Hallo All
I am the author of a 2D-CAD program (DESI-III, shareware) and now I am busy 
to update the DXF input/output routines. 
Autocad has a strange way to store dimensions in DXF files: in the "old" 
times  each dimension was  created as a "block" with separate items (each 
line, extension line, arrows, dimension text etc.). In the newer versions the 
"identity" DIMENSION is used with some parameters. Can someone explain me 
this format? I have a documentation (a copy of the chapter of the dutch 
manual version 12) but the explanation is rudimentary. What are the "pseudo 
blocks with the geometry", Why they are needed if the parameters can be 
defined with code 70, 10,20,30, 13,23,33,  ...16,26,36? Have dimensions still 
their associative capabilities after a write/read of the DXF-file? I saw some 
bad implementations of DXFIN/DXFOUT where even in the same CAD-program after 
a write/read operation a dimension was not recognised anymore as a dimension, 
but as separate items. I want to keep an intelligent full implemention, 
however, DESI-III uses drawing elements unknown by Autocad and vice-versa. 
BTW I don't like DXF, but "if you can't beat them, join them". I mean, if you 
create an ASCII files, you must  also have the opportunity to edit them, a 
hopeless task with DXF-files.
Hugo
--- F.I.P.S./32 v0.95 Win95/NT
---------------