dxf import

[ntsu]

Hi.

I am doing some work for a client who would laike to be able to import CAD drawings into some Labwindows CVI software I  am writing. It is a non-destructive testing application and my business is supplying ultrasonic instrumentation and a software package written in Labwindows. The ultrasonic transducer assembly will be position encoded and manually controlled and the client would like the path followed by the transducer assembly plotted on the CAD drawing of the structure being inspected.

I wrote a routine a few years ago that imports an STL file into Labwindows and displays the 3D image using the OGL library. It works  OK, but DXF or DWG import would be better. I gave up on writing code for DXF import because it is quite difficult. Is there any third party CAD import software that integrates with Labwindows? It does not need to be free, but it does need to be easy to use.

I  have searched the forum but could not find any posts on CAD import or DXF import.

Any help  would be appreciated.

Regards

John Norman

[niamsam]

NI doesn't make a dfx import tool for LabWindows/CVI. 

[ntsu]

Thanks Niamsam.

I  was really wondering if there are any third party software packages that can work  with LabWindows CVI, such as the DXF import routines from Open Cascade, or even the embedded cad routines from Dinsight which include DXF import,  and if anyone has had experience with these.

Regards

John Norman

[SteveD123]

John

You state " the client would like the path followed by the transducer assembly plotted on the CAD drawing of the structure being inspected.". If reading and parsing the DXF file is a lot of work, could you not simply append the probe path to the DXF file? This might not be a huge pile of work and could be an easy way of satisfying the client's requirement. Perhaps add a new layer object and then a series of new line objects from each probe position, on that layer.

It is a while since I looked at the DXF format, but I know that a simple google search found most of the details.

[ntsu]

Hi.

I was also thinking along the lines of adding the probe path data to a new layer. Glad you confirmed my thinking on this.

The last time I looked, about 4 years ago, I could not find any satisfactory DXF import routine that I could use. At that time I wwas looking for code examples so that I could write my own routines. It just seemed to difficult at the time to write a routine recognizing all the entities in a DXF file that will allow a  sensible reproduction of the drawing, so I gave up.

This time I am more interested in plugins that will work  or can be made to work with LabWindows. Has anyone tried using the OpenCascade DXF import/export routines, for example? These routines are not free, but that does not matter this time. Is there anything else out there that might work with LabWindows?

When I looked into this in the past, I seem to recall finding some forum discussions on the subject of DXF import into LabWindows, but I don't seem to be able to find them again.

Regards

John Norman