Convert Autocad DXF to Microsoft XAML

Question

Has anyone got a good and preferably cheap and easy way to do this? The closest I got is to save the file to .SVG and use Inkscape to convert it to XAML. All lines, etc. It transforms nicely, but all the text was just a bunch of text on top of the document. I also tried importing DXF into Adobe Illustrator and using Mike Swansons AI for the XAML export plugin, but this did not work for my files. I'm just saying something like "impossible to save."

UPDATE:

I tested Visio, I was unable to get it to read a single DXF file. In the end, I downloaded AutoCAD LT, made a drawing with two lines, a field and some text. They saved it in all available formats and tried to import all the files into Visio. No. I'm really curious how Visio can claim to support DXF files.

I tested 3D PaintBrush and, as I suspected, it only worked on 3D models. My drawings are simple 2D drawings with some lines, rectangles, tracks, and some text.

I'm sure Zam 3D will also only import 3D objects, but I'm going to test it (even if I think I tried this before).

Most links to conversion tools are outdated, and some of them remain 3D tools. I was able to convert the PDF document today, but it also just exported the text as paths, not text objects (which I really need).

I also studied BAML (Binary Xaml), and it seems that support for creating and working with BAML will be good in .Net 4, since it basically does not exist in 3.5. But I believe that if I manage to convert the files, they will be small enough to process XAML files (the ones I tried now convert to 3.5 mb and load very slowly).

Answer 1

Right .. New observation. I really had to figure this out because we need AutoCAD technical drawings displayed on web pages using Silverlight.

The most successful attempt I used earlier is to use the Illustator and Mike Swansons export plugin. I tried this solution again, and now I have 100% success with conversions. I do not know if this is due to the fact that I am using the latest Adobe Illustrator, updating the export plugin, or the fact that I use different drawings than before; but it works.

So, in short:

• Download and save the export plugin to the Adobe Illustrator plugin folder
• Open an AutoCAD drawing with Adobe Illustrator CS5
• Export to xaml using the excellent Mike Swansons tool link text

Hey presto, xaml can be dynamically loaded and displayed using the silverlight application.

Answer 2

If you have Microsoft Visio, you can use VisioExportToXAML . I know Visio can import DXF, but I have not tried the tool for converting to XAML.

This page contains a list of other WPF tools, including ZAM 3D , which is specifically mentioned as the ability to convert DXF to XAML. In this post , a few more are mentioned in the same blogs (but the links seem to be broken now).

Answer 3

The Open Design Alliance.Net API has an AutoCAD export function - SVG. Firefox displays SVG (apparently). I have not tried, but this may be one way to get an AutoCAD drawing in a browser. Let us know how you are going.

DXF compatibility compatibility with version. AutoDesk probably returns DXF as often as DWG.

Answer 4

If you have access to AutoCAD, the current version (2010 and later) has the ability to print in DWFx format, which is based on XAML and can be viewed using Silverlight.