The Scan Command and Files Returned

To scan a DXF file use the following command line syntax:

dxf2gbr.exe filename.dxf -cscan filename.cir -lscan filename.lyr -sscan filename.sty

where

dxf2gbr.exe          name of the engine for ASM 500. Use a full path if needed
                    and quote as needed: "C:\wcad\asm500\dxf2gbr.exe"

filename.dxf        path and file name of the DXF file to be converted. 
                    Quote as needed.

-cscan              circle scanning function whose output is written to 
                    the file: filename.cir.

-lscan              layer scanning function whose output is written to 
                    the file: filename.lyr

-sscan              style scanning function whose output is returned to 
                    the file: filename.sty

The CIR File

The .cir file (which is returned when the -cscan command line argument is used) contains information about circles, donuts and polyline widths found in the DXF file. A sample is shown below:

#                      # sign is a comment
# Round                generated by any circles found in the DXF file   
#
1:0.15                 count:diameter
1:0.19
1:0.03
1:0.05
1:0.12
1:0.09
1:3
#
# Donut                generated by donuts found in the DXF file		
#
3:3.2,3                count:outer diameter,inner diameter
#
# Polyline             unique widths of constant width polylines
#
4:0.1                  count:width
14:0.025
5:0
60:0.013

The LYR File

The layer file (which is returned by -lscan argument) contains a list of layers found in the DXF file as well as the list of blocks in the file. The calling application can use this information to put a dialog box so that the user can select which layers to import. The calling application can also display a list of blocks to the user and allow the user to map certain blocks to flashes. A layer file is shown below with comments.

18 in          this first line apparently has no meaning and can be ignored.
#              # comments
# Colors
#
0:7            layer index to names below: color number
1:-7           a minus sign indicates indicates turned off in AutoCAD.
2:-1           generally the colors are not important.
3:-5
4:6
5:-4
6:3
7:1
#
# Layers
#
0:0            this section matches the index against the layer name
1:DRILL
2:SIGBK
3:SLKFR
4:BRDOUT
5:PADS
6:SIGFR
7:Error_Layer   The layer Error_Layer does not exist in the DXF file but is a special
                layer created by the translation engine.

#
# Parts         AutoCAD blocks found in the file. Does not mean that they are
#               actually inserted.
PADST1
DRL30
RE55X208
RE78X208
PADST23
DRL22
RND40
TARGET
SQR90
SQR70
ENTITIES         the block called ENTITIES is a special top level “container” 

The Style File

The STY File (styles) contains a list of the text styles defined in the DXF file and the associated font and other properties. A sample is shown below:

Style Name     : STANDARD
Style Font     : txt           see note 1
Style Big Font : 
Style Height   : 0.000000
Style Width    : 1.000000
Style Angle    : 0.000000
Style Flags    : 64
Style Orient   : 0

Style Name     : SIMPLEX
Style Font     : simplex
Style Big Font : 
Style Height   : 0.000000
Style Width    : 1.000000
Style Angle    : 0.000000
Style Flags    : 64
Style Orient   : 0

1. The important information is the Style Font - in order to render the text from DXF into Gerber strokes, the dxf2gbr engine needs access to the font file (.shx). Unfortunately, the font files are generally not provided together with the DXF file. In that case it may be necessary to substitute some other font instead of the intended one. This will make the text look different in the resulting Gerber file than it did in the DXF file.

2. The dxf2gbr engine can only read the older .shx fonts and not the newer True Type fonts.