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1. CADMATIC EXCHANGER ............................................................................................................ 3

1.1. Overview................................................................................................................................... 3
1.2. System requirements................................................................................................................ 3
1.3. Installation of Cadmatic eXchanger.......................................................................................... 3
1.4. Uninstallation of Cadmatic eXchanger ..................................................................................... 3

2. Cadmatic eXchanger Out............................................................................................................. 4

2.1. Supported AutoCAD primitives................................................................................................. 4
2.2. About eXchanger Out version 2.0 ............................................................................................ 4
2.3. About eXchanger Out version 3.0 ............................................................................................ 5
2.4. About Runtime Performance .................................................................................................... 5

3. Running Cadmatic eXchanger Out ............................................................................................. 6

3.1. The graphical user interface ..................................................................................................... 7
3.1.1. LAYER Options................................................................................................................... 7
3.1.2. CIRCLE Options ................................................................................................................. 8
3.1.3. MESH Options .................................................................................................................... 8
3.1.4. SOLID Options.................................................................................................................... 8
3.1.5. Log file ................................................................................................................................ 9
3.1.6. Map file (for mapping AutoCAD layers to Cadmatic Systems) ........................................... 9
3.1.7. How primitives are mapped? ............................................................................................ 10
3.1.8. 3DC file ............................................................................................................................. 10

4. Reading the converted 3DC file ................................................................................................ 10

4.1. Cadmatic eXchanger (.3DC) import options........................................................................... 10
4.2. Creating MDL file.................................................................................................................... 11
4.3. Reading Generated MDL into Plant Modeller......................................................................... 12

5. Known problems ........................................................................................................................ 12

6. Cadmatic eXchanger In ............................................................................................................. 14

7. Common Options and Running eXchanger In......................................................................... 15

7.1. Options ................................................................................................................................... 15
7.2. Objects ................................................................................................................................... 15
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7.2.1. Block Table Records......................................................................................................... 16

7.2.2. Layers and Blocks ............................................................................................................ 16
7.3. Select Log File Location ......................................................................................................... 17
7.4. Select 3DC file........................................................................................................................ 17
7.5. Save Options .......................................................................................................................... 17

8. Troubleshooting ......................................................................................................................... 17
8.1. Running conversion twice....................................................................................................... 17
8.2. Face set is a combination of two different objects.................................................................. 18
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1. CADMATIC EXCHANGER

1.1. Overview

Cadmatic eXchanger 2.0 is an ObjectARX application for AutoCAD. Older versions of

eXchanger supported conversion from AutoCAD to Cadmatic, but eXchanger 2.0
supports also conversion from Cadmatic Plant Modeller to AutoCAD. Since the version
2.0, eXchanger installation package installs two ObjectARX applications:
eXchanger_out.arx and eXchanger_in.arx.
The first ObjectARX application is responsible of conversion from AutoCAD to Cadmatic.
It converts an AutoCAD database (model) to Cadmatic 3DC format. 3DC format is under
Cadmatic license, and a 3DC file can not be read into Cadmatic without a license. This
document will use the term eXchanger Out of the eXchanger_out.arx application.
The second ObjectARX application is responsible of conversion from Cadmatic Plant
Modeller to AutoCAD. Cadmatic Plant Modeller produces 3DC file, which can be read
into a AutoCAD. The result is possible to save as a DWG format directly by the
eXchanger or user can save the model to any format that AutoCAD supports. 3DC file
generation in Plant Modeller is under license This document will use the term
eXchanger In of the eXchanger_in.arx application.
Cadmatic eXchanger is free to download from the Cadmatic website and it is free to use.
The following sections describe all the features, requirements and usage instructions of
Cadmatic eXchanger.

1.2. System requirements

1) Windows 2000, XP
2) AutoCAD2004, AutoCAD2005, AutoCAD 2006

1.3. Installation of Cadmatic eXchanger

1) Download Cadmatic eXchanger from http://www.cadmatic.com.
2) Run install_exchanger.exe.
3) Follow the installation instructions.

1.4. Uninstallation of Cadmatic eXchanger

1) Close AutoCAD if it is running.
2) If Cadmatic eXchanger is properly installed, run the installer program and
install/uninstall dialog will appear.
3) Choose uninstall.
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2. Cadmatic eXchanger Out

2.1. Supported AutoCAD primitives

Cadmatic eXchanger supports the following AutoCAD primitives. If an AutoCAD model
contains any other primitives than those listed below, then data (primitive type, bounding
box coordinates) of those primitives is written to the error log file. On the right side of the
supported primitive is the name of the Cadmatic primitive to which it is converted:
3D and 2D solids Face Sets
Faces Face Sets
Body objects (ACIS SOLID) Face Sets
Circles (normal and extruded) Cylinders or Face Sets
Arcs (normal and extruded) Face Sets
3D and 2D Polylines (not extruded) Polylines
Lines (not extruded) PolyLines
Polylines with thickness Face Sets
Polygon Meshes Face Sets
Face Meshes Face Sets

2.2. About eXchanger Out version 2.0

1. Support for AutoCAD versions 2004, 2005 and 2006. New installer removes old
eXchanger installation, if it exists. Cadmatic eXchanger is installed for the
newest version of the AutoCAD. For example if you have AutoCAD 2004 and
2005 installed, then eXchanger is installed for the AutoCAD 2005.
2. Support for thick polylines.
3. Large face set objects are split. Splitting usually causes objects with saw-edged
borders. This feature will be removed in the future, when Plant Modeller will
support large, triangulated objects with more than 20 000 edges.
4. Wildcard character * is allowed to be used in layer mapping files, for example:
*{sid 0}
*end_of_the_layer_name{sid 1}
start_of_the_layer_name*{sid 2}
If using only '*' and there are other layers defined, like in the first example, all the
layers will be mapped to the sid 0. If the second example is used, then all the layers
with the end 'end_of_the_layer_name' will be mapped to the sid 1. Other layers will
be mapped to the some other system. In the last example, layers which starts
"start_of_the_layer_name" will be mapped to the sid 2. At this moment layer
mapping do not support following expression "start*end.
5. Large AutoCAD blocks (more than 8000 objects) are divided into smaller blocks.
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6. 3DC files are protected against the file corruption.

7. Transformation related bugs are fixed e.g. nested blocks (more than two nested
blocks) do not cause transformation errors anymore.
8. Cadmatic menu is not added to the AutoCAD menu bar anymore.

2.3. About eXchanger Out version 3.0

1. It is now possible to install eXchanger with any installed AutoCAD version.
2. Added progress bar into dialog.
3. Deviation for solid objects is now given via slider bar, old values were restricted
to 0.005...1.0 whereas AutoCAD allows this value to be 0.005...100.0. The bigger
value means more approximated surfaces --> faster conversion but the quality
will be lower.
4. Partial support for region objects added -> regions are exploded into simpler
object types.

2.4. About Runtime Performance

Converted objects can be the reason for slow performance in Cadmatic. AutoCAD
entities are mostly converted to boundary surface object models. These are generally
much larger than Cadmatic's own 3D primitives, which are optimised for plant design.
The problem is worst when a model which is intended for a totally different purpose is
converted.
A typical example is a case where the original model (a pump, diesel engine, etc.),
including some cast parts, is made in some mechanical 3D system. The cast surfaces
generate a huge set of small surface patches (triangles) when converted via the
eXchanger to 3DC format.
Usually there are fewer problems when converting a model from another plant design
application, yet the simple models (pipe, flange, elbow) are also heavier than their
Cadmatic counterparts. If there are very many of them, e.g. a big plant is converted,
then the performance can be clearly less than with a corresponding native Cadmatic
model.
The option "Deviation for smooth SOLID surfaces" in eXchanger controls the accuracy
of how closely the generated surface approximates the theoretical surface: 1 = rough
model, 0 = very smooth. We suggest keeping this at 1 until you have tested that a
smaller number is acceptable.
Typically Cadmatic shaded views perform better with the converted objects than the wire
frame views.
To get an idea about the "weight" of the converted model, have a look at the file size of
the 3DC output file. The bigger the file, the heavier model you will have.
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3. Running Cadmatic eXchanger Out

1) Open AutoCAD
2) Open an AutoCAD model
3) Type CADMATIC_OUT command to AutoCAD command line
After the eXchanger main window has appeared:
1) Select the options that you want
2) Set the error log file location
3) Select the mapping file
4) Set the 3DC file location
5) Press the Convert button
The following chapter describes how to use Cadmatic eXchanger Out for converting
AutoCAD model to Cadmatic 3DC format.
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3.1. The graphical user interface

Above is the image of the main window of Cadmatic eXchanger Out. This section
describes all the options that the user can choose.

3.1.1. LAYER Options

By default this option is always unchecked. If the user selects Convert AutoCAD off-
layers, then all the entities in hidden AutoCAD layers are also converted. This option
can be useful in situations where some entities are not needed in the result. For
example if an AutoCAD model contains text (modelled as SOLID primitives) and these
primitives are in text layer, turning text layer off causes Cadmatic eXchanger Out to
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skip this layer. The result is much lighter without these primitives which are not actually
needed.

3.1.2. CIRCLE Options

Using this option may effect radically the result of the conversion.
Selecting Use CYLINDERS option causes lighter conversion results because all the
extruded circles (circles with thickness value other than 0) will be modelled as Cadmatic
cylinder primitives. We strongly recommend using this selection.
Selecting Use FACE SETS .. option causes a result which contains realistic pipes.
This means that pipes are hollow, in other words, the model will be heavier when using
this option.

3.1.3. MESH Options

Mesh options effect how the converted polygon mesh objects are visualised. AutoCAD
primitive AcDbPolygonMesh objects are wireframe-looking primitives which can be used
for modelling for example pipes, spheres, torus, etc.
Selecting Use silhouette edges produces a Cadmatic style result, which means that
some of the edges are set to silhouette edges. A silhouette edge is an edge, which is
not visible for example between two faces, and the angle between the faces is not too
large. This option filters away these visible lines and gives a more realistic look. In some
cases using this option may cause a result where few silhouette lines are visible. For
example if a sphere is converted, then its poles contains few visible lines.
Selecting Set silhouette edges visible creates the original look of polygon meshes after
conversion. If using this option, all the edges are visible. The result is, for example in the
case of mesh cylinder, more like a pencil looking pipe than a realistic pipe.
The conversion of mesh objects might be time consuming during the conversion. This is
caused by the optimisation of the mesh data, which makes the conversion result lighter.

3.1.4. SOLID Options

Solid options are the most critical options when the result of the conversion matters
most. The user can generate a heavy model with bad performance by using these
options wrongly.
Adjusting the deviation of smooth solid surfaces has a very large effect on the result of
the conversion. Smaller values give heavier models. The recommendation is to set this
value to 1. The conversion result is more approximate, but the model will be radically
lighter. For example setting the deviation value to 0 for an AutoCAD model containing
only a one small SOLID sphere primitive creates a face set containing 113766 points
and 227528 faces. A deviation value to 1 creates a face set with only 114 points and
224 faces.
Selecting the Convert body primitives to face sets option causes large face sets. Body
primitives are nonmanifold solids and other ACIS entities that do not fit the
characteristics of the AutoCAD solid primitive. The recommendation is not to convert
body primitives, because created face sets may be too large to fit in to the Cadmatic
face set size limits. If this kind of face set is created, it will be split when it is read into
Cadmatic, and the result is several face sets, and component models in the place of a
single component model.
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The recommendation is to use AutoCADs solid primitives for the best conversion
result.

3.1.5. Log file

The user can set the name and the path for the log file. The log file is used for writing
error, warning, or note messages.
Error. If an unsupported primitive (not in the list of supported primitives) is in the
AutoCAD model, then an error message is created and it is written to the log file.
Warning. Warnings are less critical situations than errors. For example, if a polyline
primitive has two points with the same coordinates, then a warning message is created.
Note. Notes are not actually errors. Notes are messages, which describe that some
exceptional situation was encountered. For example, if a face set exists, but it has 0
coordinates and 0 face descriptions, then a note message is created.
At this time there are only a few situations where Warning or Note message are created.
In the future there will probably be more specified situations for these two message
types.

3.1.6. Map file (for mapping AutoCAD layers to Cadmatic Systems)

There is a feature for mapping objects from AutoCAD layers to specified Cadmatic
systems. The mapping is performed using mapping files. The mapping file has a simple
format: the first column is for defining the AutoCAD layer, in other words, the name of
the layer. The second column defines the system id. The mapping file has to contain an
identification tag: %cxmf%. It is used for identifying that the *.map file is in the correct
format. If there is no identifying tag, all the layers are mapped to the system id 0. Below
is an example how mapping can be used. Also wildcard * is allowed to be used.
%cxmf%
# This is a comment line
LAYER_NAME_1{sid 0}
LAYER_NAME_2{sid 1}
etc.
When the user installs Cadmatic eXchanger , the template.map file will be copied to the
subfolder of the installation folder. For example if the installation folder is c:\Program
Files\AutoCAD2004\Cadmatic_eXchanger, then the mapfiles folder is created under
the Cadmatic_eXchanger folder. The file template.map can be found from there. If the
user does not define any other mapping files, then the template.map file will be used by
default.
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3.1.7. How primitives are mapped?

Mapping, described above, is done so that primitives in a block are mapped to the
system to which the block belongs (which is defined in the map file). The reason for this
is that the AutoCAD block structure is converted in the following way:

AutoCAD Cadmatic
Layer0 1 object, sid 0
Block 1
1 object, sid1
Layer1
Conversion
e Block 2

Mapping in a map file:

Layer0{sid 0}
Layer1{sid 1}

The situation above describes how the mapping is done. The Cadmatic model can not
contain nested blocks. That is the reason for modeling the block structure in the way
shown above. If the AutoCAD model has no block structure, then all the entities are
mapped to the sid to which their layer belongs. This way all the entities in one block are
treated as one Cadmatic object after the conversion. They also belong to the same
system e.g. all the objects in the block 2 belong to the Cadmatic system 1.

3.1.8. 3DC file

3DC file location defines the 3DC file and its location. 3DC is a Cadmatic file format
and which can be read into a Cadmatic Plant Modeller. Cadmatic Plant Modeller can
produce 3DC files also. That feature is used by eXchanger In module, which will be
described later in this document.

4. Reading the converted 3DC file

After the conversion is done (a 3DC file is created), the 3DC file needs to be read into
Cadmatic Plant Modeller. The following instructions describe all the details of how the
user can import a 3DC file.

4.1. Cadmatic eXchanger (.3DC) import options

This section describes the meaning of import options for the MDL generating. If you use
Cadmatic version 4.x, then you must edit options.txt file in
proj_dir/sde/src/pm/3dcmodel directory. Cadmatic version 5.x uses so called
configuration object for defining import options.
In Cadmatic 5.x versions, eXchanger (.3DC) import options is a configuration object
and it is stored into project database at the COS-server. Please read Cadmatic 5.x
manual for further information about COS-server. If you want to edit 3DC import options,
then it must be done using Object Browser tool (PM Menu -> Tools -> Library and
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Project databases). If options.txt file is edited directly, all the changes will be lost
(Cadmatic 5.x version) when MDL generation starts.
This configuration object is important for mapping the AutoCAD layers to the Cadmatic
systems. If the user maps several systems, then import options object should contain
information about these systems. Below is an example of the eXchanger (.3DC) import
options object, which contains definitions of 5 different systems.
fpd 2000;bsv 1;hvp PLATE_0MM__-0;mxe 20000;sid 2;;
sid 1-4;sim 5;
sid 5;sim 1;;
sid 6;sim 2;;
sid 7;sim 3;;
sid 8;sim 4;;
Here sid # is the system id, which the user has defined in the map file. sim # tells
what is the real Cadmatic system to which a object with sid # system id will be
mapped. The example above can be read in the following way. System ids from 1 to 4
will be mapped to the Cadmatic system 5. System id 5 will be mapped to the Cadmatic
system 1, system id 6 will be mapped to the Cadmatic system 2 etc.
If user has not defined systems here, then MDL generation may not give the wanted
result.

4.2. Creating MDL file

IMPORTANT: This procedure needs a license.
Creating MDL in Cadmatic PM 4.x
1) Copy created 3DC file to 3dcmodel directory (usually in:
..\project.pms\sde\src\pm\3Dcmodel).
2) Make sure that options.txt file is in the 3Dcmodel directory.
3) Do as described in Creating MDL in Cadmatic PM 5.x

Create MDL in Cadmatic PM 5.x

1) From Cadmatic Plant Modeller menu select 3D Model Convert 3DC to
MDL
2) .Select the 3DC file and Generate MDL dialog appears.
3) If you want to check the size of the model press Prescan.
4) Press Convert to generate MDL file.
If there is no proper license to run this feature an error message No license to run 3dc
in appears.
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4.3. Reading Generated MDL into Plant Modeller

1) From Cadmatic Plant Modeller menu select 3D Model Load MDL of a 3DC
file.
2) Choose the MDL file.
3) The model will appear in Plant Modeller.
4) MDL file and all the reference gdl files are deleted after the model has been read
into a Plant Modeller.

5. Known problems
Converting a BODY primitive can create a large face set. This causes a situation
where the converted model is really heavy.
Too large face sets (more than 20 000 edges) have to be split. This generates
several objects from one object. These objects have saw-edged borders
between them.
File name length is limited to 12 character if extension is not counted. Files with
too long file names can not be read into PLANT MODELER.
Layer mapping does not affect the result. This situation might be the result of the
complex usage of AutoCAD layers. As described earlier, the block structure can
not be converted exactly in the same way as the original AutoCAD block
structure, for example Cadmatic can not handle nested blocks. When nested
blocks are used and layers are used, the following layer mapping situations do
not seem to affect the outcome in any way:
o The model contains inserted blocks (Insert block) and these new blocks
are in different layers. Mapping probably does not affect the result. The
reason for this is that if all inserted blocks are in different layers, the
inserted block may contain nested blocks which belong to layer 0. In
other words, in the original DWG, all the blocks belong to the layer 0, and
when this DWG is inserted as a block into a new layer, it contains nested
blocks. Because of the way how primitives are mapped (described
earlier) every block is mapped to the system where layer 0 belongs.
o SOLUTION: When a new block is inserted, it needs to be exploded so that
every block in the layer 0 is exploded. After this, create a new block or
blocks from these exploded primitives so that every block belongs to the
layer which is defined by user.
Like in previous example, the nested blocks can cause problems with AutoCAD
off layers also. Because AutoCAD model can contain blocks, primitives and
layers and there are many ways how these can be used, it is very likely that
using layers and nested blocks cause problems. Assume that following block
structure exists:
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B1
Layer 1 (off layer)
B2
Layer 2 (on layer)

The example above leads to the situation where two blocks B1 and B2 are mapped to
the Layer 1 and Layer 2. Layer 1 is off layer, in other words, its primitives are hidden, but
B2 is in block B1 and it is in visible Layer 2. Because the way that mapping is done, all
the primitives in block B2 are converted.
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6. Cadmatic eXchanger In
Cadmatic eXchanger In is a new ObjectARX extension for the existing Cadmatic
eXchanger. To avoid confusion, this document will use the term eXchanger In about
the new module of the eXchanger. The older module will be called as eXchanger Out
module. Basically this new software module works in the same way than Cadmatic
eXchanger Out, but it works the other way around. The main idea is to convert a model,
produced by the Cadmatic Plant Modeller, to the AutoCAD. 3DC file generation in Plant
Modeller requires a licence.
Cadmatic eXchanger In is an ObjectARX application, which requires AutoCAD for the
host application. Supported AutoCAD versions are 2004, 2005, 2006.
All the converted objects are native AutoCAD objects, which usually are AutoCAD solid
objects with few exceptions. Conversion of the model can also extract few attributes
from the 3DC file and attach them to the corresponding AutoCAD objects. For example
Cadmatic system ids are used for naming AutoCAD layers. This feature makes the
conversion result more structured and easier to browse. Basically the conversion result
is exactly the same than the original model was. In some cases, the result (saved DWG
file) might be significantly smaller than the corresponding 3D Dump file.
The user interface of the Cadmatic eXchanger In contains more options than the user
interface of the eXchanger Out module. These details will be explained detailed later in
this document. Below you can see the screenshot of the graphical user interface of the
eXchanger In.
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7. Common Options and Running eXchanger In

As you can see from the previous screenshot there are many options, which will effect to
the conversion result. This section explains the meaning of the different options and how
they effect to the result.
You can run Cadmatic eXchanger In from the AutoCAD command line by typing
CADMATIC_IN. If eXchanger In is installed properly, then the graphical user interface
will appear and you can run the conversion.

7.1. Options
The Options area contains only two options:
- Use Proxy Object to Model 3D Solid
- Quit Conversion on Error
These options are self-explanatory. If the first option is selected then all the Face Set
objects in the 3DC file will be converted to the custom solid objects. A custom solid
object is an object, that is not a native AutoCAD solid, but it acts like it would be.
AutoCAD can display a custom object, but it can not be manipulated in any way if the
host application that has created the custom object is not installed. In this case the host
application is Cadmatic eXchanger In.
The second option is also self-explanatory. If an error occurs during the conversion and
this option is checked, then converter stops the conversion. In some cases, small errors
can be ignored, because they might be irrelevant to the result. Every error that occurs
during the conversion, creates a new log message to the log file.

7.2. Objects
All the object types that 3DC file supports are listed here. The purpose of this selection
area is, that user can select, which object types are going to be converted. In some
cases, this is quite convenient, because sometimes it is not practical to convert all the
objects of the original model. The most of the objects are converted to the AutoCAD
solid objects. See the list below:

Cylinder AcDb3dSolid (native AutoCAD solid)

Cone AcDb3dSolid (native AutoCAD solid)
Toroid AcDb3dSolid (native AutoCAD solid)
Box AcDb3dSolid (native AutoCAD solid)
Sphere AcDb3dSolid (native AutoCAD solid)
Dish AcDb3dSolid (native AutoCAD solid)
Eccentric Cone AcDb3dPolyFaceMesh
Sweep AcDb3dSolid (native AutoCAD solid)
Face Set AcDbPolyFaceMesh and/or AcDb3dSolid
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Polyline AcDb3dPolyline (native AutoCAD 3d polyline)

As you can see from the list above, almost every object type is converted to the
AutoCAD solid objects. Face Set object is an exception because there might be face
sets which contains faces that have more than four vertices. In these cases, it is not
possible to create e.g. AcDbPolyfacemesh (native AutoCAD polyfacemesh) object,
because it can only contain faces with three or four vertices. Faces with more than four
vertices are converted to the flat solid objects and then those faces are inserted into a
same block with a polyfacemesh object. The other solution is to use proxy object to
model face sets, but created proxy objects are not native AutoCAD objects. Polylines
are converted to the AcDb3dPolyline objects, which are native AutoCAD 3D polylines.
Eccentric cone is converted to AcDbPolyFaceMesh, because there is no solid object
which support eccentricity by default. So eccentric cones might increase the size of the
conversion result, but usually it doesnt effect to the runtime performance.

7.2.1. Block Table Records

The block structure of the converted model is exactly the same, than in the original
model. 3DC file format does not support nested blocks, so the result will not contain any
deep block structures. There are three different block structures: inline, template and
instantiation blocks.
Inline block contains a set of geometry data (objects). An object in the inline block is
inserted to the location that is defined by the objects itself in world coordinate system
(WCS). When an inline block is created, its location is set to (0, 0, 0) without any
transformations. Inline blocks are named after the following naming convention
Inlineblock_#, where # is the number of the block: the first inline block is
Inlineblock_0, the second is Inlineblock_1, etc.
Template block defines also a set of geometry data, but this data is in a local or entity
coordinate system (LCS or ECS). Template block can be used several times, for
example a valve can be defined in a template block so that the same definition is used
every time, when the valve is inserted to the model.
Instantiation block creates an instance of a template block. This means, that previously
defined template block in 3DC file is inserted to the specified location with an orientation.
Like it was mentioned earlier, the same template block can be instantiated several times
using this approach.

7.2.2. Layers and Blocks

Cadmatic eXchanger utilises AutoCAD layers also. This feature makes the conversion
result more structured and easier to browse. It is possible to display objects in the
certain layer or do set operations for the all the objects in the same layers.
The conversion creates AutoCAD layers based on the system ids, which are defined in
the 3DC file. For example, a 3DC file might contain the following instantiation block
definition:
C +2JO0K2diJIYt2piF6V3Ie0 9321.92 8674 53449 0 1 0 -1 0 0 obi 1cc0e201;sid 125;;

This line creates an AutoCAD block with the name +2JO0K2diJIYt2piF6V3Ie0, inserts it to
the location (9321.92, 8674, 53449) with orientation for the x-axis = (0, 1, 0) and for the
y-axis = (-1, 0, 0). The template block +2JO0K2diJIYt2piF6V3Ie0 is on the layer, which is
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named as System_125. All the objects or blocks which belong to the system 125 are
inserted on the same layer.
Note that it is not possible to define an object id for the created AutoCAD objects,
because AutoCAD assigns them automatically. This way, the system takes care of that
there are no two or more objects with the same object id.

7.3. Select Log File Location

Every conversion writes an entry into the log file. If an error occurs during the conversion
process, the error is written to the log file. Every log entry (message) contains
information about the object and error type.
User can select and name the file, which is going to be used as a log file. If the file does
not exists, then it will be created.
Checking Overwrite existing log messages check box will overwrite all the log entries
in the log file.

7.4. Select 3DC file

From this section user must choose the 3DC file, which is used as a source of the
conversion.

7.5. Save Options

Save Options are optional. If Save model after conversion is selected, then user can
define a name for the DWG, which will contain the converted model. Otherwise the
conversion result will not be saved by eXchanger In, but it can be saved later from
AutoCAD.

8. Troubleshooting

8.1. Running conversion twice

It is not possible to run conversion for the same DWG twice. The reason for this kind of
behaviour is based on the assumption that the DWG, which is open (should be empty)
do not contain any objects. This way nothing will be destroyed, when eXchanger In tries
to create new objects. If you encounter any errors during the conversion and you want to
run conversion again, close the current DWG and open a new empty DWG. After this try
to run conversion again. The following error message is written into a log file, if current
drawing is not empty:
Object Name: 'Template Block'.
Error: AutoCAD database contains duplicate record names.
Try to open an empty drawing and run conversion again
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8.2. Face set is a combination of two different objects

AutoCAD solid object might be a combination of polyfacemesh and solid object(s),
placed inside a block. This is caused by the face set, which has face or faces with more
than four vertices. If face has more than four vertices, that face is converted to solid
object. All the other faces are part of the polyFaceMesh object. This way the conversion
result of the face set is as close as possible to the original object. These kind of face
sets can also be converted using proxy object. The disadvantage of using proxy object
is, that it is not a native AutoCAD object, which might cause problems e.g. if the
converted model needs to be modified.