This dialog box is part of Safe Software's Feature Manipulation Engine (FME).
Group Entities By
Specifies the overall structure of the schema and data for DWG file reading. Group entities by layer name or geometry, or build AutoCAD schema by scanning extended entity data.
- Layer Name - The schema will be generated using layers in the source dataset as FME feature types.
- Geometry - The schema will be generated using all the possible AutoCAD geometry types as FME feature types. This list is set by the reader capability and is not limited to geometries which occur in the given source dataset.
- Attribute Schema - The schema will be generated using both the layers and entities in the source dataset. The layers will be used to create FME feature types as in the Group by Layer Name selection; however, the attributes of all the entities belonging to a layer will be accumulated and also added to the FME feature type for that layer.
Blocks
- Expand Blocks Into Entities - Check this box if you want to explode blocks and return the entities that form the components of the block as separate features. This is generally left unchecked when performing AutoCAD-to-AutoCAD translations.
When the reader resolves blocks, it outputs a feature for each of the AutoCAD entities that are part of the block definition. The original insert is not output. This results in the full graphical representation of the block transferred through FME, but the exact insertion point of the block is lost.
Each block member feature is given the attribute autocad_block_number which is set to the same value for each block so that the features comprising each block may be combined in subsequent processing. Arbitrary deep block nesting is permitted, however, the autocad_block_number attribute is only updated for each block at the outermost level. By default all block members will be on the same layer as that of the original block.
- Use Block Feature Type for Components - Specifies how the reader sets the feature type of block component entities when resolving (or exploding) insert entities. This parameter applies only if Expand Blocks into Entities is checked. When performing AutoCAD-to-AutoCAD translations, it is generally unchecked.
When the reader resolves blocks, it outputs a feature for each of the AutoCAD entities that are part of the block definition. When checked, this parameter indicates that all block members will be on the same layer-based feature type as that of the original block. If unchecked, the block members will appear on their respective layer-based feature types.
This parameter is useful when resolving components and using a layer-based schema, and you want block component features to share a layer-based feature type. To change the layer information on the component features to match their layer-based feature type, use the Use Block Layer Information for Components directive.
- Use Block Layer Information for Components - Specifies how the reader sets the layer information attributes of the block component entities when resolving (or exploding) insert entities. This directive applies only if Expand Blocks into Entities is checked. When performing AutoCAD-to-AutoCAD translations, it is generally unchecked.
When the reader resolves blocks, it outputs a feature for each of the AutoCAD entities that are part of the block definition. When checked, this directive indicates that all block members will have the same layer information as that of the original block. If unchecked, the block members will have the layer information of their respective layers.
Examples of layer specific attributes are autocad_layer, autocad_layer_hidden, and autocad_layer_color. This parameter also affects related symbology attributes such as autocad_lineweight and autocad_color which may have 'ByLayer' values.
- Store Insert Location on Components - If you check Store Insert Location on Components, the reader adds the insert point locations as attributes to the block component entities when resolving (or exploding) inserts entities. This option is generally not checked for AutoCAD-to-AutoCAD translations.
When the reader resolves blocks, it outputs a feature for each of the AutoCAD entities that are part of the block definition. The original insert is not output, but this directive allows the insert location to still be represented.
This results in each block member feature having the following attributes: autocad_block_insert_[xyz].
Entity Options
- Resolve Entity Color - Determines whether to resolve the entity's color, or keep it as "ByLayer". When checked (which is the default), the autocad_color attribute will contain the actual color by value (an integer between 0 and 255 inclusive) therefore preserving the original attributes.
For example, if you have an entity on a "rivers" layer, with its color set to "ByLayer", and the layer color set to "blue":
- If you check Resolve Entity Color, then the "autocad_color" attribute will be set to "blue" (its equivalent integer value).
- If you uncheck Resolve Entity Color, then the "autocad_color" attribute will be set to "ByLayer" (an integer value of 256) and the components will all be assigned the same layer color.
Note: This option is generally unchecked when performing AutoCAD-to-AutoCAD translations.
- Read Visible Attributes as Text Entities - Specifies whether the reader should return visible attributes as separate text features or whether they should be returned as attributes of an insert feature. When this option is checked, then each visible attribute is returned as a single text feature.
Note: This option is generally checked when performing AutoCAD-to-AutoCAD translations.
- Explode MText Entities - Specifies whether the reader will explode the mtext entities into separate text entities. When exploding, the resulting text features represent fragments of text with the same mtext properties such as style and location. When not exploding, the mtext entity will be read as a single text feature.
Note: This is generally unchecked when performing AutoCAD-to-AutoCAD translations.
- Read Polylines as 2.5D - Determines whether polylines should have their elevation attribute treated as a Z coordinate (applies to light-weight polylines and 2D polylines).
Note: This option should not be set when performing AutoCAD-to-AutoCAD translations as the elevations converted to Z coordinates when read in will not be converted back to elevation attributes when written out.
- Preserve Complex Hatches and MPolygons - Specifies whether or not to read hatches and MPolygons in a way that preserves their complex properties. If Preserve Complex Hatches and MPolygons is not checked, then the loops of each hatch entity will be converted to areas and aggregated together, and polyline bulges will be stroked. If Preserve Complex Hatches and MPolygons is checked, then the loops will be aggregated together as polygons, ordered such that any enclosing loop will be aggregates before any enclosed loop. Attributes will be added to store polyline bulge information.
Note: This option is generally checked when performing AutoCAD-to-AutoCAD translations.
- Read Groups - Determines whether or not AutoCAD groups will be read. By default, FME will not read groups.
- Evaluate Multi-line Entity Geometry - Determines how multi-line entities are read. If unchecked, multi-line geometry is constructed of lines containing only the explicit vertexes of the base line and the relative vertexes of additional lines. When checked, additional evaluation of multi-line properties is performed, which may result in additional vertexes and gaps in the geometry. The evaluated geometry form is a more complete geometric representation of a multi-line entity, but cannot be written without loss by the AutoCAD Writer.
Read Paper Space
Instructs FME to also read the entities from paper space. By default, FME only reads the entities from model space.
Ignore UCS
Instructs FME to ignore the user-defined coordinate system of the file being read. By default, FME applies the UCS when reading the coordinate data.
Apply World File
Use this parameter when you have an Esri World file (*.wld) that you want FME to use when determining the coordinates for features in your dataset. When this box is checked, FME will search the directory of the dataset for a file with the same name as your dataset but with a .wld extension. If it cannot find a file with that name, it will then look for the file "esri_cad.wld" within the dataset directory. If either of those files exists, then FME will use the information in the files to translate the coordinates of the features in the dataset to their new geospatial coordinates. If the files cannot be found, then the translation will continue, using the coordinate information found in the dataset, without performing any additional transformation.
Schema Attributes
- Additional Attributes to Expose - This parameter exposes Format Attributes in Workbench when you create a workspace:
- In a dynamic scenario, it means these attributes can be passed to the output dataset at runtime.
- In a non-dynamic scenario where you have multiple feature types, it is convenient to expose additional attributes from one parameter. For example, if you have ten feature types and want to expose the same attribute in each one, it is easier to define it once than it is to set each feature type individually in the workspace.
Search Envelope
- Use Search Envelope - Using the minimum and maximum x and y parameters, define a bounding box that will be used to filter the input features. Only features that interact with the bounding box are returned.
If all four coordinates of the search envelope are specified as 0, the search envelope will be disabled.
- Clip to Search Envelope - Check this box if you want to remove any portions of exported features outside the area of interest.
Layer options
- Store Layer Properties on Features - If you select this option, the AutoCAD Reader will add additional attributes describing the layer properties for the layer of each feature. These include autocad_layer_linetype, autocad_layer_color, and autocad_layer_lineweight.
Defaults button
Click to save or reset default settings.
- Save as My Defaults - Edit a field, and then choose this option to save the parameter.
- Reset to FME Defaults - Changes the fields back to the standard (FME) defaults.
- Reset to My Defaults - If you manually edit a field, you can reset it back to your own defaults. Note that you cannot restore your own defaults after resetting to FME defaults.
OK
Closes the dialog box and applies your settings.