- It stands for Drawing Exchange Format.
- It is open source CAD file format.
- It was developed by Autodesk in 1982.
- DXF file format is a vector graphic file format.
- It is used for sharing 2D and 3D drawings between Autocad and other programs.
- The latest version supports both ASCII and binary forms.
Representation of data using group codes and values:
- Every variable in DXF file is associated with a group code.
- Group codes ranging from 1 to 1071.
- Group code 2 is used for names, such as names of blocks.
- Group code 0 is refers to the start an entity or end of the file.
- Values associated with each variable are stored as an integer, floating point or a string.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAPkeQ3vlTWPMfvbJVz9MxmZh_XbiC_qWiCubHRSNKRujbevBExYSBErynspmaWpvSeTFgQOd3Ri_EcsYaVF4f0Ggd7NkkHBB30Ipvl51ZeUEOrOrjm40UzDhyphenhyphen1ButT2hvWbElM3B_gqXO/s1600/dxf-file-format-group-code-sections-file-structure.jpg)
File Structure:
- Header: Contains general information about the drawing. Each parameter has a variable name and an associated value.
- Classes: Holds the information for application-defined classes whose instances appear in the BLOCKS, ENTITIES, and OBJECTS sections of the database.
- Tables: This section contains definitions of named items.
- Application ID (APPID) table
- Block Record (BLOCK_RECORD) table
- Dimension Style (DIMSTYLE) table
- Layer (LAYER) table
- Blocks: This section contains Block Definition entities describing the entities comprising each Block in the drawing.
- Entities: This section contains the drawing entities, including any Block References.
- Objects: Contains the data that apply to non graphical objects.
- Thumb nail images: Contains preview of images.
- We can open DXF files with any text editor such as Notepad.
- DXF editor:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFOP0ILC97AF6zEax4lXcNQ1kR0lFffRQNibEmGfqRDaYHJERM1LtxrczLim1PWlLILDhvFSLkbAv5ZLO5Ft8yxnSUoGpv-W8Y7uSTcaAkE3NmDjYSZa6rFTRKrbYzYj-hmXC8drN7fZpt/s640/dxf_editor-459651-1308640835.jpeg)
- Example:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihraG_txNen0mZdI-P04-ZWrIS11qXOR8d8gmjGykAznYo1CYFFk6mGv4yASp3Mk83N6Piah55BN8jKPExQuW1r1BEQ81mC1csxkCmvykyBWHLg-GUlMwG6wZRNvsxjD0E-79EN2npP5Ov/s640/screen800x500.jpeg)