DXF file export bug

#1
I have a drawing file containing many polylines (LWPOLYLINE entities) drawn at various widths from .012 inch to .05 inch. All polylines render properly in the DWG file, but when I export the drawing to a DFX file with the DXFOUT command the resulting DXF file is missing the width information for some (but not all) of the polylines. I have an external application that analyzed the data in the DXF file, and if it does not see the width parameter for the LWPOLYLINE it assumes a default width of zero, which is incorrect. Of course if I open the DXF file in Intellicad it renders the polylines with no width information as zero width polylines, which does NOT match the original DWG file.

I am running CMS Intellicad 10 in Windows 10. Help->About identifies my version as 10.0.1118.116743.PE+.VC15.x64.CMS100

It is important that I be able to export a DWG file to a DXF (ascii) file with all the correct widths on the LWPOLYLINE entities. Is this a known bug? How can I correct this situation?

For what it's worth, If I transfer the DWG file to another computer running Intellicad 8.1 and export the DXF file using Intellicad 8.1 I get a good DXF file with all the correct polyline widths. However, I need the DXF export to work properly on BOTH computers, and Intellicad 10 is NOT working properly.

Re: DXF file export bug

#3
Both DXF files were saved in Autocad release 14 ASCII format, one using Intellicad 8.1 on one computer, and one using Intellicad 10 on another computer. Also, any changes made to the DWG file seem to make the symptoms of missing polyline width information in the DXF file change in unpredictable ways. Sometimes the problem goes away, then with a small change to the drawing suddenly other polylines will have missing width information in the DXF file. This is driving me crazy.

Re: DXF file export bug

#4
I have additional details regarding the DXF export bug in Intellicad 10. I hope someone from Cad Manufacturing Solutions will see this post and assist in fixing the bug or reporting the bug to the Intellicad Consortium so it can be fixed.

The bug can be recreated easily as follows. First draw two separate polylines with the same non-zero width such that they touch each other at the endpoints (most easily done with snap to grid turned on). Then edit one of the polylines with the PEDIT command, and use the JOIN option to join the two polylines together into one polyline. Now select the polyline and look at the Properties dialog. You will see the width listed properly in the Start segment width and End segment width fields, but the Global width field will be blank! Normally the Global width field shows the polyline width if you have drawn a polyline at width but have not joined it to another polyline. This is a little odd, but does not, in itself, create a problem. The bug manifests itself when the drawing is exported to a DXF file. I have been exporting to an R14 ascii DXF format, and have not tested the other DXF file versions. Simply export the drawing with the joined polyline to an R14 ascii dxf file, then OPEN the DXF file. You will see that the polyline has a width of ZERO. This is because the DXF file has no width information for the polyline. This happens whenever the polyline has no global width property, which happens whenever the polyline has been joined to another polyline using the PEDIT command. There should still be start and end widths in the DXF file for each segment, but these widths are missing.

Note that when using Intellicad 8.1 on another computer I also see the global width disappear when joining polylines, but in spite of the missing global width the exported DXF file still has the correct start and end segment widths, and the exported DXF file opens with the correct polyline width.

Intellicad 10 has a serious bug when exporting DXF files containing polylines with no global width parameter. This needs to be fixed. Hello, is anyone at CMS listening to me? Is it even possible to contact anyone from CMS? Is there any actual support for the software you are selling?

Re: DXF file export bug

#6
For actual software bugs, I've found that if you report the bug using the support tool you'll get a pretty fast response and they'll usually have it fixed in the next release.

Via the forums, it's up to the other users to help you. I don't think CMS has much presence here.