The Export DWG command allows the user to export any loaded vector data sets to an AutoCAD® Drawing (DWG™) format file. *
When selected, the command displays the DWG Export Options dialog (pictured below) which allows the user to set up the export. The dialog consists of a DWG Options panel, a Tiling panel, and an Export Bounds panel which allows the user to set up the portion of the loaded vector data they wish to export.
The DWG Version section allows you to select which DWG version to create.
The Display Labels section controls if feature display labels are included in the DWG files and, if so, whether they are represented as TEXT entities in their own layer (called FEATURE_LABEL) or as DWG attributes. The default is to have them included as attributes associated with each feature. As some software packages cannot handle attributes in DWG files, it may be necessary to switch to a different option (with the associated loss of information) to get exported DWG files to work with some software packages. To have rotated labels running along the line associated with them, use the option to Include Display Labels as Separate Text Layer.
The Layer Names section controls how the layer names used in the exported DWG file are generated. Choose to use the feature description, feature display label, or feature source filename as the layer name in the exported file. If <Feature Name> is chosen as the display label, any features that do not have a display label will use the feature description as the layer name in the exported file.
If selected, the Generate Projection (PRJ) File option causes a projection file describing the ground reference system of the DWG file to be generated in addition to the DWG file itself. The PRJ file will have the same name as the DWG file with the .prj extension.
If selected, the Create 3D Features Using Loaded Elevation Data option will cause any underlying elevation data (like DEMs) to be used to retrieve elevation values for 2D features being exported and generate new 3D features in the exported DWG file. The units used by the elevation values are determined by the Elevation Display/Export Units setting in the Configuration dialog.
Attach attributes to the file. Each feature will be exported as a BLOCK, with an associated INSERT added as a block reference. The attributes will be attached to the INSERT entity, and can be viewed and edited in AutoCAD® using the Attribute Editor.
If selected, the Generate ECEF Coordinates option will cause the exported DWG file to use Earth-Centered Earth-Fixed (ECEF) XYZ coordinate values rather than XY values in the current export projection.
If selected, the Generate Zero-Width Lines option causes and line features created in the DWG file to be marked as having zero width. Use this option if you intend to use the resulting DWG file with a product such as MicroStation which has problems with lines of non-zero thickness.
The settings will allow labels to be longer than 31 characters.
This setting will create 3D line features for lines with an elevation attribute rather than per vertex elevation values. Contour lines, for example, typically have a single elevation value stored in an attribute, and not per vertex elevation values.
* AutoCAD is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and other countries. DWG is the native file format for Autodesk’s AutoCAD® software and is a trademark of Autodesk, Inc.