Export a drawing in 2D DWG or DXF format (old export)

Tekla Structures
2022
Tekla Structures

Export a drawing in 2D DWG or DXF format (old export)

You can also export drawings as 2D DWG or DXF using the old DWG/DXF drawing export.

If you want to use the old DWG or DXF drawing export, set the advanced option XS_USE_OLD_DRAWING_EXPORT to TRUE in an .ini file. This advanced option is by default set to FALSE. For instructions on using the newer DWG/DXF drawing export, see Export a drawing in 2D DWG or DXF format.

For an example of setting up the layers and exporting to 2D DWG or DXF, see Example: Set up layers and export in DWG format (old export)

Export a drawing in 2D DWG or DXF format

  1. On the Drawings & reports tab, click Document manager.
  2. Select from the list the drawings that you want to export.
  3. Right-click and select Export.
  4. In the Export Drawings dialog box, on the Export file tab, enter the export file name.

    If you are exporting several drawings, leave the file name box empty.

    The drawings are exported by default to the \PlotFiles folder under the current model folder. If you want to use another folder, enter the full path.

    Tekla Structures uses one of the following advanced options to define the names for the export files. The advanced option that is used depends on the drawing type:

    XS_DRAWING_PLOT_FILE_NAME_A

    XS_DRAWING_PLOT_FILE_NAME_C

    XS_DRAWING_PLOT_FILE_NAME_G

    XS_DRAWING_PLOT_FILE_NAME_W

    XS_DRAWING_PLOT_FILE_NAME_M.

  5. Select the file type: DXF or DWG.
  6. If you want to include a revision mark in the file name, select Include revision mark to file name.
  7. Set the layer options on the Layer options tab:
    • Select the layer rules file.

      To add or modify layers, and to assign object groups to different layers, click Setup...

    • If you want to use advanced conversion to convert the type, color and weight of lines and layers, select Use advanced line type and layer conversion.

    • In the Conversion file box, enter the name of the file to be used in the conversion.

      By default, Tekla Structures uses the LineTypeMapping.xml file in the ..\Tekla Structures\<version>\environments\common\inp folder.

      If you need to define your own line type mappings, you can use the file LineTypeMapping.xml as a template when you create a conversion file of your own.

    • Select Include empty layers if you want to include empty layers in the export.

    • Select Object color by layer to have different colors on different layers.

  8. Set the other drawing export options on the Options tab:
    • Set Drawing scale and Line type scale.

    • If you want to export the drawings so that the DWG/DXF content is grouped by object, select Export objects as groups. When you do this, Tekla Structures makes a new group for each object (part, mark, dimension line, etc.).

    • Select Cut lines with text if you do not want to display continuous lines in exported drawings, for example, to run the line through text or drawing marks.

    • Select Export custom lines as split lines to ensure that custom line types have the same appearance in the software you are exporting to and when printed. If Export custom lines as split lines is selected, custom line types are exported as solid lines that are split to several short lines. If Export custom lines as split lines is not selected, custom line types are exported as defined in TeklaStructures.lin.

    • Select Use paper space to export to both model space and paper space. The unscaled contents of the drawing views are exported into model space. The drawing layout is exported into paper space. The layout contains scaled viewports showing appropriate areas of the model space.

      When exporting to paper space, ensure that all objects in the view are inside the view frame. Objects that are partially outside the drawing view frame are not exported

  9. Click Export.

Create layers in DWG/DXF files for export

You need to define the layers that are included in the exported DWG and DXF files.

Note:

To keep track on the layers that you have, create all the layers that you need for the final DWG/DXF drawings at the same time.

  1. On the File menu, click Export > Drawings.
  2. In the Export Drawings dialog box, go to the Layer options tab and click Setup next to the Layer rules box.
  3. In the Drawing Export Layers dialog box, click Modify layers.
  4. To add a layer, click Add.

    You can add as many layers as you need.

  5. Click the row of the new layer in the Name column and enter a name for the layer.
  6. Click the row of the new layer in the Color column and select a color for the new layer.

  7. Click OK.

Next you can assign objects to the new layer.

Assign objects to layers in export

You need to define which objects to export to certain layers in the exported DWG/DXF file. You can do this by using a selection filter for identifying the desired objects among all objects, and by creating a rule to export these objects to a certain layer.

Before creating the rule, first create the selection filter.

  1. Create a selection filter.
  2. On the File menu, click Export > Drawings.
  3. In the Export Drawings dialog box, go to the Layer options tab, and click Setup.
  4. Open an object group by clicking the plus sign next to the group name.

    For example, click the plus sign next to Model Object.

  5. Right-click a rule in the list and select Add Next Level Rule.

    For example, right-click Part.

  6. Enter a name for the rule and select the selection filter that you created.

  7. Click OK.
  8. Double-click the row under the rule you just created and select the desired layer for it in the Select Layer dialog box.
  9. Click OK.

    Tekla Structures maps the selected layer to the rule.

  10. Save the created layer rule settings for later use by entering a name next to the Save as button and clicking Save as.
Note:

The order of rules is important. Organize the rules by right-clicking the rule, and selecting Move up or Move down. The objects are exported to the first matching layer. If there is no matching layer, the objects are exported as Other object type.

Example: Create a rule for exporting beam marks to their own layer in drawing export

You can export all kinds of drawing objects to layers of their own.

This example shows how you can do that for beam marks. All kinds of marks can be exported separately to their own layers: bolt marks, part marks, connection marks, neighbor part marks, reinforcement marks and component marks.

First you need to create a selection filter selecting the beams and then you can define the layer rule. Name the beam selection filter Beams.

  1. On the File menu, clickExport > Drawings.
  2. Go to the Layer options tab of the Export Drawings dialog box and click Setup next to the Layer rules box.
  3. Under Mark in the Drawing Export Layers dialog box, select the layer rule of the mark you want to define to its own layer (part, bolt, connection, neighbor part, or reinforcement mark).

    Select Part mark.

  4. Right-click Part mark and select Add Next Level Rule from the pop-up menu.

    This opens the Layer manager rules dialog box.

  5. Enter a rule name (for example, BeamMark) and select a filter that you have created (Beam).

  6. Click OK.

    Tekla Structures creates a new rule BeamMark. Now you can connect the new rule to a layer you have created for beam marks and use when exporting drawings.

Copying export layer settings to another project

If you want your layer settings to also be available in other projects, you can copy them to a firm or project folder.

  1. On the File menu, click Export > Drawings.
  2. Go to the Layer options tab and click Setup.
  3. Define the required rule and layer settings.
  4. Enter a name for the layer rule settings file next to the Save as button and click Save as.
  5. Copy the file <your_layer_rule>.ldb from the \attributes folder under the current model folder to the firm or project folder.

Define customized line type mappings in drawing export

You can use advanced conversion to convert the type, color and weight of lines and layers. This way you will get the line types that you want to use in the target software, for example, AutoCAD.

By default, Tekla Structures uses the file LineTypeMapping.xml in the folder ..\Tekla Structures\<version>\environments\common\inp for the conversion.

If you need to define your own line type mappings, you can use the file LineTypeMapping.xml as a template.

Note:

When modifying the line type mappings file, use an editor that is capable of validating XML in order to maintain a valid document structure.

To define your own line type mappings, do one of the following:

To

Do this

Map according to line types only

  1. Open the mapping file in an XML editor.

  2. Enter only the line type information.

    For example, all lines in all layers with line type XKITLINE01 will be exported to DASHED.

  3. Save the mapping file to the model folder.

Map according to line types and layers

  1. Open the mapping file in an XML editor.

  2. Enter the line type and layer name.

    Define the layers that the mapping will apply to in the LayerName attribute.

    If you leave out the attribute LayerName, Tekla Structures uses the line type mapping for any layer. If you include the attribute LayerName, Tekla Structures uses the line type mapping for that layer only.

    For example, all lines on the layer BEAM with line type XKITLINE01 will be exported to DASHED. Tekla Structures first searches for these kinds of mappings by default.

  3. Define the color of the line in the Color attribute. Enter the color values in AutoCAD Color Index (ACI) codes (numbers from 0 to 255).

  4. Define the thickness of the line in the Weight attribute. Enter the values in hundredths of millimeters.

  5. Save the mapping file to the model folder.

This is how the file LineTypeMapping.xml is composed:

(1) The first section consists of XML and document type definition. Do not change or remove this section.

(2) The mappings that are available are defined here. You can use these mappings as a template for your own mappings.

Examples:

In the first example, a new Mapping element is added, where XKITLINE00 lines in the Beam layer are converted to BORDER line type, color is converted to 10 and weight to 1.00 mm:

In the second example, a new Mapping element is added, where XKITLINE02 lines in the Part layer are converted to HIDDEN2 line type, the layer name is converted to Part_Hidden, the color is converted to 8 and weight to 1.00 mm.

You can use the LineTypeMapping.xml file for exporting hidden lines to separate layers. The hidden lines must then be defined to their own layers (here Part_Hidden).

Note:

For the export to succeed, ensure that the layer (here Part_Hidden) exists on the list of available layers in the Modify Layers dialog box.

Default line types in drawings

Default line types are available in Tekla Structures drawings. You can map default line types to customized line types, which are defined in TeklaStructures.lin and further exported to DWG/DXF files.

The table below lists the default line types and shows what they look like.

Line type name

Line type appearance

XKITLINE00

XKITLINE01

XKITLINE02

XKITLINE03

XKITLINE04

XKITLINE05

XKITLINE06

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