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Recreating Models from CADWORX in AUTOCAD


I need some technical directions to understand how we can achieve the below mentioned.

  1. Read an existing GA general assembly (3D ) and PID (2D) dwg file created originally in CADWORX (drawing contains pipes, flanges, meters and valves) get the all components(complex objects) as a list i.e. pipes, flanges, meters and valves, Also read the data/attributes associated with each component
  2. Recreate the same drawing (with all components and data fetched earlier ) using AUTOCAD instead of CADWORX. i have attached the 3D GA drawing with this post for reference. I will be more than happy to give out more information if required,

Solution

  • CADWorx is an add-on to AutoCAD made by a third party. If you create a file in ‘CADWorx’, it’s an AutoCAD file. The files generated by CADWorx may seem to be proprietary to CADWorx but they are not. CADWorx uses regular AutoCAD shapes but binds ‘XDATA’ to the 3D objects it creates. If the P&IDs have 'intelligence', it's through an external database. Aside from an external database, which is rare, the P&IDs are plain AutoCAD files. The only proprietary aspect of CADWorx P&IDs is the custom line times and fonts; specifically, pneumatic lines in CADWorx are generally believed to be nicer in appearance. If you have a copy of those fonts and line types then you can recreate CADWorx P&IDs in AutoCAD. Using AutoCAD’s .NET API you can develop an application which will read all of the ‘XDATA’ attached to the entities that were created using CADWorx.