y and Z values of V-vector (in WCS)

13 Image size in pixels


DXF: U value; APP: 2D point (U and V values)

23 DXF: V value of image size in pixels

340 Hard reference to imagedef object

70 Image display properties:


1 = Show image
2 = Show image when not aligned with screen
4 = Use clipping boundary
8 = Transparency is on

280 Clipping state: 0 = Off; 1 = On

281 Brightness value (0-100; default = 50)

282 Contrast value (0-100; default = 50)

283 Fade value (0-100; default = 0)

360 Hard reference to imagedef_reactor object

71 Clipping boundary type. 1 = Rectangular; 2 = Polygonal

91 Number of clip boundary vertices that follow

14 Clip boundary vertex (in OCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 2D point (multiple entries)
NOTE 1) For rectangular clip boundary type, two opposite corners must be specified. Default
is (-0.5,-0.5), (size.x-0.5, size.y-0.5). 2) For polygonal clip boundary type, three or more vertices
must be specified. Polygonal vertices must be listed sequentially

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Wipeout group codes
Group code Descript ion

24 DXF: Y value of clip boundary vertex (in OCS) (multiple entries)

XLINE
Th e followin g group codes apply to xlin e en tities. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for En tities on page 61. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Xline group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbXline)

10 First point (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

20, 30 DXF: Y and Z values of first point (in WCS)

11 Unit direction vector (in WCS)


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

21, 31 DXF: Y and Z values of unit direction vector (in WCS)

XLINE | 157

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158

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OBJECTS Sect ion

Th is ch apter presen ts th e group codes th at apply to n on graph ical objects. Th ese codes are
foun d in th e OBJECTS section of a DXF™ file an d are used by AutoLISP® an d ObjectARX ®
application s in en tity defin ition lists.

OBJECT Sect ion Group Codes


Objects are sim ilar to en tities, except th at th ey h ave n o graph ical or geom etric
m ean in g. All objects th at are n ot en tities or sym bol table records or sym bol
tables are stored in th is section . Th is section represen ts a h om ogen eous h eap
of objects with topological orderin g of obj ects by own ersh ip, such th at th e
own ers always appear before th e objects th ey own .

Object Ownership
Th e root own er of m ost objects appearin g in th e OBJECTS section is th e n am ed
object diction ary, wh ich is, th erefore, always th e first object th at appears in th is
section . Objects th at are n ot own ed by th e n am ed object diction ary are own ed
by oth er en tities, objects, or sym bol table en tries. Objects in th is section m ay
® ®
be defin ed by AutoCAD or by application s with access to ObjectARX API. Th e
DXF nam es of application -defin ed object types sh ould always be associated with
a class n am e in th e CLASS section of th e DXF file, or else th e object record
can n ot be boun d to th e application th at will in terpret it.
As with oth er diction aries, th e n am ed-obj ect diction ary record con sists solely
of associated pairs of en try n am es an d h ard own ersh ip poin ter referen ces to th e
associated obj ect.
To avoid n am e collision between objects, developers sh ould always use th eir
registered developer prefix for th eir en tries.

159

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Common Group Codes for Object s
The followin g table sh ows group codes that apply to virtually all n ongraph ical
objects. W h en you refer to a table of group codes by object type, a list of codes
associated with a specific obj ect, keep in m in d th at th e codes sh own h ere can
also be presen t. Som e of th e group codes are in cluded with an object on ly if
th e object h as n on default values for th ose group code properties. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Common object group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object type

5 Handle

102 Start of application-defined group “ {application_name” (optional)

application- Codes and values within the 102 groups are application defined (optional)
defined codes

102 End of group, “ }” (optional)

102 “ {ACAD_REACTORS” indicates the start of the AutoCAD persistent reactors group. This group
exists only if persistent reactors have been attached to this object (optional)

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary (optional)

102 End of group, “ }” (optional)

102 “ {ACAD_XDICTIONARY” indicates the start of an extension dictionary group. This group exists
only if persistent reactors have been attached to this object (optional)

360 Hard-owner ID/ handle to owner dictionary (optional)

102 End of group, “ }” (optional)

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner object

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ACAD_PROXY_OBJECT
The followin g group codes apply to ACAD_PROXY_OBJECT objects. In addition
to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on
page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

ACAD_PROXY_OBJECT group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 DXF: Subclass marker (AcDbProxyObject)

90 DXF: Proxy object class ID (always 499)

91 DXF: Application object's class ID. Class IDs are based on the order of the class in the CLASSES
section. The first class is given the ID of 500, the next is 501, and so on

93 DXF: Size of object data in bits

310 DXF: Binary object data (multiple entries can appear) (optional)

330 or 340 or DXF: An object ID (multiple entries can appear) (optional)


350 or 360

94 DXF: 0 (indicates end of object ID section)

95 DXF: Object drawing format when it becomes a proxy (a 32-bit unsigned integer):
Low word is AcDbDwgVersion
High word is M aintenanceReleaseVersion

70 DXF: Original custom object data format:


0 = DWG format
1 = DXF format

Th e 92 field is n ot used for AcDbProxyObject. Objects of th is class n ever h ave


graph ics.

ACDBDICTIONARYWDFLT
Th e followin g group codes are used by ACDBDICTIONARYW DFLT objects. In
addition to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for

ACAD_PROXY_OBJECT | 161

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Objects on page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form atting used
in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

ACDBDICTIONARYWDFLT group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (ACDBDICTIONARYWDFLT)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

330 Soft-owner ID/ handle to owner object

100 Subclass marker (AcDbDictionary)

281 Duplicate record cloning flag (determines how to merge duplicate entries):
0 = Not applicable
1 = Keep existing
2 = Use clone
3 = <xref>$0$<name>
4 = $0$<name>
5 = Unmangle name

3 Entry name (one for each entry)

350 Soft-owner ID/ handle to entry object (one for each entry)

100 Subclass marker (AcDbDictionaryWithDefault)

340 Hard pointer to default object ID/ handle (currently only used for plot style dictionary's default
entry, named “ Normal” )

ACDBPLACEHOLDER
Th e followin g group codes are used by th e ACDBPLACEHOLDER objects. In
addition to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for

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Objects on page 160. For inform ation about abbreviation s and form attin g used
in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

ACDBPLACEHOLDER group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (ACDBPLACEHOLDER)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner object

DATATABLE
Th e followin g group codes are used by th e DATATABLE objects. In addition
to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on
page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

DATATABLE group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (DATATABLE)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner object

100 Subclass marker (AcDbDataTable)

DATATABLE | 163

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DATATABLE group codes
Group code Descript ion

70 Version

90 Number of columns

91 Number of valid rows

1 Table name

92, 2 Column type and name; repeats for each column

One value is written for every row in each column

71 Boolean value

93 Integer value

40 Double value

3 String value

10, 20, 30 2D Point

11, 21, 31 3D Point

331 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to object value

360 Hard-pointer ownership ID

350 Soft-pointer ownsership ID

340 Hard-pointer ID/ handle

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle

DICTIONARY
Th e followin g group codes are used by DICTIONARY objects. In addition to
th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Obj ects on

164 | Chapter 7 OBJECTS Section

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page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

DICTIONARY group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (DICTIONARY)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner object

100 Subclass marker (AcDbDictionary)

280 Hard-owner flag. If set to 1, indicates that elements of the dictionary are to be treated as hard-
owned

281 Duplicate record cloning flag (determines how to merge duplicate entries):
0 = Not applicable
1 = Keep existing
2 = Use clone
3 = <xref>$0$<name>
4 = $0$<name>
5 = Unmangle name

3 Entry name (one for each entry) (optional)

350 Soft-owner ID/ handle to entry object (one for each entry) (optional)

®
AutoCAD m ain tain s item s such as m lin e styles an d group defin ition s as
objects in diction aries. Th e followin g section s describe th e AutoCAD object
group codes m ain tain ed in diction aries; h owever, oth er application s are free
to create an d use th eir own diction aries as th ey see fit. Th e prefix "ACAD_" is
reserved for use by AutoCAD application s.

DICTIONARY | 165

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DICTIONARYVAR
Th e followin g group codes are used by DICTIONARYVAR objects. In addition
to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on
page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

DICTIONARYVAR group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (DICTIONARYVAR)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary (ACDBVARIABLEDICTIONARY)

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

100 Subclass marker (DictionaryVariables)

280 Object schema number (currently set to 0)

1 Value of variable

DICTIONARYVAR objects are used by AutoCAD as a m ean s to store n am ed


values in th e database for setvar/ getvar purposes with out th e n eed to add
en tries to th e DXF™ HEADER section . System variables th at are stored as
DICTIONARYVAR objects are th e followin g: DEFAULTVIEW CATEGORY,
DIM ADEC, DIM ASSOC, DIM DSEP, DRAW ORDERCTL, FIELDEVAL, HALOGAP,
HIDETEX T, INDEX CTL, INDEXCTL, INTERSECTIONCOLOR,
INTERSECTIONDISPLAY, M SOLESCALE, OBSCOLOR, OBSLTYPE, OLEFRAM E,
PROJECTNAM E, SORTENTS, UPDATETHUM BNAIL, XCLIPFRAM E, an d
XCLIPFRAM E.

DIMASSOC
Th e followin g group codes are used by DIM ASSOC obj ects. In addition to th e
group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on page

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160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table,
see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

DIM ASSOC group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (DIM ASSOC)

5 Handle

102 Persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS}”

330 Soft-pointer ID

100 Subclass marker (AcDbDimAssoc)

330 ID of dimension object

90 Associativity flag
1 = First point reference
2 = Second point reference
4 = Third point reference
8 = Fourth point reference

70 Trans-space flag (true/ false)

71 Rotated Dimension type (parallel, perpendicular)

1 Class name (AcDbOsnapPointRef)

72 Object Osnap type


0 = None
1 = Endpoint
2 = M idpoint
3 = Center
4 = Node
5 = Quadrant
6 = Intersection
7 = Insertion
8 = Perpendicular
9 = Tangent
10 = Nearest
11 = Apparent intersection

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DIM ASSOC group codes
Group code Descript ion
12 = Parallel
13 = Start point

331 ID of main object (geometry)

73 SubentType of main object (edge, face)

91 GsM arker of main object (index)

301 Handle (string) of Xref object

40 Geometry parameter for Near Osnap

10 Osnap point in WCS; X value

20 Osnap point in WCS; Y value

30 Osnap point in WCS; Z value

332 ID of intersection object (geometry)

74 SubentType of intersction object (edge/ face)

92 GsM arker of intersection object (index)

302 Handle (string) of intersection Xref object

75 hasLastPointRef flag (true/ false)

DIM ASSOC objects im plem en t associative dim en sion s by specifyin g an


association between a dim en sion object an d drawin g geom etry objects. An
associative dim en sion is a dim en sion th at will autom atically update wh en th e
associated geom etry is m odified.

FIELD
Th e followin g group codes are used by FIELD objects. In addition to th e group
codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on page 160. For

168 | Chapter 7 OBJECTS Section

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in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

FIELD group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (ACAD_FIELD)

1 Evaluator ID

2 Field code string

3 Overflow of field code string

90 Number of child fields

360 Child field ID (AcDbHardOwnershipId); repeats for number of children

97 Number of object IDs used in the field code

331 Object ID used in the field code (AcDbSoftPointerId); repeats for the
number of object IDs used in the field code

93 Number of the data set in the field

6 Key string for the field data; a key-field pair is repeated for the number
of data sets in the field

7 Key string for the evaluated cache; this key is hard-coded as


ACFD_FIELD_VALUE

90 Data type of field value

91 Long value (if data type of field value is long)

140 Double value (if data type of field value is double)

330 ID value, AcDbSoftPointerId (if data type of field value is ID)

92 Binary data buffer size (if data type of field value is binary)

310 Binary data (if data type of field value is binary)

FIELD | 169

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FIELD group codes
Group code Descript ion

301 Format string

9 Overflow of format string

98 Length of format string

GEODATA
Th e followin g group codes are used by GEODATA objects. In addition to th e
group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on page
160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table,
see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

GEODATA group codes


Group code Descript ion

90 AcDbGeoData Object version


1 - 2009
2 - 2010

70 Type of design coordinates:


0 - Unknown
1 - Local grid
2 - Projected grid
3 - Geographic (latitude/ longitude)

330 ObjectId of host block table record

10,20,30 Design point, reference point in WCS coordinates

11,21,31 Reference point in coordinate system coordinates, valid only when coordinate type is Local
Grid.

12,22 North direction vector (2D)

40 Horizontal unit scale, factor which converts horizontal design coordinates to meters by multi-
plication.

41 Vertical unit scale, factor which converts vertical design coordinates to meters by multiplication.

170 | Chapter 7 OBJECTS Section

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GEODATA group codes
Group code Descript ion

91 Horizontal units per UnitsValue enumeration. Will be kUnitsUndefined if units specified by hori-
zontal unit scale is not supported by AutoCAD enumeration.

92 Vertical units per UnitsValue enumeration. Will be kUnitsUndefined if units specified by horizontal
unit scale is not supported by AutoCAD enumeration.

210,220,230 Up direction

95 Scale estimation method:


1 - None
2 - User specified scale factor
3 - Grid scale at reference point
4 - Prismoidal

294 Bool flag specifying whether to do sea level correction

141 User specified scale factor

142 Sea level elevation

143 Coordinate projection radius

301 Coordinate system definition string

302 GeoRSS tag

305 Observation from tag

306 Observation to tag

307 Observation coverage tag

93 Number of Geo-M esh points

13,23 Coordinate of source mesh point (repeat)

14,24 Coordinate of destination mesh point (repeat)

96 Number of faces

GEODATA | 171

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GEODATA group codes
Group code Descript ion

97 Point index for face (repeat)

98 Point index for face (repeat)

99 Point index for face (repeat)

GROUP
Th e followin g group codes are used by GROUP objects. In addition to th e
group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on page
160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table,
see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

GROUP group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (GROUP)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS” (persistent reactors group appears
in all dictionaries except the main dictionary)

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary. For GROUP objects this is always the ACAD_GROUP
entry of the named object dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner object

100 Subclass marker (AcDbGroup)

300 Group description

70 “ Unnamed” flag: 1 = Unnamed; 0 = Named

71 Selectability flag: 1 = Selectable; 0 = Not selectable

340 Hard-pointer handle to entity in group (one entry per object)

172 | Chapter 7 OBJECTS Section

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IDBUFFER
Th e followin g group codes are used by IDBUFFER objects. In addition to th e
group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on page
160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table,
see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

IDBUFFER group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbIdBuffer)

330 Soft-pointer reference to entity (multiple entries may exist)

Th e IDBUFFER object is a utility object th at is just a list of referen ces to objects.

IMAGEDEF
Th e followin g group codes are used by IM AGEDEF objects. In addition to th e
group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on page
160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table,
see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

IM AGEDEF group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (IM AGEDEF)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to the ACAD_IM AGE_DICT dictionary

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to IM AGEDEF_REACTOR object (multiple entries; one for each instance)

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

100 Subclass marker (AcDbRasterImageDef)

90 Class version 0

IDBUFFER | 173

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IM AGEDEF group codes
Group code Descript ion

1 File name of image

10 Image size in pixels


DXF: U value; APP: 2D point (U and V values)

20 DXF: V value of image size in pixels

11 Default size of one pixel in AutoCAD units


DXF: U value; APP: 2D point (U and V values)

12 DXF: V value of pixel size

280 Image-is-loaded flag. 0 = Unloaded; 1 = Loaded

281 Resolution units. 0 = No units; 2 = Centimeters; 5 = Inch

IMAGEDEF_REACTOR
Th e followin g group codes are used by IM AGEDEF_REACTOR objects. In
addition to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for
Objects on page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form atting used
in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

IM AGEDEF_REACTOR group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (IM AGEDEF_REACTOR)

5 Handle

100 Subclass marker (AcDbRasterImageDefReactor)

90 Class version 2

330 Object ID for associated image object

174 | Chapter 7 OBJECTS Section

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LAYER_INDEX
Th e followin g group codes are used by LAYER_INDEX objects. In addition to
th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on
page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

LAYER_INDEX group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (LAYER_INDEX)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

100 Subclass marker (AcDbIndex)

40 Time stamp (Julian date)

100 Subclass marker (AcDbLayerIndex)

8 Layer name (multiple entries may exist)

360 Hard-owner reference to IDBUFFER (multiple entries may exist)

90 Number of entries in the IDBUFFER list (multiple entries may exist)

LAYER_FILTER
Th e followin g group codes are used by LAYER_FILTER objects. In addition to
th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on

LAYER_INDEX | 175

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page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

LAYER_FILTER group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (LAYER_FILTER)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

100 Subclass marker (AcDbFilter)

100 Subclass marker (AcDbLayerFilter)

8 Layer name (multiple entries may exist)

LAYOUT
Th e followin g group codes are used by LAYOUT objects. In addition to th e
group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on page
160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table,
see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

LAYOUT group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (LAYOUT)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

176 | Chapter 7 OBJECTS Section

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LAYOUT group codes
Group code Descript ion

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner object

100 Subclass marker (AcDbPlotSettings)

plotsettings ob- For group codes and descriptions following the AcDbPlotSettings marker, see PLOTSETTINGS
ject group codes on page 189

100 Subclass marker (AcDbLayout)

1 Layout name

70 Flag (bit-coded) to control the following:


1 = Indicates the PSLTSCALE value for this layout when this layout is current
2 = Indicates the LIM CHECK value for this layout when this layout is current

71 Tab order. This number is an ordinal indicating this layout's ordering in the tab control that is
attached to the AutoCAD drawing frame window. Note that the “ M odel” tab always appears
as the first tab regardless of its tab order

10 M inimum limits for this layout (defined by LIM M IN while this layout is current)
DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

20 DXF: Y value of minimum limits

11 M aximum limits for this layout (defined by LIM M AX while this layout is current):
DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

21 DXF: Y value of maximum limits

12 Insertion base point for this layout (defined by INSBASE while this layout is current):
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

22, 32 DXF: Y and Z values of the insertion base point

14 M inimum extents for this layout (defined by EXTM IN while this layout is current):
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

24, 34 DXF: Y and Z values of the minimum extents

15 M aximum extents for this layout (defined by EXTM AX while this layout is current):

LAYOUT | 177

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LAYOUT group codes
Group code Descript ion
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

25, 35 DXF: Y and Z values of the maximum extents

146 Elevation

13 UCS origin
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

23, 33 DXF: Y and Z values of UCS origin

16 UCS X-axis
DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

26, 36 DXF: Y and Z values of UCS X-axis

17 UCS Y axis
DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

27, 37 DXF: Y and Z values of UCS Y axis

76 Orthographic type of UCS


0 = UCS is not orthographic
1 = Top; 2 = Bottom
3 = Front; 4 = Back
5 = Left; 6 = Right

330 ID/ handle to this layout's associated paper space block table record

331 ID/ handle to the viewport that was last active in this layout when the layout was current

345 ID/ handle of AcDbUCSTableRecord if UCS is a named UCS. If not present, then UCS is unnamed

346 ID/ handle of AcDbUCSTableRecord of base UCS if UCS is orthographic (76 code is non-zero).
If not present and 76 code is non-zero, then base UCS is taken to be WORLD

333 Shade plot ID

178 | Chapter 7 OBJECTS Section

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LIGHTLIST
Th e followin g group codes are used by LIGHTLIST objects. In addition to th e
group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on page
160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table,
see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

LIGHTLIST group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (LIGHTLIST)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/handle to owner dictionary. For LIGHTLIST objects, this is always the ACAD_LIGHT
entry of the named object dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner object

100 Subclass marker (AcDbLightList)

90 Version number

90 Number of lights

5 Light handle (one for each light)

1 Light name (one for each light)

MATERIAL
Th e followin g group codes are used by M ATERIAL objects. In addition to th e
group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on page

LIGHTLIST | 179

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160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table,
see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

M ATERIAL group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (M ATERIAL)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS” (The persistent reactors group
appears in all dictionaries except the main dictionary.)

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary. For M ATERIAL objects, this is always the
ACAD_M ATERIAL entry of the named object dictionary.

102 End of persistent reactors group; always “ }”

100 Subclass marker (AcDbM aterial)

1 M aterial name (string)

2 Description (string, default null string)

70 Ambient color method (default = 0):


0 = Use current color
1 = Override current color

40 Ambient color factor (real, default = 1.0; valid range is 0.0 to 1.0)

90 Ambient color value (unsigned 32-bit integer representing an AcCmEntityColor)

71 Diffuse color method (default = 0):


0 = Use current color
1 = Override current color

41 Diffuse color factor (real, default = 1.0; valid range is 0.0 to 1.0)

91 Diffuse color value (unsigned 32-bit integer representing an AcCmEntityColor)

42 Diffuse map blend factor (real, default = 1.0)

72 Diffuse map source (default = 1):

180 | Chapter 7 OBJECTS Section

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M ATERIAL group codes
Group code Descript ion
0 = Use current scene
1 = Use image file (specified by file name; null file name specifies no map)

3 Diffuse map file name (string, default = null string)

73 Projection method of diffuse map mapper (default = 1):


1 = Planar
2 = Box
3 = Cylinder
4 = Sphere

74 Tiling method of diffuse map mapper (default = 1):


1 = Tile
2 = Crop
3 = Clamp

75 Auto transform method of diffuse map mapper (bitset, default = 1):


1= No auto transform
2 = Scale mapper to current entity extents; translate mapper to entity origin
4 = Include current block transform in mapper transform

43 Transform matrix of diffuse map mapper (16 reals; row major format; default = identity matrix)

44 Specular gloss factor (real, default = 0.5)

76 Specular color method (default = 0):


0 = Use current color
1 = Override current color

45 Specular color factor (real, default = 1.0; valid range is 0.0 to 1.0)

92 Specular color value (unsigned 32-bit integer representing an AcCmEntityColor)

46 Specular map blend factor (real; default = 1.0)

77 Specular map source (default = 1):


0 = Use current scene
1 = Use image file (specified by file name; null file name specifies no map)

4 Specular map file name (string; default = null string)

MATERIAL | 181

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M ATERIAL group codes
Group code Descript ion

78 Projection method of specular map mapper (default = 1):


1 = Planar
2 = Box
3 = Cylinder
4 = Sphere

79 Tiling method of specular map mapper (default = 1):


1 = Tile
2 = Crop
3 = Clamp

170 Auto transform method of specular map mapper (bitset; default = 1):
1 = No auto transform
2 = Scale mapper to current entity extents; translate mapper to entity origin
4 = Include current block transform in mapper transform

47 Transform matrix of specular map mapper (16 reals; row major format; default = identity matrix)

48 Blend factor of reflection map (real, default = 1.0)

171 Reflection map source (default = 1):


0 = Use current scene
1 = Use image file (specified by file name; null file name specifies no map)

6 Reflection map file name (string; default = null string)

172 Projection method of reflection map mapper (default = 1):


1 = Planar
2 = Box
3 = Cylinder
4 = Sphere

173 Tiling method of reflection map mapper (default = 1):


1 = Tile
2 = Crop
3 = Clamp

174 Auto transform method of reflection map mapper (bitset; default = 1):
1 = No auto transform
2 = Scale mapper to current entity extents; translate mapper to entity origin

182 | Chapter 7 OBJECTS Section

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M ATERIAL group codes
Group code Descript ion
4 = Include current block transform in mapper transform

49 Transform matrix of reflection map mapper (16 reals; row major format; default = identity
matrix)

140 Opacity percent (real; default = 1.0)

141 Blend factor of opacity map (real; default = 1.0)

175 Opacity map source (default = 1):


0 = Use current scene
1 = Use image file (specified by file name; null file name specifies no map)

7 Opacity map file name (string; default = null string)

176 Projection method of opacity map mapper (default = 1):


1 = Planar
2 = Box
3 = Cylinder
4 = Sphere

177 Tiling method of opacity map mapper (default = 1):


1 = Tile
2 = Crop
3 = Clamp

178 Auto transform method of opacity map mapper (bitset; default = 1):
1 = No auto transform
2 = Scale mapper to current entity extents; translate mapper to entity origin
4 = Include current block transform in mapper transform

142 Transform matrix of opacity map mapper (16 reals; row major format; default = identity matrix)

143 Blend factor of bump map (real; default = 1.0)

179 Bump map source (default = 1):


0 = Use current scene
1 = Use image file (specified by file name; null file name specifies no map)

8 Bump map file name (string; default = null string)

MATERIAL | 183

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M ATERIAL group codes
Group code Descript ion

270 Projection method of bump map mapper (default = 1):


1 = Planar
2 = Box
3 = Cylinder
4 = Sphere

271 Tiling method of bump map mapper (default = 1):


1 = Tile
2 = Crop
3 = Clamp

272 Auto transform method of bump map mapper (bitset; default = 1):
1 = No auto transform
2 = Scale mapper to current entity extents; translate mapper to entity origin
4 = Include current block transform in mapper transform

144 Transform matrix of bump map mapper (16 reals; row major format; default = identity matrix)

145 Refraction index (real; default = 1.0)

146 Blend factor of refraction map (real; default = 1.0)

273 Refraction map source (default = 1):


0 = Use current scene
1 = Use image file (specified by file name; null file name specifies no map)

9 Refraction map file name (string; default = null string)

274 Projection method of refraction map mapper (default = 1):


1 = Planar
2 = Box
3 = Cylinder
4 = Sphere

275 Tiling method of refraction map mapper (default = 1):


1 = Tile
2 = Crop
3 = Clamp

276 Auto transform method of refraction map mapper (bitset; default = 1):

184 | Chapter 7 OBJECTS Section

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M ATERIAL group codes
Group code Descript ion
1 = No auto transform
2 = Scale mapper to current entity extents; translate mapper to entity origin
4 = Include current block transform in mapper transform

147 Transform matrix of refraction map mapper (16 reals; row major format; default = identity
matrix)

460 Color Bleed Scale

461 Indirect Dump Scale

462 Reflectance Scale

463 Transmittance Scale

290 Two-sided M aterial

464 Luminance

270 Luminance M ode

271 Normal M ap M ethod

465 Normal M ap Strength

42 Normal M ap Blend Factor

72 Normal M ap Source

3 Normal M ap Source File Name

73 Normal M apper Projection

74 Normal M apper Tiling

75 Normal M apper Auto Transform

43 Normal M apper Transform

293 M aterials Anonymous

MATERIAL | 185

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M ATERIAL group codes
Group code Descript ion

272 Global Illumination M ode

273 Final Gather M ode

300 GenProcName

291 GenProcValBool

271 GenProcValInt

469 GenProcValReal

301 GenProcValText

292 GenProcTableEnd

62 GenProcValColorIndex

420 GenProcValColorRGB

430 GenProcValColorName

270 M ap UTile

148 Translucence

90 Self-Illuminaton

468 Reflectivity

93 Illumination M odel

94 Channel Flags

MLINESTYLE
Th e followin g group codes are used by M LINESTYLE objects. In addition to
th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Obj ects on

186 | Chapter 7 OBJECTS Section

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page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

M LINESTYLE group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (M LINESTYLE)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS” (persistent reactors group
appears in all dictionaries except the main dictionary)

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary. For M LINESTYLE objects this is always the
ACAD_M LINESTYLE entry of the named object dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group; always “ }”

100 Subclass marker (AcDbM lineStyle)

2 M line style name

70 Flags (bit-coded):
1 =Fill on
2 = Display miters
16 = Start square end (line) cap
32 = Start inner arcs cap
64 = Start round (outer arcs) cap
256 = End square (line) cap
512 = End inner arcs cap
1024 = End round (outer arcs) cap

3 Style description (string, 255 characters maximum)

62 Fill color (integer, default = 256)

51 Start angle (real, default is 90 degrees)

52 End angle (real, default is 90 degrees)

71 Number of elements

49 Element offset (real, no default). M ultiple entries can exist; one entry for each element

MLINESTYLE | 187

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M LINESTYLE group codes
Group code Descript ion

62 Element color (integer, default = 0). M ultiple entries can exist; one entry for each element

6 Element linetype (string, default = BYLAYER). M ultiple entries can exist; one entry for each
element

Th e 2 group codes in m lin e en tities an d M LINESTYLE objects are redun dan t


fields. Th ese groups sh ould n ot be m odified under any circum stances, although
it is safe to read th em an d use th eir values. Th e correct fields to m odify are
M l i n e Th e 340 group in th e sam e object, wh ich in dicates th e proper
M LINESTYLE object.

M l i n est y l e Th e 3 group value in th e M LINESTYLE diction ary, wh ich precedes


th e 350 group th at h as th e h an dle or en tity n am e of th e curren t m lin estyle.

OBJECT_PTR
Th e followin g group codes are used by OBJECT_PTR objects. In addition to
th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Obj ects on
page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

OBJECT_PTR group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (OBJECT_PTR)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

1001 Begin ASE xdata (DC015)

188 | Chapter 7 OBJECTS Section

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PLOTSETTINGS
Th e followin g group codes are used by PLOTSETTINGS objects. In addition
to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on
page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

PLOTSETTINGS group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (PLOTSETTINGS)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner object

100 Subclass marker (AcDbPlotSettings)

1 Page Setup name

2 Name of system printer or plot configuration file

4 Paper size

6 Plot view name

40 Size, in millimeters, of unprintable margin on left side of paper

41 Size, in millimeters, of unprintable margin on bottom of paper

42 Size, in millimeters, of unprintable margin on right side of paper

43 Size, in millimeters, of unprintable margin on top of paper

44 Plot paper size: physical paper width in millimeters

45 Plot paper size: physical paper height in millimeters

PLOTSETTINGS | 189

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PLOTSETTINGS group codes
Group code Descript ion

46 Plot origin: X value of origin offset in millimeters

47 Plot origin: Y value of origin offset in millimeters

48 Plot window area: X value of lower-left window corner

49 Plot window area: Y value of upper-right window corner

140 Plot window area: X value of lower-left window corner

141 Plot window area: Y value of upper-right window corner

142 Numerator of custom print scale: real world (paper) units

143 Denominator of custom print scale: drawing units

70 Plot layout flag:


1 = PlotViewportBorders
2 = ShowPlotStyles
4 = PlotCentered
8 = PlotHidden
16 = UseStandardScale
32 = PlotPlotStyles
64 = ScaleLineweights
128 = PrintLineweights
512 = DrawViewportsFirst
1024 = M odelType
2048 = UpdatePaper
4096 = ZoomToPaperOnUpdate
8192 = Initializing
16384 = PrevPlotInit

72 Plot paper units:


0 = Plot in inches
1 = Plot in millimeters
2 = Plot in pixels

73 Plot rotation:
0 = No rotation
1 = 90 degrees counterclockwise

190 | Chapter 7 OBJECTS Section

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PLOTSETTINGS group codes
Group code Descript ion
2 = Upside-down
3 = 90 degrees clockwise

74 Plot type (portion of paper space to output to the media):


0 = Last screen display
1 = Drawing extents
2 = Drawing limits
3 = View specified by code 6
4 = Window specified by codes 48, 49, 140, and 141
5 = Layout information

7 Current style sheet

75 Standard scale type:


0 = Scaled to Fit
1 = 1/ 128"=1'; 2 = 1/ 64"=1'; 3 = 1/ 32"=1'
4 = 1/ 16"=1'; 5 = 3/ 32"=1'; 6 = 1/ 8"=1'
7 = 3/ 16"=1'; 8 = 1/ 4"=1'; 9 = 3/ 8"=1'
10 = 1/ 2"=1'; 11 = 3/ 4"=1'; 12 = 1"=1'
13 = 3"=1'; 14 = 6"=1'; 15 = 1'=1'
16= 1:1 ; 17= 1:2; 18 = 1:4; 19 = 1:8; 20 = 1:10; 21= 1:16
22 = 1:20; 23 = 1:30; 24 = 1:40; 25 = 1:50; 26 = 1:100
27 = 2:1; 28 = 4:1; 29 = 8:1; 30 = 10:1; 31 = 100:1; 32 = 1000:1

76 ShadePlot mode:
0 = As Displayed
1 = Wireframe
2 = Hidden
3 = Rendered

77 ShadePlot resolution level:


0 = Draft
1 = Preview
2 = Normal
3 = Presentation
4 = M aximum
5 = Custom

78 ShadePlot custom DPI:


Valid range: 100 to 32767

PLOTSETTINGS | 191

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PLOTSETTINGS group codes
Group code Descript ion
Only applied when the ShadePlot resolution level is set to 5 (Custom)

147 A floating point scale factor that represents the standard scale value
specified in code 75

148 Paper image origin: X value

149 Paper image origin: Y value

333 ShadePlot ID/ Handle (optional)

RASTERVARIABLES
Th e followin g group codes are used by RASTERVARIABLES objects. In addition
to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on
page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

RASTERVARIABLES group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (RASTERVARIABLES)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary. For a RASTERVARIABLES object, this is always the
ACAD_IM AGE_VARS entry of the named object dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group; always “ }”

100 Subclass marker (AcDbRasterVariables)

90 Class version 0

70 Display-image-frame flag: 0 = No frame; 1 = Display frame

71 Image display quality (screen only): 0 = Draft; 1 = High

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RASTERVARIABLES group codes
Group code Descript ion

72 AutoCAD units for inserting images. This is what one AutoCAD unit is equal to for the purpose
of inserting and scaling images with an associated resolution:
0 = None; 1 = M illimeter; 2 = Centimeter
3 = Meter; 4 = Kilometer; 5 = Inch
6 = Foot; 7 = Yard; 8 = M ile

RENDER
Ren der related group codes.

RENDERENVIRONMENT
Th e followin g group codes are used by RENDERENVIRONM ENT objects. In
addition to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for
Objects on page 160. For inform ation about abbreviation s and form attin g used
in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

RENDERENVIRONM ENT group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (RENDERENVIRONM ENT)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary. For a RENDERENVIRONM ENT object, this is always
the ACAD_RENDER_ENVIRONM ENT entry of the named object dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group; always “ }”

100 Subclass marker (AcDbRenderEnvironment)

90 Class version 1

290 Fog enabled flag; 1 if enabled

290 Fog in background flag; 1 if enabled

RENDER | 193

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RENDERENVIRONM ENT group codes
Group code Descript ion

280, 280, 280 Fog color; Red, green, and blue channel values

40, 40 Fog density; Near and Far density as a percentage

40, 40 Near and Far distance as a percentage of the distance between the camera and the far clipping
plane

290 Environment image flag

1 Environment image file name (can be blank if the previous flag is 0)

MENTALRAYRENDERSETTINGS
Th e following group codes are used by M ENTALRAYRENDERSETTINGS objects.
In addition to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for
Objects on page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form atting used
in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

M ENTALRAYRENDERSETTINGS group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (M ENTALRAYRENDERSETTINGS)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group; always “ }”

100 Subclass marker (AcDbRenderSettings)

90 Class version 1

1 Render preset name

290 Render materials flag

194 | Chapter 7 OBJECTS Section

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M ENTALRAYRENDERSETTINGS group codes
Group code Descript ion

90 Texture sampling quality

290 Render back-faces flag

290 Render shadows flag

1 Preview image file name(can be blank)

100 Subclass marker (AcDbM entalRayRenderSettings)

90 Class version 1

90 Sampling rate (minimum)

90 Sampling rate (maximum)

70 Sampling filter type


0 = Box
1 = Triangle
2 = Gauss
3 = Mitchell
4 = Lanczos

40, 40 Filter width, height

40, 40, 40, 40 Sampling contrast color; Red, green, blue, and alpha channel values

70 Shadow mode
0 = Simple
1 = Sort
2 = Segment

290 Shadow map flag; applies only to lights using mapped shadows

290 Ray tracing flag

90, 90, 90 Ray tracing depth for reflections, refractions, and maximum depth

290 Global illumination flag

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M ENTALRAYRENDERSETTINGS group codes
Group code Descript ion

90 Photons/ sample count

290 Global illumination radius flag

40 Global illumination sample radius

90 Photons per light

90, 90, 90 Global illumination photo trace depth for reflections, refractions, and maximum depth

290 Final gather flag

90 Final gather ray count

290, 290 Final gather minimum and maximum radius flags

290 Final gather pixels flag

40, 40 Final gather minimum and maximum sample radius

40 Luminance scale (energy multiplier)

70 Diagnostic mode
0 = Off
1 = Grid
2 = Photon
4 = BSP

70 Diagnostic Grid mode


0 = Object
1 = World
2 = Camera

40 Grid size

70 Diagnostic Photon mode


0 = Density
1 = Irradiance

70 Diagnostic BSP mode

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M ENTALRAYRENDERSETTINGS group codes
Group code Descript ion
0 = Depth
1 = Size

290 Export M I statistics flag

1 M I statistics file name (can be blank)

90 Tile size

70 Tile order
0 = Hilbert
1 = Spiral
2 = Left to right
3 = Right to left
4 = Top to bottom
5 = Bottom to top

90 M emory limit

RENDERGLOBAL
Th e followin g group codes are used by RENDERGLOBAL objects. In addition
to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on
page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

RENDERGLOBAL group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (RENDERGLOBAL)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary. For a RENDERGLOBAL object, this is always the
ACAD_RENDER_GLOBAL entry of the named object dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group; always “ }”

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RENDERGLOBAL group codes
Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbRenderGlobal)

90 Class version 2

90 Render procedure:
0 = View
1 = Crop
2 = Selection

90 Render destination
0 = Render Window
1 = Viewport

290 Save to file flag

1 Rendered image save file name

90 Image width

90 Image height

290 Predefined presets first flag

290 High info level flag

SECTION
Section m an ager an d section settin gs group codes.

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Sect ion Manager
Th e followin g group codes apply to SECTIONM ANAGER objects. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

SECTIONM ANAGER group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (SECTIONM ANAGER)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

330 Soft-owner ID/ handle to owner object

100 Subclass marker (AcDbSectionM anager)

70 Requires full update flag

90 Number of sections

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to section entities (repeats for number of sections)

Sect ion Set t ings


Th e followin g group codes apply to SECTIONSETTINGS objects. For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

SECTIONSETTINGS group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (SECTIONSETTINGS)

5 Handle

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SECTIONSETTINGS group codes
Group code Descript ion

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

330 Soft-owner ID/ handle to owner object

100 Subclass marker (AcDbSectionSettings)

90 Section type

91 Number of generation settings

Section Type Settings data follows

Sect ion Type Set t ings


Th e followin g group codes apply to Section Type settin gs. For in form ation
about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see Form attin g
Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Sect ion Type Set t ings group codes


Group code Descript ion

1 “ SectionTypeSettings” marker

90 Section type

91 Generation option flag

92 Number of source objects

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to source objects (repeats for number of source objects)

331 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to destination block object

1 Destination file name

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Sect ion Type Set t ings group codes
Group code Descript ion

93 Number of generation settings

2 “ SectionGeometrySettings” data marker

Section geometry settings data

3 “ SectionTypeSettingsEnd” marker

Sect ion Geomet ry Set t ings


The followin g group codes apply to Section geom etry settin gs. For in form ation
about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see Form attin g
Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Sect ion geomet ry set t ings group codes


Group code Descript ion

90 Section type

91 Geometry count

92 Bitflags

63 Color data

8 Layer name

6 Linetype name

40 Linetype scale

1 Plotstyle name

370 Line weight

70 Face transparency

71 Edge transparency

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Sect ion geomet ry set t ings group codes
Group code Descript ion

72 Hatch pattern type

2 Hatch pattern name

41 Hatch angle

42 Hatch scale

43 Hatch spacing

3 “ SectionGeometrySettingsEnd” data marker

SPATIAL_INDEX
Th e followin g group codes are used by SPATIAL_INDEX objects. In addition
to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on
page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

SPATIAL_INDEX group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (SPATIAL_INDEX)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

100 Subclass marker (AcDbIndex)

40 Timestamp (Julian date)

100 Subclass marker (AcDbSpatialIndex)

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Th e SPATIAL_INDEX is always written out em pty to a DXF file. Th is object
can be ign ored.

SPATIAL_FILTER
Th e followin g group codes are used by SPATIAL_FILTER objects. In addition
to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on
page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

SPATIAL_FILTER group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (SPATIAL_FILTER)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary (SPATIAL)

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

100 Subclass marker (AcDbFilter)

100 Subclass marker (AcDbSpatialFilter)

70 Number of points on the clip boundary


2 = Rectangular clip boundary (lower-left and upper-right)
greater than 2 = Polyline clip boundary

10 Clip boundary definition point (in OCS) (always 2 or more) based on an xref scale of 1
DXF: X value; APP: 2D point

20 DXF: Y value of boundary definition point (always 2 or more)

210 Normal to the plane containing the clip boundary


DXF: X value; APP: 3D vector

220, 230 DXF: Y and Z values of extrusion direction

11 Origin used to define the local coordinate system of the clip boundary
DXF: X value; APP: 3D point

SPATIAL_FILTER | 203

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SPATIAL_FILTER group codes
Group code Descript ion

21, 31 Origin used to define the local coordinate system of the clip boundary
DXF: Y and Z values

71 Clip boundary display enabled flag


0 = Disabled; 1 = Enabled

72 Front clipping plane flag; 0 = No; 1 = Yes

40 Front clipping plane distance (if code 72 = 1)

73 Back clipping plane flag; 0 = No; 1 = Yes

41 Back clipping plane distance (if code 73 = 1)

40 4x3 transformation matrix written out in column major order. This matrix is the inverse of the
original block reference (insert entity) transformation. The original block reference transformation
is the one that is applied to all entities in the block when the block reference is regenerated
(always 12 entries)

40 4x3 transformation matrix written out in column major order. This matrix transforms points
into the coordinate system of the clip boundary (12 entries)

SORTENTSTABLE
Th e followin g group codes are used by SORTENTSTABLE objects. In addition
to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on
page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

SORTENTSTABLE group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (SORTENTSTABLE)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary (ACAD_SORTENTS)

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SORTENTSTABLE group codes
Group code Descript ion

102 End of persistent reactors group; always “ }”

100 Subclass marker (AcDbSortentsTable)

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner (currently only the *M ODEL_SPACE


or *PAPER_SPACE blocks)

331 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to an entity (zero or more entries may exist)

5 Sort handle (zero or more entries may exist)

If th e SORTENTS Regen flag (bit-code value 16) is set, AutoCAD regen erates
en tities in ascen din g h an dle order. W h en th e DRAW ORDER com m an d is used,
a SORTENTSTABLE object is attach ed to th e *M odel_Space or *Paper_Space
block's exten sion diction ary un der th e n am e ACAD_SORTENTS. Th e
SORTENTSTABLE object related to th is diction ary associates a differen t h an dle
with each en tity, wh ich redefin es th e order in wh ich th e en tities are
regen erated.

TABLESTYLE
Th e followin g group codes are used by TABLESTYLE obj ects. In addition to
th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Objects on
page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

TABLESTYLE group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (TABLESTYLE)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS” (The persistent reactors group
appears in all dictionaries except the main dictionary.)

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary. For TABLESTYLE objects, this code is always the
ACAD_TABLESTYLE entry of the named object dictionary

TABLESTYLE | 205

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TABLESTYLE group codes
Group code Descript ion

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

100 Subclass marker (AcDbTableStyle)

280 Version number:


0 = 2010

3 Table style description (string; 255 characters maximum)

70 FlowDirection (integer):
0 = Down
1 = Up

71 Flags (bit-coded)

40 Horizontal cell margin (real; default = 0.06)

41 Vertical cell margin (real; default = 0.06)

280 Flag for whether the title is suppressed:


0 = Not suppressed
1 = Suppressed

281 Flag for whether the column heading is suppressed:


0 = Not suppressed
1 = Suppressed

The following group codes are repeated for every cell in the table

7 Text style name (string; default = STANDARD)

140 Text height (real)

170 Cell alignment (integer)

62 Text color (integer; default = BYBLOCK)

63 Cell fill color (integer; default = 7)

283 Flag for whether background color is enabled (default = 0):

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TABLESTYLE group codes
Group code Descript ion
0 = Disabled
1 = Enabled

90 Cell data type

91 Cell unit type

274-279 Lineweight associated with each border type of the cell (default = kLnWtByBlock)

284-289 Flag for visibility associated with each border type of the cell (default = 1):
0 = Invisible
1 = Visible

64-69 Color value associated with each border type of the cell (default = BYBLOCK)

UNDERLAYDEFINITION
Th e followin g group codes apply to UNDERLAYDEFINITION sym bol table
en tries. In addition to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group
Codes for Sym bol Table En tries on page 37. For in form ation about
abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s
in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

UNDERLAYDEFINITION group codes


Group Descript ion
Code

0 Object name (UNDERLAYDEFINITION)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACT-


ORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

100 Subclass marker (AcDbUnderlayDefinition)

UNDERLAYDEFINITION | 207

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UNDERLAYDEFINITION group codes
Group Descript ion
Code

1 Underlay path and file name

2 Underlay Name

VISUALSTYLE
Th e followin g group codes apply to VISUALSTYLE objects. For in form ation
about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see Form attin g
Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

VISUALSTYLE group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (VISUALSTYLE)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

330 Soft-owner ID/ handle to owner object

100 Subclass marker (AcDbVisualStyle)

2 Description

70 Type

71 Face lighting model


0 =Invisible
1 = Visible
2 = Phong
3 = Gooch

72 Face lighting quality

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VISUALSTYLE group codes
Group code Descript ion
0 = No lighting
1 = Per face lighting
2 = Per vertex lighting

73 Face color mode


0 = No color
1 = Object color
2 = Background color
3 = Custom color
4 = Mono color
5 = Tinted
6 = Desaturated

90 Face modifiers
0 = No modifiers
1 = Opacity
2 = Specular

40 Face opacity level

41 Face specular level

62, 63 Color

421 Face style mono color

74 Edge style model


0 = No edges
1 = Isolines
2 = Facet edges

91 Edge style

64 Edge intersection color

65 Edge obscured color

75 Edge obscured linetype

175 Edge intersection linetype

VISUALSTYLE | 209

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VISUALSTYLE group codes
Group code Descript ion

42 Edge crease angle

92 Edge modifiers

66 Edge color

43 Edge opacity level

76 Edge width

77 Edge overhang

78 Edge jitter

67 Edge silhouette color

79 Edge silhouette width

170 Edge halo gap

171 Number of edge isolines

290 Edge hide precision flag

174 Edge style apply flag

93 Display style display settings

44 Brightness

173 Shadow type

291 Internal use only flag

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VBA_PROJECT
Th e followin g group codes are used by VBA_PROJECT objects. For in form ation
about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see Form attin g
Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

VBA_PROJECT group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (VBA_PROJECT)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group, always “ }”

330 Soft-owner ID/ handle to owner object

100 Subclass marker (AcDbVbaProject)

90 Number of bytes of binary chunk data (contained in the group code 310 records that follow)

310 DXF: Binary object data (multiple entries containing VBA project data)

WIPEOUTVARIABLES
Th e followin g group codes are used by W IPEOUTVARIABLES objects. In
addition to th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for
Objects on page 160. For inform ation about abbreviation s and form attin g used
in th is table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

WIPEOUTVARIABLES group codes


Group code Descript ion

0 Object name (WIPEOUTVARIABLES)

5 Handle

102 Start of persistent reactors group; always “ {ACAD_REACTORS”

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WIPEOUTVARIABLES group codes
Group code Descript ion

330 Soft-pointer ID/ handle to owner dictionary. For a WIPEOUTVARIABLES object, this is always the
ACAD_IM AGE_VARS entry of the named object dictionary

102 End of persistent reactors group; always “ }”

100 Subclass marker (AcDbRasterVariables)

90 Class version 0

70 Display-image-frame flag: 0 = No frame; 1 = Display frame

XRECORD
Th e followin g group codes are com m on to all xrecord objects. In addition to
th e group codes described h ere, see Com m on Group Codes for Obj ects on
page 160. For in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is
table, see Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

Xrecord group codes


Group code Descript ion

100 Subclass marker (AcDbXrecord)

280 Duplicate record cloning flag (determines how to merge duplicate entries):
0 = Not applicable
1 = Keep existing
2 = Use clone
3 = <xref>$0$<name>
4 = $0$<name>
5 = Unmangle name

1-369 (except These values can be used by an application in any way


5 and 105)

Xrecord objects are used to store an d m anage arbitrary data. Th ey are com posed
of DXF group codes with “ n orm al object” groups (th at is, n on -xdata group
codes), ran ging from 1 th rough 369 for supported ran ges. Th is object is sim ilar
in con cept to xdata but is n ot lim ited by size or order.

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X record obj ects are design ed to work in such a way as to n ot offen d releases
®
R13c0 th rough R13c3. However, if read in to a pre-R13c4 version of AutoCAD ,
xrecord objects disappear.

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THUMBNAILIMAGE
Sect ion

Th is ch apter presen ts th e group codes th at are foun d in th e THUM BNAILIM AGE section of
a DXF™ file. Th is section exists on ly if a preview im age h as been saved with th e DXF file.

THUMBNAILIMAGE Sect ion Group Codes


Th e followin g group codes are foun d in th e THUM BNAILIM AGE section . For
in form ation about abbreviation s an d form attin g used in th is table, see
Form attin g Con ven tion s in Th is Referen ce on page 2.

THUM BNAILIM AGE group codes


Group code Descript ion

90 The number of bytes in the image (and subsequent binary chunk re-
cords)

310 Preview image data (multiple lines; 256 characters maximum per
line)

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Drawing Int erchange File
Format s

Th is appen dix describes th e various file form ats AutoCAD ® uses to in terch an ge drawin g data
with oth er application s. Th e form ats presen ted are Drawin g In terch an ge File (DXF™), bin ary
DXF, Slide (SLD), an d th e Slide Library (SLB) file form ats.
DXF files can be eith er ASCII or bin ary form at. Because ASCII DXF files are m ore com m on
th an th e bin ary form at, th e term DXF file is used to refer to ASCII DX F files an d th e term binary
DXF file is used for th e bin ary form at.

ASCII DXF Files


Th is section describes th e form at of ASCII DX F files. It con tain s in form ation
th at is n eeded on ly if you write your own program s to process DXF files or work
® ®
with en tity in form ation obtain ed by AutoLISP an d ObjectARX application s.

General DXF File St ruct ure


Essen tially, a DXF file is com posed of pairs of codes an d associated values. Th e
codes, kn own as group codes, in dicate th e type of value th at follows. Usin g th ese
group code an d value pairs, a DX F file is organ ized in to section s com posed of
records, wh ich are com posed of a group code an d a data item . Each group code
an d value are on th eir own lin e in th e DXF file.
Each section starts with a group code 0 followed by th e strin g SECTION. Th is
is followed by a group code 2 an d a strin g in dicatin g th e n am e of th e section
(for exam ple, HEADER). Each section is com posed of group codes an d values
th at defin e its elem en ts. A section en ds with a 0 followed by th e strin g ENDSEC.

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It m ay be h elpful to produce a DXF file from a sm all drawin g, prin t it, an d
refer to it wh ile readin g th e in form ation presen ted in th is section .
Th e overall organ ization of a DX F file is as follows:

 HEADERsection. Contain s general in form ation about th e drawin g. It consists


of an AutoCAD database version number an d a number of system variables.
Each param eter con tain s a variable n am e an d its associated value.

 CLASSES section. Holds th e in form ation for application -defin ed classes,


wh ose in stan ces appear in th e BLOCKS, ENTITIES, an d OBJECTS section s
of th e database. A class defin ition is perm an en tly fixed in class h ierarch y.

 TABLES section.Con tain s defin ition s for th e followin g sym bol tables:
APPID (application iden tification table)
BLOCK_RECORD (block referen ce table)
DIM STYLE (dim en sion style table)
LAYER (layer table)
LTYPE (lin etype table)
STYLE (text style table)
UCS (user coordin ate system table)
VIEW (view table)
VPORT (viewport con figuration table)

 BLOCKS section. Con tain s block defin ition an d drawin g en tities th at m ake
up each block referen ce in th e drawin g.

 ENTITIES section. Con tain s th e graph ical objects (en tities) in th e drawin g,
in cludin g block referen ces (in sert en tities).

 OBJECTS section. Con tain s th e n on graph ical objects in th e drawin g. All


objects th at are n ot en tities or sym bol table records or sym bol tables are
stored in th is section . Exam ples of en tries in th e OBJECTS section are
diction aries th at con tain m lin e styles an d groups.

 THUMBNAILIMAGEsection. Contain s the preview im age data for th e drawin g.


Th is section is option al.

If you use th e Select Objects option of th e SAVE or SAVEAS com m an d, th e


ENTITIES section of th e resultin g DXF file con tains on ly th e en tities you select.

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Group Codes in DXF Files
Group codes an d th e associated values defin e a specific aspect of an object or
en tity. Th e lin e im m ediately followin g th e group code is th e associated value.
Th is value can be a strin g, an in teger, or a floatin g-poin t value, such as th e X
coordin ate of a poin t. Th e lin es followin g th e secon d lin e of th e group, if an y,
are determ in ed by th e group definition and th e data associated with the group.
Special group codes are used as file separators, such as m arkers for th e
begin n in g an d en d of section s, tables, an d th e en d of th e file itself.
En tities, objects, classes, tables an d table en tries, an d file separators are
in troduced with a 0 group code th at is followed by a n am e describin g th e
group.
Th e m axim um DXF file strin g len gth is 256 ch aracters. If your AutoCAD
drawin g con tain s strin gs th at exceed th is n um ber, th ose strin gs are trun cated
durin g SAVE, SAVEAS, an d W BLOCK. OPEN an d INSERT fail if your DXF file
con tain s strin gs th at exceed th is n um ber.

ASCII Cont rol Charact ers in DXF Files


SAVEAS h an dles ASCII con trol ch aracters in text strin gs by expan din g th e
ch aracter in to a caret (^ ) followed by th e appropriate letter. For exam ple, an
ASCII Con trol-G (BEL, decim al code 7) is written as ^ G. If th e text itself
con tain s a caret ch aracter, it is expan ded to caret, space (^ ). OPEN an d INSERT
perform th e com plem en tary con version .

Header Group Codes in DXF Files


Application s can retrieve the values of th ese variables with the AutoLISP getvar
fun ction .
Th e followin g is an exam ple of th e HEADER section of a DXF™ file:

0 Beginning of HEADER section


SECTION
2
HEADER

9 Repeats for each header variable


$<variable>
<group code>

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<value>

0 End of HEADER section


ENDSEC

Class Group Codes in DXF Files


Th e followin g is an exam ple of th e CLASSES section of a DXF file:

0 Beginning of CLASSES section


SECTION
2
CLASSES

0 Repeats for each entry


CLASS
1
<class dxf record>
2
<class name>
3
<app name>
90
<flag>
280
<flag>
281
<flag>

0 End of CLASSES section


ENDSEC

Symbol Table Group Codes in DXF Files


Th e followin g is an exam ple of th e TABLES section of a DX F file.

0 Beginning of TABLES section


SECTION
2
TABLES

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0 Common table group codes; repeats for
TABLE each entry
2
<table type>
5
<handle>
100
AcDbSymbolTable
70
<max. entries>

0 Table entry data; repeats for each table


<table type> record
5
<handle>
100
AcDbSymbolTableRe-
cord
.
. <data>
.

0 End of table
ENDTAB

0 End of TABLES section


ENDSEC

Symbol Table Example


Th is DXF sequen ce represen ts th ree full objects: th e sym bol table itself plus
two en tries.

TABLE Indicates a symbol table entry

STYLE Text style symbol table entry. Exception to


rule that code 0 fully defines type

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5

1C STYLE table handle; same as for entities


and other objects

70

3 Maximum number of STYLE table records


to follow (pre-Release 13 field)

1001

APP_X APP_X has put xdata on a symbol table

1040

42.0 Just a single floating-point number

STYLE Beginning of first element in the STYLE


symbol table

3A The first entry's handle (DIMSTYLE entries


will have 105 here)

ENTRY_1 The first entry's text name

70

64 Standard flag values

40

.4 Text height

41

1.0 Width scale factor

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50

0.0 Oblique angle

71

0 Text generation flags

42

0.4 Last height used

BUFONTS.TXT Primary font file name

STYLE Second entry begins. No xdata or persistent


reactors on first entry

C2 Second entry handle

ENTRY_2 Second entry text name

...

... Other fields down to group code 3

BUFONTS.TXT Primary font file name and last object


type—specific group

102

{ACAD_REACTORS This entry has two persistent reactors

330

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3C2 Soft ID to first reactor object

330

41B Soft ID to first reactor object

102

} Indicates the end of the reactor set

1001

APP_1 Xdata attached to this entry

1070

45

1001

APP_2

1004

18A5B3EF2C199A

UCS Start of UCS table (and end of previous re-


cord and table)

Blocks Group Codes in DXF Files


Th e followin g is an exam ple of th e BLOCKS section of a DXF file:

0 Beginning of BLOCKS section


SECTION
2
BLOCKS

0 Begins each block entry (a block entity


definition)

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BLOCK
5
<handle>
100
AcDbEntity
8
<layer>
100
AcDbBlockBegin
2
<block name>
70
<flag>
10
<X value>
20
<Y value>
30
<Z value>
3
<block name>
1
<xref path>

0 One entry for each entity definition within


<entity type> the block
.
. <data>
.

0 End of each block entry (an endblk entity


ENDBLK definition)
5
<handle>
100
AcDbBlockEnd

0 End of BLOCKS section


ENDSEC

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Ent it y Group Codes in DXF Files
Th e followin g is an exam ple of th e ENTITIES section of a DXF file:

0 Beginning of ENTITIES section


SECTION
2
ENTITIES

0 One entry for each entity definition


<entity type>
5
<handle>
330
<pointer to owner>
100
AcDbEntity
8
<layer>
100
AcDb<classname>
.
. <data>
.

0 End of ENTITIES section


ENDSEC

Object Group Codes in DXF Files


Th e followin g is an exam ple of th e OBJECTS section of a DXF file:

0 Beginning of OBJECTS section


SECTION
2
OBJECTS

0 Beginning of named object dictionary (root


DICTIONARY dictionary object)
5
<handle>
100

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AcDbDictionary

3 Repeats for each entry


<dictionary name>
350
<handle of child>

0 Groups of object data


<object type>
.
. <data>
.

0 End of OBJECTS section


ENDSEC

Writ ing a DXF Int erface Program


Writin g a program th at com m un icates with AutoCAD by m ean s of th e DXF
file appears m ore difficult th an it actually is. Th e DXF form at m akes it easy
to ign ore in form ation you don 't n eed, wh ile readin g th e in form ation you do
n eed.

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Reading a DXF File
Th e followin g exam ple is a sim ple Visual Basic 6 program th at reads a DXF
file and extracts specific codes an d values from a given object in a given section.

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' ReadDXF extracts specified code/value pairs from a DXF file.
' This function requires four string parameters, a valid DXF
' file name, a DXF section name, the name of an object in that
' section, and a comma delimited list of codes.
'
Function ReadDXF( _
ByVal dxfFile As String, ByVal strSection As String, _
ByVal strObject As String, ByVal strCodeList As String)
Dim tmpCode, lastObj As String
Open dxfFile For Input As #1
' Get the first code/value pair
codes = ReadCodes
' Loop through the whole file until the "EOF" line
While codes(1) <> "EOF"
' If the group code is '0' and the value is 'SECTION' ..
If codes(0) = "0" And codes(1) = "SECTION" Then
' This must be a new section, so get the next
' code/value pair.
codes = ReadCodes()
' If this section is the right one ..
If codes(1) = strSection Then
' Get the next code/value pair and ..
codes = ReadCodes
' Loop through this section until the 'ENDSEC'
While codes(1) <> "ENDSEC"
' While in a section, all '0' codes indicate
' an object. If you find a '0' store the
' object name for future use.
If codes(0) = "0" Then lastObj = codes(1)
' If this object is one you're interested in
If lastObj = strObject Then
' Surround the code with commas
tmpCode = "," & codes(0) & ","
' If this code is in the list of codes ..
If InStr(strCodeList, tmpCode) Then
' Append the return value.
ReadDXF = ReadDXF & _
codes(0) & "=" & codes(1) & vbCrLf
End If
End If
' Read another code/value pair
codes = ReadCodes
Wend

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End If
Else
codes = ReadCodes
End If
Wend
Close #1
End Function
' ReadCodes reads two lines from an open file and returns a two
item
' array, a group code and its value. As long as a DXF file is read

' two lines at a time, all should be fine. However, to make your
' code more reliable, you should add some additional error and
' other checking.
'
Function ReadCodes() As Variant
Dim codeStr, valStr As String
Line Input #1, codeStr
Line Input #1, valStr
' Trim the leading and trailing space from the code
ReadCodes = Array(Trim(codeStr), valStr)
End Function

Writ ing a DXF File


Writin g a program th at creates a DXF file can be m ore difficult th an on e th at
reads a DXF file, because you m ust m ain tain con sisten cy with in th e drawin g
in order for AutoCAD to fin d th e file acceptable. AutoCAD lets you om it m an y
item s in a DXF file an d still obtain a usable drawin g.

 Th e entire HEADER section can be om itted if you don 't set h eader variables.

 An y of th e tables in th e TABLES section can be om itted if you don 't n eed


to m ake en tries, an d th e en tire TABLES section can be dropped if n oth in g
in it is required.

 If you define an y lin etypes in th e LTYPE table, this table m ust appear before
th e LAYER table.

 If n o block defin ition s are used in th e drawin g, th e BLOCKS section can


be om itted.

 If presen t, th e BLOCKS section m ust appear before th e ENTITIES section .

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 With in th e ENTITIES section , you can referen ce layer n am es even th ough
you haven't defin ed th em in th e LAYER table. Such layers are autom atically
created with color 7 an d th e CONTINUOUS lin etype.

 Th e EOF item m ust be presen t at th e en d of file.

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Th e followin g Visual Basic 6 subroutin e con structs a DXF file represen tin g a
polygon .

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' WriteDXFPolygon creates a minimal DXF file that only contains
' the ENTITIES section. This subroutine requires five parameters,
' the DXF file name, the number of sides for the polygon, the X
' and Y coordinates for the bottom end of the right-most side
' (it starts in a vertical direction), and the length for each
' side. Note that because this only requests 2D points, it does
' not include the Z coordinates (codes 30 and 31). The lines are
' placed on the layer "Polygon."
'
Sub WriteDXFPolygon( _
dxfFile As String, iSides As Integer, _
dblX As Double, dblY As Double, dblLen As Double)
Dim i As Integer
Dim dblA1, dblA, dblPI, dblNX, dblNY As Double
Open dxfFile For Output As #1
Print #1, 0
Print #1, "SECTION"
Print #1, 2
Print #1, "ENTITIES"
dblPI = Atn(1) * 4
dblA1 = (2 * dblPI) / iSides
dblA = dblPI / 2
For i = 1 To iSides
Print #1, 0
Print #1, "LINE"
Print #1, 8
Print #1, "Polygon"
Print #1, 10
Print #1, dblX
Print #1, 20
Print #1, dblY
dblNX = dblLen * Cos(dblA) + dblX
dblNY = dblLen * Sin(dblA) + dblY
Print #1, 11
Print #1, dblNX
Print #1, 21
Print #1, dblNY
dblX = dblNX
dblY = dblNY
dblA = dblA + dblA1
Next i
Print #1, 0
Print #1, "ENDSEC"

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Print #1, 0
Print #1, "EOF"
Close #1
End Sub

As lon g as a properly form atted item appears on th e lin e on wh ich th e data


is expected, DXFIN accepts it. (Of course, strin g item s sh ould n ot h ave leadin g
spaces un less th ese are in ten ded to be part of th e strin g.) Th is BASIC program
takes advan tage of th is flexibility in in put form at an d does n ot gen erate a file
exactly like on e gen erated by AutoCAD.
In th e case of an error in usin g DXFIN to load, AutoCAD reports th e error with
a m essage in dicatin g th e n ature of th e error an d th e last lin e processed in th e
DXF file before th e error was detected. Th is m ay n ot be th e lin e on wh ich th e
error occurred, especially in th e case of errors such as th e om ission of required
groups.

Binary DXF Files


The ASCII DXF file format is a complete representation of an AutoCAD drawing
in an ASCII text form , an d is easily processed by oth er program s. In addition ,
AutoCAD can produce or read a bin ary form of th e full DXF file an d accept
lim ited in put in an oth er bin ary file form at.
Th e SAVE an d SAVEAS com m an ds provide a Bin ary option th at writes bin ary
DXF files. Such a file con tain s all th e in form ation presen t in an ASCII DXF
file but in a m ore com pact form th at takes about 25 percen t less file space. It
can be read and written m ore quickly (typically, five tim es faster) by AutoCAD.
Unlike ASCII DXF files, which entail a trade-off between size and floatin g-poin t
accuracy, bin ary DXF files preserve th e accuracy in th e drawin g database.
(AutoCAD Release 10 was th e first version to support th is form of DXF file; it
can n ot be read by older version s.)
A bin ary DX F file begin s with a 22-byte sen tin el con sistin g of th e followin g:
AutoCAD Binary DXF<CR><LF><SUB><NULL>

Followin g th e sen tin el are pairs (group, value) as in an ASCII DXF file but
represen ted in bin ary form . Th e group code is a 2-byte bin ary value (1 byte
in DX F files prior to AutoCAD Release 14), an d th e value th at follows is on e
of th e followin g:

 A 2-byte integer with th e least sign ificant byte first an d the m ost significan t
byte last

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 An 8-byte IEEE double-precision floatin g-poin t n um ber stored with th e
least sign ifican t byte first an d th e m ost sign ifican t byte last

 An ASCII strin g term in ated by a 0 (NULL) byte

Th e type of data followin g a group is determ in ed from th e group code by th e


sam e rules used in decodin g ASCII DXF files. Tran slation of an gles to degrees
an d dates to fraction al Julian date represen tation is perform ed for bin ary files
as well as for ASCII DX F files. Th e com m en t group, 999, is n ot used in bin ary
DXF files.
Exten ded data group codes are represen ted in bin ary DXF as a sin gle byte with
th e value 255, followed by a 2-byte in teger value con tain in g th e actual group
code, followed by th e actual value.
Extended data lon g values (group code 1071) occupy 4 bytes of data. Exten ded
data bin ary ch un ks (group code 1004) are represented as a sin gle-byte unsign ed
in teger len gth , followed by th e specified n um ber of bytes of ch un k data. For
exam ple, to tran sfer an exten ded data lon g group, th e followin g values would
appear, occupyin g 1, 2, an d 4 bytes respectively.
255 Escape group code
1071 True group code
999999 Value for the 1071 group code

SAVEAS writes bin ary DXF files with th e sam e file type (.dxf) as for ASCII DX F
files. Th e OPEN an d INSERT com m an ds autom atically recogn ize a bin ary file
by m ean s of its sen tin el strin g. You n eed n ot iden tify it as a bin ary file.
If th e OPEN an d INSERT com m an dsen coun ter an error in a bin ary DXF file,
AutoCAD reports th e byte address with in the file wh ere the error was detected.

Slide Files
NOTE This information is for experienced programmers, and is subject to change
without notice.

AutoCAD slide files are screen im ages written by th e M SLIDE com m an d an d


read by th e VSLIDE com m an d. Th is section describes th e form at of slide files
for th e ben efit of developers wh o wish to in corporate support for slides in to
th eir program s.
A slide file con sists of a h eader portion (31 bytes) an d on e or m ore data records
of variable len gth . All coordin ates an d sizes written to th e slide file reflect th e
drawin g area of th e display device from wh ich th e slide was created, with

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poin t (0,0) located at th e lower-left corn er of th e drawin g area. For AutoCAD
Release 9 an d later, th e slide file h eader con sists of th e followin g fields:

Slide file header


Field Byt es Descript ion

ID string 17 “ AutoCAD Slide” CR LF ^Z NUL

Type indicator 1 Currently set to 56 (decimal)

Level indicator 1 Currently set to 2

High X dot 2 Width of the graphics area: 1, in pixels

High Y dot 2 Height of the graphics area: 1, in pixels

Aspect ratio 4 Drawing area aspect ratio (horizontal size/ vertical size in inches), scaled by
10,000,000. This value is always written with the least significant byte first

Hardware fill 2 Either 0 or 2 (value is unimportant)

Test number 2 A number (1234 hex) used to determine whether all 2-byte values in the slide
were written with the high-order byte first (Intel 8086-family CPUs) or the low-
order byte first (M otorola 68000-family CPUs)

Data records follow th e h eader. Each data record begin s with a 2-byte field
wh ose h igh -order byte is th e record type. Th e rem ain der of th e record m ay
be com posed of 1-byte or 2-byte fields as described in th e followin g table. To
determ in e wh eth er th e 2-byte fields are written with th e h igh -order byte first
or th e low-order byte first, exam in e th e Test n um ber field of th e h eader th at
is described in th e previous table.

Slide file dat a records


Record Byt es M eaning Descript ion
t ype
(hex)

00-7F 8 Vector The from-X coordinate for an ordinary vector. From-Y, to-X, and to-Y
follow, in that order, as 2-byte values. The from- point is saved as the
last point

80-FA — Undefined Reserved for future use

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Slide file dat a records
Record Byt es M eaning Descript ion
t ype
(hex)

FB 5 Offset vec- The low-order byte and the following three bytes specify the endpoints
tor (from-X, from-Y, to-X, to-Y) of a vector, in terms of offsets (-128 to +127)
from the saved last point. The adjusted from- point is saved as the last
point for use by subsequent vectors

FC 2 End of file The low-order byte is 00

FD 6 Solid fill The low-order byte is always zero. The following two 2-byte values
specify the X and Y coordinates of one vertex of a polygon to be solid-
filled. Three to ten such records occur in sequence. A Solid fill record
with a negative Y coordinate indicates the start or end of such a flood
sequence. In the start record, the X coordinate indicates the number of
vertex records to follow

FE 3 Common This is a vector starting at the last point. The low-order byte and the
endpoint following byte specify to-X and to-Y in terms of offsets (-128 to +127)
vector from the saved last point. The adjusted to- point is saved as the last
point for use by subsequent vectors

FF 2 New color Subsequent vectors are to be drawn using the color number indicated
by the low-order byte

If a slide con tain s an y vectors at all, a New color record will be th e first data
record. Th e order of th e vectors in a slide an d th e order of th e en dpoin ts of
th ose vectors m ay vary.
For exam ple, th e followin g is an an n otated h ex dum p of a sim ple slide file
created on an IBM PC/ AT with an IBM En h an ced Graph ics Adapter. Th e slide
con sists of a wh ite diagon al lin e from th e lower-left corn er to th e upper-righ t

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corn er of th e drawin g area, a green vertical lin e n ear th e lower-left corn er,
an d a sm all red rectan gle at th e lower-left corn er.
41 75 74 6F 43 41 ID string (“AutoCAD Slide” CR LF ^Z
NUL)
44 20 53 6C 69 64
65 0D 0A 1A 00
56 Type indicator (56)
02 Level indicator (2)
3C 02 High X dot (572)
24 01 High Y dot (292)
0B 80 DF 00 Aspect ratio (14,647,307 / 10,000,000 = 1.46)
02 00 Hardware fill (2)
34 12 Test number (1234 hex)
07 FF New color (7 = white)
3C 02 24 01 00 00 00 00 Vector from 572,292 to 0,0. 572,292
becomes “last”point
3 FF New color (3 = green)
0F 00 32 00 0F 00 13 00 Vector from 15,50 to 15,19. \x1115,50
becomes
“last” point
01 FF New color (1 = red)
12 FB E7 12 CE Offset vector from 15+18,50-25 (33,25)
to 15+18,
50-50 (33,0). 33,25 becomes “last” point
DF FE 00 Common-endpoint vector from 33,25 to 33-33,25+0
(0,25). 0,25 becomes “last” point
00 FE E7 Common-endpoint vector from (0,25) to 0+0,25-25
(0,0). 0,0 becomes “last” point
21 FE 00 Common-endpoint vector from (0,0) to 0+33,0+0
(33,0).33,0 becomes “last” point
00 FC End of file

Old Slide Header


Th e slide form at described in th e previous section is produced by AutoCAD
Release 9 an d later, an d is portable am on g all com puters run n in g AutoCAD
®
Release 9 or later. Previous version s of AutoCAD (as well as AutoSh ade 1.0

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®
an d AutoSketch 1.02) produce slides with a som ewh at differen t h eader, as
sh own in th e followin g table.

Old slide file header


Field Byt es Descript ion

ID string 17 “ AutoCAD Slide” CR LF ^ Z NUL

Type indicator 1 56 (decimal)

Level indicator 1 1 (old format)

High X dot 2 Width of the drawing area: 1, in pixels

High Y dot 2 Height of the drawing area: 1, in pixels

Aspect ratio 8 Drawing area aspect ratio (horizontal size/ vertical size in inches), written as a
floating-point number

Hardware fill 2 Either 0 or 2 (value is unimportant)

Filler byte 1 Unused

Note th at th e old-form at h eader does n ot con tain a test n um ber field. Th e


floatin g-poin t aspect ratio value an d all 2-byte in tegers are written in th e
n ative form at of th e CPU th at was used to create th e file (for 8086-fam ily
CPUs, IEEE double-precision , an d low-order byte first). Old-form at slide files
are n ot portable across m ach in e types, but th ey can be read by an y version of
AutoCAD run n in g on th e sam e CPU type as th e CPU with wh ich th e slide
was created.

Slide Library Files


Th is section describes th e form at of AutoCAD slide libraries (Release 9 an d
later) for th e ben efit of developers wh o wish to in corporate support for slide
libraries in to th eir program s.
Th e gen eral form at of a slide library is as follows:
"AutoCAD Slide Library 1.0" CR LF ^Z NUL NUL NUL NUL Header (32
bytes)
One or more slide directory entries (36 bytes each)
One or more slides (variable length)

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Slide directory en tries h ave th e followin g form at:
Slide name (NUL terminated) (32 bytes)
Address of slide within library file (4 bytes)

Th e slide address is always written with th e low-order byte first. Each slide to
wh ich th e directory poin ts is a com plete slide file as described in th e previous
section . Th e en d of th e slide directory is sign ified by an en try with a n ull slide
n am e (first byte is NUL). A slide library can con tain a m ixture of old-form at
an d n ew-form at slides.

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Advanced DXF Issues

Th is appen dix discusses th e advan ced con cepts related to DX F™ group codes.

Dat abase Object s


AutoCAD ® drawings consist largely of structured con tain ers for database objects.
Database objects each h ave th e followin g features:

 A h an dle wh ose value is un ique to th e drawin g/ DXF file, an d is con stan t for
th e lifetim e of th e drawin g. Th is form at h as existed sin ce AutoCAD Release
10, an d as of AutoCAD Release 13, h an dles are always en abled.

 An option al xdata table, as en tities h ave h ad sin ce AutoCAD Release 11.

 An option al persisten t reactor table.

 An option al own ersh ip poin ter to an exten sion diction ary wh ich , in turn ,
own s subobjects placed in it by an application .

Sym bol tables an d sym bol table records are database objects an d, th us, h ave a
h an dle. Th ey can also h ave xdata an d persisten t reactors in th eir DXF records.

Persist ent Int er-Object Reference Handles


A set of group code ran ges perm its objects to directly specify referen ces to oth er
objects with in th e sam e drawin g/ DXF file. Four ran ges are provided for th e four
types of referen ce h an dles th at you can specify:

 Soft-poin ter h an dle

 Hard-poin ter h an dle

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 Soft-own er h an dle

 Hard-own er h an dle

®
Th ese h an dle types are m an ifested as en tity n am es in AutoLISP , as ads_n am e
®
values in Obj ectARX an d as like-n am ed classes derived from ObjectARX.
Th ese values are always m ain tain ed in in sert, xref, an d wblock operation s
such th at referen ces between objects in a set bein g copied are updated to poin t
to th e copied objects, wh ile referen ces to oth er objects rem ain un ch an ged.
Also, a group code ran ge for “ arbitrary” h an dles is defin ed to allow con ven ien t
storage of h an dle values th at are n ot con verted to en tity n am es an d th en
tran slated in in sert, xref, or wblock.

NOTE If you use 1005 xdata group codes to store handles, they are treated as
soft-pointer handles, which means that when groups of objects are copied or
inserted into another drawing, references between the involved objects are
translated. Although 1005 xdata items are always returned as handles in AutoLISP
and ObjectARX, all of the reference handle group code ranges are represented as
“ entity names” in AutoLISP and as ads_name structures in ObjectARX.

Point er and Ownership References


A poin ter is a referen ce th at in dicates usage, but n ot possession or
respon sibility, for an oth er object. A poin ter referen ce m ean s th at th e object
uses th e oth er obj ect in som e way, an d sh ares access to it.
An own ersh ip referen ce m ean s th at an own er object is respon sible for th e
objects for wh ich it h as an own er h an dle. Own ersh ip referen ces direct th e
writin g of en tire DW G an d DXF files in a gen eric m an n er, such as begin n in g
from a few key root objects.
An object can h ave an y n um ber of poin ter referen ces associated with it, but
it can h ave on ly on e own er.

Hard and Soft References


Hard referen ces, wh eth er th ey are poin ter or own er, protect an obj ect from
bein g purged. Soft referen ces do n ot.
In AutoCAD, block defin ition s an d com plex en tities are h ard own ers of th eir
elem en ts. A sym bol table an d diction aries are soft own ers of th eir elem en ts.

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Polylin e en tities are h ard own ers of th eir vertex an d seqen d en tities. In sert
en tities are h ard own ers of th eir attrib an d seqen d en tities.
W h en establish in g a referen ce to an oth er object, it is recom m en ded th at you
th in k about wh eth er th e referen ce sh ould protect an object from th e PURGE
com m an d.

Arbit rary Handles


Arbitrary h an dles are distin ct in th at th ey are n ot tran slated to
session -persisten t iden tifiers in tern ally, or to en tity n am es in AutoLISP, an d
so on . Th ey are stored as h an dles. W h en h an dle values are tran slated in
drawin g-m erge operation s, arbitrary h an dles are ign ored.
In all en viron m en ts, arbitrary h an dles can be exch an ged for en tity n am es of
th e curren t drawin g by m ean s of th e handent fun ction s. A com m on usage of
arbitrary h an dles is to refer to obj ects in extern al DXF an d DW G files.

1005 Group Codes


1005 xdata group codes h ave the sam e beh avior an d sem an tics as soft poin ters,
wh ich m ean s th at th ey are tran slated wh en ever th e h ost object is m erged in to
a differen t drawin g. However, 1005 item s are n ot tran slated to
session -persisten t iden tifiers or in tern al en tity n am es in AutoLISP an d
ObjectARX. Th ey are stored as h an dles.

Subclass Markers
W h en filin g a stream of group data, a single object m ay be com posed of several
filer m em bers, on e for each level of in h eritan ce wh ere filin g is don e. Sin ce
derived classes an d levels of in h eritan ce can evolve separately, th e data of
each class filer m em ber m ust be segregated from oth er m em bers. Th is is
ach ieved usin g subclass m arkers.
All class filer m em bers are expected to precede th eir class-specific portion of
in stan ce data with a “ subclass” m arker—a 100 group code followed by a strin g
with th e actual n am e of th e class. Th is does n ot affect th e state n eeded to
defin e th e object's state, but it provides a m ean s for th e DXF file parsers to
direct th e group codes to th e correspon din g application software.

Arbitrary Handles | 243

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For exam ple, an object th at h as data from differen t derived classes would be
represen ted as follows:

244 | Chapter 10 Advanced DXF Issues

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999
FOOGRANDCHILD, defined by class AcDbSonOfSonOfFoo, which
999
is derived from AcDbSonOfFoo
0
FOOGRANDCHILD
5
C2
100
AcDbFoo
999
Uses 10/20/30 group codes
10
1.1
20
2.3
30
7.3
100
AcDbSonOfFoo
999
Also uses 10/20/30 group codes, for a different purpose
10
1.1
20
2.3
30
7.3
100
AcDbSonOfSonOfFoo
999
Also uses 10/20/30 group codes, for yet another purpose
10
13.2
20
23.1
30
31.2
999
Now for the Xdata
1001
APP_1
1070

Subclass Markers | 245

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45
1001
APP_2
1004
18A5B3EF2C199A

Ext ension Dict ionary and Persist ent React ors


Th e exten sion diction ary is an option al sequen ce th at stores th e h an dle of a
diction ary object that belongs to th e current object, wh ich in turn m ay contain
en tries. Th is facility allows attach m en t of arbitrary database objects to an y
database object. An y obj ect or en tity m ay h ave th is section .
Persisten t reactors are an option al sequen ce th at stores object h an dles of
objects registerin g th em selves as reactors on th e curren t object. An y obj ect or
en tity m ay h ave th is section .

Ext ended Dat a


Exten ded data (xdata) is created by AutoLISP or ObjectARX application s. If
an en tity con tain s exten ded data, it follows th e en tity's n orm al defin ition
data. Th e group codes 1000 th rough 1071 describe exten ded data. Th e
followin g is an exam ple of an en tity con tain in g exten ded data in DXF form at.

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Normal entity definition data:
0
INSERT
5
F11
100
AcDbEntity
8
TOP
100
AcDbBlockReference
2
BLOCK_A
10
0.0
20
0.0
30
0.0

Extended Data | 247

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Extended entity definition data:
1001
AME_SOL
1002
{
1070
0
1071
1.95059E+06
1070
519
1010
2.54717
1020
2.122642
1030
2.049201
1005
ECD
1005
EE9
1005
0
1040
0.0
1040
1.0
1000
MILD_STEEL

Th e group code 1001 in dicates th e begin n in g of exten ded data. In con trast
to n orm al en tity data, with exten ded data th e sam e group code can appear
multiple times, an d order is im portan t.
Exten ded data is grouped by registered application n am e. Each registered
application group begin s with a 1001 group code, with th e application n am e
as th e strin g value. Registered application n am es correspon d to APPID sym bol
table en tries.
An application can use as m an y APPID n am es as n eeded. APPID n am es are
perm an en t, alth ough th ey can be purged if th ey aren 't curren tly used in th e
drawin g. Each APPID n am e can h ave n o m ore th an on e data group attach ed
to each en tity. With in an application group, th e sequen ce of exten ded data
groups an d th eir m ean in g is defin ed by th e application .

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Th e exten ded data group codes are listed in th e followin g table.

Ext ended dat a group codes and descript ions


Ent it y name Group code Descript ion

String 1000 Strings in extended data can be up to 255 bytes long (with the
256th byte reserved for the null character)

Application name 1001 Application names can be up to 31 bytes long (the 32nd byte is
also a string reserved for the null character)
value
NOTE Do not add a 1001 group into your extended data because
AutoCAD assumes it is the beginning of a new application exten-
ded data group

Control string 1002 An extended data control string can be either “ {” or “ }” . These
braces enable applications to organize their data by subdividing
the data into lists. The left brace begins a list, and the right brace
terminates the most recent list. Lists can be nested
When AutoCAD reads the extended data for a particular applica-
tion, it checks to ensure that braces are balanced

Layer name 1003 Name of the layer associated with the extended data

Binary data 1004 Binary data is organized into variable-length chunks. The maxim-
um length of each chunk is 127 bytes. In ASCII DXF files, binary
data is represented as a string of hexadecimal digits, two per
binary byte

Database handle 1005 Handles of entities in the drawing database

NOTE When a drawing with handles and extended data handles


is imported into another drawing using INSERT, INSERT *, XREF
Bind, XBIND, or partial OPEN, the extended data handles are
translated in the same manner as their corresponding entity
handles, thus maintaining their binding. This is also done in the
EXPLODE block operation or for any other AutoCAD operation.
When AUDIT detects an extended data handle that doesn't match
the handle of an entity in the drawing file, it is considered an er-
ror. If AUDIT is fixing entities, it sets the handle to 0

3 reals 1010, 1020, Three real values, in the order X, Y, Z. They can be used as a point
1030 or vector record. AutoCAD never alters their value

Extended Data | 249

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Ext ended dat a group codes and descript ions
Ent it y name Group code Descript ion

World space posi- 1011, 1021, Unlike a simple 3D point, the world space coordinates are moved,
tion 1031 scaled, rotated, and mirrored along with the parent entity to
which the extended data belongs. The world space position is
also stretched when the STRETCH command is applied to the
parent entity and this point lies within the select window

World space dis- 1012, 1022, Also a 3D point that is scaled, rotated, and mirrored along with
placement 1032 the parent (but is not moved or stretched)

World direction 1013, 1023, Also a 3D point that is rotated and mirrored along with the parent
1033 (but is not moved, scaled, or stretched)

Real 1040 A real value

Distance 1041 A real value that is scaled along with the parent entity

Scale factor 1042 Also a real value that is scaled along with the parent. The differ-
ence between a distance and a scale factor is application-defined

Integer 1070 A 16-bit integer (signed or unsigned)

Long 1071 A 32-bit signed (long) integer

Object Coordinat e Syst ems (OCS)


To save space in th e drawin g database (an d in th e DXF file), th e poin ts
associated with each en tity are expressed in term s of th e en tity's own object
coordin ate system (OCS). With OCS, th e on ly addition al in form ation n eeded
to describe th e en tity's position in 3D space are th e 3D vector describin g th e
Z axis of th e OCS an d th e elevation value.
For a given Z axis (or extrusion ) direction , th ere are an in fin ite n um ber of
coordin ate system s, defin ed by tran slatin g th e origin in 3D space an d by
rotatin g th e X an d Y axes aroun d th e Z axis. However, for th e sam e Z axis
direction , th ere is on ly on e OCS. It h as th e followin g properties:

 Its origin coin cides with th e W CS origin .

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 Th e orien tation of th e X an d Y axes with in th e XY plan e is calculated in an
arbitrary but con sisten t m an n er. AutoCAD perform s th is calculation usin g
th e arbitrary axis algorith m (see Arbitrary Axis Algorith m on page 252).

For som e en tities, th e OCS is equivalen t to th e W CS, an d all poin ts (DXF


groups 10-37) are expressed in world coordin ates. See th e followin g table.

Coordinat e syst ems associat ed w it h an ent it y t ype


Ent it ies Not es

3D entities such as line, point, 3dface, 3D These entities do not lie in a particular plane. All points are expressed
polyline, 3D vertex, 3D mesh, 3D mesh in world coordinates. Of these entities, only lines and points can be
vertex extruded. Their extrusion direction can differ from the world Z axis

2D entities such as circle, arc, solid, trace, These entities are planar in nature. All points are expressed in object
text, attrib, attdef, shape, insert, 2D coordinates. These entities can be extruded. Their extrusion direction
polyline, 2D vertex, lwpolyline, hatch, can differ from the world Z axis
image

Dimension Some of a dimension's points are expressed in WCS and some in OCS

Viewport Expressed in world coordinates

On ce AutoCAD h as establish ed th e OCS for a given en tity, th e OCS works as


follows: Th e elevation value stored with an en tity in dicates h ow far to sh ift
th e XY plan e alon g th e Z axis (from th e W CS origin ) to m ake it coin cide with
th e plan e th at con tain s th e en tity. How m uch of th is is th e user-defin ed
elevation is un im portan t.
An y 2D poin ts en tered th rough th e UCS are tran sform ed in to th e
correspon din g 2D poin ts in th e OCS, wh ich is sh ifted an d rotated with respect
to th e UCS.
Th ese are a few ram ification s of th is process:

 You can n ot reliably fin d out wh at UCS was in effect wh en an en tity was
acquired.

 W h en you en ter th e XY coordin ates of an en tity in a given UCS an d th en


do a SAVEAS, you probably won 't recogn ize th ose XY coordin ates in th e
DXF file. You m ust kn ow th e m eth od by wh ich AutoCAD calculates th e
X an d Y axes in order to work with th ese values.

 Th e elevation value stored with an en tity an d output in DX F files is a sum


of th e Z-coordin ate differen ce between th e UCS XY plan e an d th e OCS XY

Object Coordinate Systems (OCS) | 251

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plan e, an d th e elevation value th at th e user specified at th e tim e th e en tity
was drawn .

Arbit rary Axis Algorit hm


Th e arbitrary axis algorith m is used by AutoCAD in tern ally to im plem en t th e
arbitrary but con sisten t gen eration of object coordin ate system s for all en tities
th at use object coordin ates.
Given a un it-len gth vector to be used as th e Z axis of a coordin ate system , th e
arbitrary axis algorith m gen erates a correspon din g X axis for th e coordin ate
system . Th e Y axis follows by application of th e righ t-h an d rule.
Th e m eth od is to exam in e th e given Z axis (also called th e normal vector). If it
is close to th e positive or n egative world Z axis, cross th e world Y axis with
th e given Z axis to arrive at th e arbitrary X axis. If it is n ot close, cross th e
world Z axis with the given Z axis to arrive at the arbitrary X axis. Th e boun dary
at wh ich th e decision is m ade was ch osen to be both in expen sive to calculate
an d com pletely portable across m ach in es. Th is is ach ieved by h avin g a sort
of “ square” polar cap, th e boun ds of wh ich are 1/ 64, wh ich is precisely
specifiable in six decim al-fraction digits an d in six bin ary-fraction bits.
Th e algorith m does th e followin g (all vectors are assum ed to be in 3D space
an d specified in th e world coordin ate system ):
Let the given normal vector be called N.
Let the world Y axis be called Wy, which is always (0,1,0).
Let the world Z axis be called Wz, which is always (0,0,1).

Here we are lookin g for th e arbitrary X an d Y axes to go with th e n orm al N.


Th ey will be called Ax an d Ay. N could also be called Az (th e arbitrary Z axis)
as follows:
If (abs (Nx) < 1/64) and (abs (Ny) < 1/64) then
Ax = Wy X N (where “X” is the cross-product operator).
Otherwise,
Ax = Wz X N.
Scale Ax to unit length.

Th e m eth od of gettin g th e Ay vector is as follows:


Ay = N X Ax. Scale Ay to unit length.

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Index
*M odel_Space block defin ition 59 vs. bin ary DXF files 234
*Paper_Space block defin ition 59 BLOCKS section (exam ple) 224
CLASSES section (exam ple) 220
32-bit in teger values\ 152 con trol ch aracter h an dlin g 219
2D en tities, coordin ate system s associated ENTITIES section (exam ple) 226
with 251 HEADER section (exam ple) 219
3D en tities, coordin ate system s associated m axim um file strin g len gth 219
with 251 OBJECTS section (exam ple) 226
3dface group codes 64 readin g (exam ple) 228
3dsolid group codes 65 section s of 217
structure of 217
TABLES section (exam ple) 220
A writin g (exam ple) 230
attdef group codes 67
acad_proxy_en tity group codes 65 ATTM ODE DXF h eader variable 12
ACAD_PROX Y_OBJECT group codes 161 attrib group codes 72
ACADM AINTVER DXF h eader AUNITS DXF h eader variable 12
variable 11 AUPREC DX F h eader variable 12
ACADVER DXF h eader variable 11 AutoLISP
ACDBDICTIONARYW DFLT group arbitrary h an dles an d 243
codes 161 entnext function output for ole2frame
AcDbM en talRayRen derSettin gs 194 en tity (exam ple) 123
ACDBPLACEHOLDER group codes 162 group code 1005 xdata item s
AcDbRen derGlobal 197 an d 243
AcDbRen derSettin gs 194 h an den t fun ction 243
ACFD_FIELD_VALUE key 169 referen ce h an dles an d 242
align ed dim en sion group codes 80
am bien t color, group codes 180
ANGBASE DXF h eader variable 11 B
ANGDIR DXF h eader variable 11
an gular dim en sion group codes 83 block defin ition s
an on ym ous blocks 57 about 57
APPID group codes 38 M odel_Space an d Paper_Space 59
xdata groupin gs an d 248 UCS/ W CS an d 59
application -defin ed object types 159 block group codes 58
arbitrary axis algorith m 252 block referen ce (in sert) group codes 97
arbitrary h an dles 242 BLOCK section (DXF files), about 2
arc edge data for h atch en tities 92 block table h an dles 57
arc group codes 66 BLOCK_RECORD group codes 38
ASCII con trol ch aracters in DX F files 219 BLOCKS section
ASCII DX F files about 57, 218
about 217 exam ple of 224

253 | Index

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group codes in 57 con trol strin gs 7
an d writin g a DXF file 230 con ven tion s used in th is referen ce 2
blocks, an on ym ous 57 coordin ate system s associated with en tity
body group codes 77 types 251
Boolean flags, group code ran ge 4 CSHADOW Header variable 13
borders (in tables), group codes 142
boun dary path data for h atch en tities 90
boun dary path data for h atch en tities,
D
group codes 90 database objects 241
bum p m aps, group codes 183 DATATABLE group codes 163
bin ary DXF files 1, 217, 234 default class values by DX F record n am e
an d C++ class n am e 32
C deleted item s in sym bol tables 35
DGNUNDERLAY 147
C++ class n am es, default class values 32 diam eter dim en sion group codes 82
CECOLOR DX F h eader variable 12 diction aries, n am ed object 159
CELTSCALE DXF h eader variable 12 DICTIONARY group codes 164
CELTYPE DX F h eader variable 12 DICTIONARYVAR group codes 166
CELW EIGHT DXF h eader variable 12 diffuse color, group codes 180
CEPSNID DX F h eader variable 12 diffuse m aps, group codes 180
CEPSNTYPE DXF h eader variable 12 DIM ADEC DXF h eader variable 13
CHAM FERA DXF h eader variable 12 DIM ALT DX F h eader variable 13
CHAM FERB DXF h eader variable 12 DIM ALTD DXF h eader variable 13
CHAM FERC DXF h eader variable 12 DIM ALTF DXF h eader variable 13
CHAM FERD DXF h eader variable 12 DIM ALTRND DXF h eader variable 13
ch ild fields, group codes 169 DIM ALTTD DX F h eader variable 13
circle group codes 77 DIM ALTTZ DXF h eader variable 13
CLASSES section DIM ALTU DXF h eader variable 13
about 31, 218 DIM ALTZ DXF h eader variable 13
default class values by DXF record DIM APOST DXF h eader variable 14
n am e an d C++ class DIM ASO DXF h eader variable 14
n am e 32 DIM ASSOC DXF h eader variable 14
group codes in 32 DIM ASZ DX F h eader variable 14
CLAYER DXF h eader variable 12 DIM ATFIT DXF h eader variable 14
CM LJUST DXF h eader variable 12 DIM AUNIT DXF h eader variable 14
CM LSCALE DXF h eader variable 13 DIM AZIN DXF h eader variable 14
CM LSTYLE DXF h eader variable 13 DIM BLK DXF h eader variable 15
codes, group. See group codes (DX F files) DIM BLK1 DX F h eader variable 15
color styles (in tables), group codes 206 DIM BLK2 DX F h eader variable 15
colum n h eadin gs (in tables), suppression DIM CEN DXF h eader variable 15
of 206 DIM CLRD DX F h eader variable 15
colum n s an d rows (in tables), group DIM CLRE DX F h eader variable 15
codes 139 DIM CLRT DXF h eader variable 15
com m en ts, group code 4, 9 DIM DEC DXF h eader variable 15
com m on en tity group codes 61 DIM DLE DX F h eader variable 15
con trol ch aracter h an dlin g 219 DIM DLI DX F h eader variable 15

254 | Index

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DIM DSEP DXF h eader variable 15 DIM TOFL DXF h eader variable 17
dim en sion en tities, coordin ate system s DIM TOH DXF h eader variable 17
associated with 251 DIM TOL DX F h eader variable 17
dim en sion group codes 78 DIM TOLJ DXF h eader variable 17
align ed 80 DIM TP DXF h eader variable 18
an gular 83 DIM TSZ DXF h eader variable 18
com m on 78 DIM TVP DXF h eader variable 18
diam eter 82 DIM TX STY DXF h eader variable 18
lin ear 81 DIM TX T DXF h eader variable 18
ordin ate 85 DIM TZIN DXF h eader variable 18
radial 82 DIM UPT DXF h eader variable 18
rotated 81 DIM ZIN DXF h eader variable 18
dim en sion style overrides 86 DISPSILH DXF h eader variable 18
DIM EXE DXF h eader variable 15 DRAGVS Header variable 18
DIM EXO DXF h eader variable 15 drawin g in terch an ge file form ats
DIM FAC DXF h eader variable 15 ASCII DXF 217
DIM GAP DXF h eader variable 15 bin ary DXF 217, 234
DIM JUST DXF h eader variable 15 Slide (SLD) 235
DIM LDRBLK DXF h eader variable 16 Slide Library (SLB) 239
DIM LFAC DXF h eader variable 16 DW FUNDERLAY 147
DIM LIM DXF h eader variable 16 DW GCODEPAGE DX F h eader
DIM LUNIT DXF h eader variable 16 variable 18
DIM LW D DX F h eader variable 16 DX F
DIM LW E DXF h eader variable 16 con ven tion s
DIM POST DX F h eader variable 16 group code ran ges 3
DIM RND DXF h eader variable 16 group codes in n um erical
DIM SAH DXF h eader variable 16 order 5
DIM SCALE DX F h eader variable 16 file parsers, subclass m arkers
DIM SD1 DX F h eader variable 16 an d 243
DIM SD2 DX F h eader variable 17 files. See ASCII DX F files\
DIM SE1 DX F h eader variable 17 form at
DIM SE2 DX F h eader variable 17 about 1
DIM SHO DXF h eader variable 17 h eader variables 11
DIM SOXD DX F h eader variable 17 in terface program s, writin g
DIM STYLE (exam ple) 227
table h an dle code 36 record n am es, default class
DIM STYLE DXF h eader variable 17 values 32
DIM STYLE group codes 39 DX F files
DIM STYLE table h an dle code 35 DXF h eader variables in 11
DIM TAD DXF h eader variable 17 group codes. See group codes (DX F
DIM TDEC DXF h eader variable 17 files)
DIM TFAC DX F h eader variable 17 See also ASCII DXF files\
DIM TIH DXF h eader variable 17 DX F form at, objects vs. en tities in 2
DIM TIX DX F h eader variable 17 DX F h eader variables, in DXF files 11
DIM TM DXF h eader variable 17 DX FIN con sideration s for writin g DXF
DIM TM OVE DX F h eader variable 17 files 234

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E field value, data type 169
filin g a stream of group data, subclass
ECS. See object coordin ate system m arkers an d 243
ELEVATION DX F h eader variable 18 FILLETRAD DXF h eader variable 19
elevation value for en tity FILLM ODE DXF h eader variable 19
position in g 250 FINGERPRINTGUID DXF h eader
ellipse edge data for h atch en tities 93 variable 19
ellipse group codes 86 fixed group codes 5
en dblk group codes 59 flags
ENDCAPS DXF h eader variable 19 Boolean flag group code ran ge 4
en tities UCS flags 153
block 57 viewport status flags 152
coordin ate system s associated floatin g-poin t n um bers, group code
with 251 ran ges 3
en dblk 57
en tity group codes vs. object
codes 2 G
group codes listed in n um erical GEODATA group codes 170
order 5 getvar AutoLISP fun ction 219
en tities (DX F form at) gradien ts, sh ifted/ un sh ifted
en d m arker 2 defin ition s 90
group codes for 2, 61 graph ical object group codes. See names of
FIELD objects 168 specific objects
h atch boun dary path data 90 GRIDM ODE revised VPORT h eader
h atch es 87 variable 28
M ATERIAL objects 179 GRIDUNIT revised VPORT h eader
TABLE obj ects 138 variable 28
TABLESTYLE objects 205 group codes (DX F files)
viewports 150 about 3, 217
vs. objects 2 arbitrary h an dle ran ge 242
ENTITIES section ASCII DXF files an d 219
about 61, 218 bin ary DX F files an d 234
an d writin g a DXF file 231 for en tities 2, 61
ENTITIES section (DX F files), about 2 FIELD objects 168
exten sion diction ary 246 h atch boun dary path data 90
EXTM AX DX F h eader variable 19 h atch es 87
EXTM IN DX F h eader variable 19 M ATERIAL objects 179
EXTNAM ES DX F h eader variable 19 TABLE objects 138
EXTRUDED SURFACE group codes 133 TABLESTYLE objects 205
extrusion direction , OCS properties viewports 150
for 250 for en tities (graph ical objects) 61
exam ples of 219
F fixed 5
form attin g con ven tion s for 2
FASTZ revised VPORT h eader variable 28 HEADER section codes 11
FIELD group codes 168 in n um erical order 5

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objects/ en tities an d 2 I
ran ges of 3
referen ce h an dle ran ges 241 IDBUFFER group codes 173
values of im age group codes 95
description s 5 IM AGEDEF group codes 173
type ran ges 3 IM AGEDEF_REACTOR group codes 174
for xdata 249 INDEX CTL DXF h eader variable 20
group data, subclass m arkers an d 243 in h eritan ce levels for filer m em bers,
GROUP group codes 172 subclass m arkers an d 243
INSBASE DXF h eader variable 20
INSERT com m an d
H ASCII con trol ch aracter h an dlin g
HALOGAP DXF h eader variable 19 an d 219
h an den t fun ction s (AutoLISP) 243 bin ary DXF files an d 235
h an dles in sert group codes 97
about 241 INSUNITS DX F h eader variable 20
arbitrary 242 in tegers
of diction ary objects 246 32-bit in teger values 9
referen ce 241 group code ran ges 3
HANDSEED DX F h eader variable 19 INTERFERECOLOR Header variable 20
h ard referen ces vs. soft referen ces 242 INTERFEREOBJVS Header variable 20
h ard-own er h an dles 8, 242 INTERFEREVPVS Header variable 20
h ard-poin ter h an dles 7–8, 241 INTERSECTIONC DXF h eader
h atch en tities variable 20
boun dary path data group codes 90 INTERSECTIOND DXF h eader
group codes 87 variable 20
h atch group codes 87
h atch pattern data 94 J
HEADER section
about 11, 218 JOINSTYLE DXF h eader variable 20
exam ple of 219
group codes for revised VPORT
variables 28 K
group codes for saved DXF h eader key-field pair 169
variables 11
tim e/ date variables, h an dlin g of 29
an d writin g a DX F file 230 L
HEADER section (DX F files), group
codes 11 LAYER group codes 43
HELIX group codes 94 LAYER_FILTER group codes 175
HIDETEX T DXF h eader variable 19 LAYER_INDEX group codes 175
HYPERLINKBASE DXF h eader LAYOUT group codes 176
variable 19 leader group codes 100
Ligh t group codes 100
LIGHTLIST group codes 179
LIM CHECK DX F h eader variable 21

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LIM M AX DX F h eader variable 21 O
LIM M IN DX F h eader variable 21
lin e edge data for h atch en tities 92 object coordin ate system (OCS) 250–251
lin e group codes 101 arbitrary axis algorith m an d 252
lin ear dim en sion group codes 81 OBJECT_PTR group codes 188
lin eweigh ts, en um value 8 ObjectARX
LOFTED SURFACE group codes 135 group code 1005 xdata item s
LTSCALE DXF h eader variable 21 an d 243
LTYPE group codes 44 referen ce h an dles an d 242
LUNITS DX F h eader variable 21 ObjectARX, referen ce h an dles an d 242
LUPREC DXF h eader variable 21 objects
LW DISPLAY DXF h eader variable 21 object group codes vs. en tity
lwpolylin e group codes 102 codes 2
own ersh ip of 159
objects (DXF form at), vs. en tities 2
M OBJECTS section
M ATERIAL objects, group codes 179 about 159, 218
M AXACTVP DXF h eader variable 21 com m on group codes 160
M EASUREM ENT DXF h eader variable 21 OBSCOLOR DXF h eader variable 21
M ENTALRAYRENDERSETTINGS 194 OBSLTYPE DXF h eader variable 21
M ENU DX F h eader variable 21 ole2fram e en tities, AutoLISP en tn ext
M IRRTEXT DXF h eader variable 21 fun ction output (exam ple) 123
m leader group codes 107 ole2fram e group codes 120
m leaderstyle group codes 109 DX F output (exam ple) 122
com m on 110 olefram e group codes 120
con text data 112 opacity m aps, group codes 183
leader lin e 117 OPEN com m an d
leader n ode 116 ASCII con trol ch aracter h an dlin g
m lin e group codes 104 an d 219
M LINESTYLE group codes 186 bin ary DX F files an d 235
M odel_Space block defin ition 59 ordin ate dim en sion group codes 85
M SLIDE/ VSLIDE com m an ds 235 ORTHOM ODE DXF h eader variable 22
m text group codes 117 own ersh ip poin ters to exten sion
m ultileader group codes 107 diction aries 241
own ersh ip referen ces vs. poin ter
referen ces 242
N
n am ed object diction ary 159 P
n on graph ical object group codes. See
names of specific objects Paper_Space block defin ition 59
n orm al vector, arbitrary axis algorith m pattern data for h atch en tities 94
an d 252 PDM ODE DXF h eader variable 22
n um erical order group codes 5 PDSIZE DX F h eader variable 22
PELEVATION DXF h eader variable 22
persisten t in ter-object referen ce
h an dles 241

258 | Index

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persisten t reactor tables 241, 246 Q
PEXTM AX DXF h eader variable 22
PEXTM IN DX F h eader variable 22 QTEXTM ODE DXF h eader variable 24
PFACE com m an d con sideration s 125
PINSBASE DXF h eader variable 22
PLIM CHECK DX F h eader variable 22 R
PLIM M AX DXF h eader variable 22 radial dim en sion group codes 82
PLIM M IN DXF h eader variable 22 ran ges of group codes 3
PLINEGEN DXF h eader variable 22 RASTERVARIABLES group codes 192
PLINEW ID DXF h eader variable 22 ray group codes 126
PLOTSETTINGS group codes 189 readin g a DXF file (exam ple) 228
poin t group codes 123 referen ce h an dles
poin ter referen ces vs. own ersh ip h ard vs. soft 242
referen ces 242 poin ter vs. own ersh ip 242
polyface m esh es in DXF 125 types of 241
polylin e boun dary data for h atch reflection m aps, group codes 182
en tities 91 refraction m aps, group codes 184
polylin e group codes 123 REGENM ODE DXF h eader variable 24
polyface m esh es an d 125 region group codes 126
PROJECTNAM E DXF h eader variable 23 RENDERENVIRONM ENT group
PROXYGRAPHICS DXF h eader codes 193
variable 23 RENDERGLOBAL¶ 197
PSLTSCALE DX F h eader variable 23 REVOLVED SURFACE group codes 136
PSSTYLEM ODE DX F h eader variable 23 rotated dim en sion group codes 81
PSVPSCALE DXF h eader variable 23 rows an d colum n s (in tables), group
PUCSBASE DX F h eader variable 23 codes 143
PUCSNAM E DX F h eader variable 23
PUCSORG DXF h eader variable 23
PUCSORGBACK DX F h eader variable 23 S
PUCSORGBOTTOM DXF h eader
variable 23 SAVE com m an d
PUCSORGFRONT DXF h eader Bin ary option 234
variable 23 Select Objects option 218
PUCSORGLEFT DXF h eader variable 24 SAVEAS com m an d
PUCSORGRIGHT DXF h eader ASCII con trol ch aracter h an dlin g
variable 24 an d 219
PUCSORGTOP DX F h eader variable 24 bin ary DXF files an d 235
PUCSORTHOREF DX F h eader Bin ary option 234
variable 24 Select Objects option 218
PUCSORTHOVIEW DXF h eader SECTION group codes¶ 127
variable 24 Section Type Settin gs group codes¶ 200–
PUCSXDIR DXF h eader variable 24 201
PUCSYDIR DXF h eader variable 24 SECTIONM ANAGER group codes¶ 199
sequen d group codes 128
SHADEDGE DXF h eader variable 24
SHADEDIF DX F h eader variable 24

Index | 259

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SHADOW PLANELOCATION Header SURFTAB1 DX F h eader variable 25
variable 24 SURFTAB2 DX F h eader variable 25
sh ape group codes 128 SURFTYPE DXF h eader variable 25
SKETCHINC DXF h eader variable 24 SURFU DX F h eader variable 25
SKPOLY DX F h eader variable 25 SURFV DX F h eader variable 25
slide (SLD) files SW EPT SURFACE group codes 137
about 235 sym bol table en tries
data record types 236 com m on group codes 37
h eader form at 235 structure of 35
h ex dum p of (exam ple) 237 sym bol tables
old-form at h eader 238 com m on group codes 36
vectors an d 236 deleted item s an d 35
slide library (SLB) file form at 239 DIM STYLE h an dle 35–36
SNAPANG revised VPORT h eader h an dles an d 241
variable 28 iden tifyin g 35
SNAPBASE revised VPORT h eader structure of 35
variable 28 system variables, saved in DX F files 11
SNAPISOPAIR revised VPORT h eader
variable 28
SNAPM ODE revised VPORT h eader T
variable 28 TABLE group codes 138
SNAPSTYLE revised VPORT h eader TABLES section
variable 28 about 35, 218
SNAPUNIT revised VPORT h eader exam ple of 220
variable 28 sym bol table com m on group
soft referen ces vs. h ard referen ces 242 codes 36
soft-own er h an dles 8, 242 sym bol table structure 35
soft-poin ter h an dles 241–242 an d writin g a DX F file 230
solid group codes 89, 129 tables, group codes for 143
SORTENTS DXF h eader variable 25 TABLESTYLE group codes 205
SORTENTSTABLE group codes 204 tagged data 1
SPATIAL_FILTER group codes 203 TDCREATE DX F h eader variable 25
SPATIAL_INDEX group codes 202 TDINDW G DXF h eader variable 25
specular color, group codes 181 TDUCREATE DXF h eader variable 25
specular m aps, group codes 181 TDUPDATE DXF h eader variable 25
splin e edge data for h atch en tities 94 TDUSRTIM ER DXF h eader variable 26
splin e group codes 130 TDUUPDATE DXF h eader variable 26
SPLINESEGS DXF h eader variable 25 TEXT group codes 144
SPLINETYPE DXF h eader variable 25 text strin gs, group code ran ge 4
SSECTIONSETTINGS group codes¶ 199 text style (in tables), group codes 206
strin gs, group code ran ges 3 TEXTSIZE DX F h eader variable 26
STYLE group codes 46 TEXTSTYLE DXF h eader variable 26
subclass data m arker 7 THICKNESS DXF h eader variable 26
subclass m arkers 243 THUM BNAIL section
SUN group codes 103, 132 about 218
SURFACE group codes 133

260 | Index

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THUM BNAILIM AGE VIEW CTR revised VPORT h eader
group codes 215 variable 28
THUM BNAILIM AGE section VIEW DIR revised VPORT h eader
about 215 variable 29
TILEM ODE DXF h eader variable 26 viewport en tities
tim e/ date variables, h an dlin g of 29 coordin ate system s associated
toleran ce group codes 146 with 251
trace group codes 146 group codes 150
TRACEW ID DXF h eader variable 26 status field 151
TREEDEPTH DXF h eader variable 26 viewport group codes 150
VIEW SIZE revised VPORT h eader
variable 29
U VISRETAIN DXF h eader variable 27
UCS flags 153 Visual Basic program s (exam ples)
UCS group codes 47 for readin g a DXF file 228
UCSBASE DXF h eader variable 26 for writin g a DX F file 232
UCSNAM E DXF h eader variable 26 VISUALSTYLE group codes¶ 208
UCSORG DXF h eader variable 26 VPORT group codes 52
UCSORGBACK DXF h eader variable 26 VPORT h eader variables, revised 28
UCSORGBOTTOM DXF h eader VSLIDE/ M SLIDE com m an ds 235
variable 26
UCSORGFRONT DX F h eader variable 26 W
UCSORGLEFT DXF h eader variable 26
UCSORGRIGHT DXF h eader variable 26 wipeout group codes 155
UCSORGTOP DXF h eader variable 27 W IPEOUTVARIABLES group codes 211
UCSORTHOREF DXF h eader variable 27 world coordin ate system (W CS) 251
UCSORTHOVIEW DX F h eader W ORLDVIEW DX F h eader variable 27
variable 27 writin g a DXF file (exam ple) 230
UCSXDIR DX F h eader variable 27
UCSYDIR DXF h eader variable 27
Un derlay Defin ition group codes 207 X
un derlay group codes 147 X an d Y axes orien tation
UNITM ODE DXF h eader variable 27 calculation s 251–252
user coordin ate system (UCS) 251 X axis, arbitrary axis algorith m an d 252
USERI1-5 DX F h eader variable 27 X CLIPFRAM E DXF h eader variable 27
USERR1-5 DXF h eader variable 27 xdata
USRTIM ER DXF h eader variable 27 an d dim en sion en tities 86
sam ple en tity con tain in g (DXF
V form at) 246
xdata group codes 249
VBA_PROJECT group codes 211 bin ary DXF group codes 234
vectors, in slide files 236 X EDIT DXF h eader variable 28
VERSIONGUID DXF h eader variable 27 xlin e group codes 157
vertex group codes 149 X RECORD group codes 212
VIEW group codes 49 XY coordin ates, workin g with 251

Index | 261

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Y Z
Y axis, arbitrary axis algorith m an d 252 Z axis
arbitrary axis algorith m an d 252
OCS properties for 250

262 | Index

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