Overview of Converting Geospatial Data to Drawing Objects

During import, AutoCAD Map 3D copies data from the input file into the active AutoCAD Map 3D drawing and converts the data to drawing objects.

Connecting to Data Directly vs. Importing

You can work with your data using Data Connect or by importing it.

When you use Data Connect (from Display Manager), you view and edit data in its source. Edits are saved back to the source. The data stays in its original location.

When you import data, you make a copy of the data and bring that copy into your map. When you edit the data, you are editing the copy. The original data is unchanged.

For some formats, such as MicroStation Design (DGN), Arc/INFO, and SDF 2 (Autodesk MapGuide 6.5 and earlier), you can only import and export the data. For most other formats, you can either connect directly to the data or use import and export.

For more information, see Overview of Bringing In GIS Features.

Before You Import a File

Before you import a file, determine the following:

Determine whether to limit the import to the current display area or to an area that you define.
Decide where to put objects: on an existing layer in the map, on a new layer, or on a layer specified in the file you are importing.
Determine which incoming data values to use to populate the object class data fields, and decide how to handle data values that do not fall within the acceptable object class range (keep them as-is or assign them default object class values).
Assign a coordinate system to the current AutoCAD Map 3D drawing. You need to know which coordinate system is used with the input files.
Determine whether to import the data as object data or as external data, and whether to use an existing table or create a new one.
Import point objects as points, text, or blocks. When you import as blocks, be sure you have copied the block you want into the AutoCAD Map 3D drawing.

Supported Formats

For information on importing specific formats, see the following:

Autodesk SDF (Spatial Data File) (version 3, MapGuide Enterprise)
Importing Maps from SDF 2
Importing a DXF File
Arc/INFO Coverages
ESRI ArcSDE
ESRI ShapeFile
GML (Geography Markup Language)
MapInfo MIF/MID
MapInfo TAB
MicroStation DGN
Oracle
SDTS (Spatial Data Transfer Standard)
VPF (Vector Product Format)

Tell me more

Workflow	Send GIS Data to AutoCAD
Related topics	Exporting Accessing Data Through FDO

Tell me more (Web Help Only)

Tutorial	Lesson 4: Importing SDF Files as DWG Layers
Related topics	Exporting Accessing Data Through FDO

Procedure

Overview of Converting Geospatial Data to Drawing Objects

Note

Data you import becomes AutoCAD drawing objects in your map. To connect to the data in its original format, see Overview of Bringing In GIS Features. To convert the drawing objects to a geospatial format, see Overview of Converting and Exporting.

To import data from other formats

Do one of the following:
- Import data from an Oracle or ArcSDE data source. Click Insert tabImport panelMap Import. At the Command prompt, enter mapimportfdo.
  You cannot use the rest of this procedure. Instead, see Importing Data from Oracle or Importing From ESRI ArcSDE.
- Import an SDF file. Click Insert tabImport panelMap Import .
- If you are importing an Autodesk SDF 2 file, click Insert tabImport panelSDF2.
  Do not follow the rest of this procedure. Instead, see Importing Maps from SDF 2.
- Import a DXF file. Click Open Drawing. Change Files of Type to DXF.
  Select the file you want and click Open. Do not follow the rest of this procedure.
- Import any other file type. Click Insert tabImport panelMap Import .
  Continue with the following steps.
In the Import Location dialog box, under Files Of Type, select the format of the map to import.
Select the file or folder to import. Click OK.
For formats with additional options, in the Import dialog box, click Driver Options.
For more information about the formats with additional options and their associated driver options, see one of the following:
Note
Change any driver options before you modify other settings in the Import options dialog box. Changing driver options can invalidate other changes you have made in this dialog box.
In the Import dialog box, under Spatial Filter, specify whether to limit the area where data will be imported:
- None — Place no area limits on the incoming file.
- Current Display — Limit the import to the current drawing area.
- Define Window — Limit the import to an area you define. To use this option, click Select. Respond to the prompts to define the area.
Specify the import settings for each input layer (sometimes called a theme, level, or file).
- Drawing Layer— Select a target layer for each layer in the incoming file.
- Object Class— Assign incoming objects to an existing object class and map incoming attribute data to the data fields in the object class. The Object Class fields are available only if you have object classes defined in your map. For more information about setting up object classes, see Setting Up Object Classification.
- Input Coordinate System— Specify the coordinate system of the incoming file. If the AutoCAD Map 3D drawing has a coordinate system assigned to it, incoming objects are converted to the coordinate system of the drawing.
- Data— For each layer, specify how to import data.
- Points— For each layer, specify how to treat incoming point objects.
Note
If you import points that you assigned to an object class with a creation method of Blocks, use the Points column to convert the points to blocks so the objects can be classified. Object classification does not automatically convert points to blocks.
By default, polygons are imported as polygon objects. To import them as closed polylines, select Import Polygons As Closed Polylines.
If you assigned incoming objects to object classes and want to use the object class defaults for any incoming data that is out of the defined object class range, select Use Class Defaults For Out Of Range Values.
If you do not select this option, incoming data will be imported as is, which may include some out of range values. If you later view the data on the Object Class tab of the Properties palette, AutoCAD Map 3D automatically modifies the data, using defaults as needed, so that the data is in range and properly classified.
To save your settings as a profile, click Save. Saved profiles can be loaded when you import other files, and they can be used to automate command-line scripts.
Click OK to begin the import process.

If you cancel the Import operation, all objects imported prior to canceling will remain in the AutoCAD Map 3D drawing. You can delete these objects and any associated data.

Notes and Warnings

To copy the contents of a field, right-click in the field to copy and click Copy. Right-click in the target field and click a Paste option. To copy the contents of a field to all other layers, right-click in the field to copy and click Paste To All Layers.
When pasting into Object Class fields, the object class name and the data mappings are pasted separately. The paste data mappings options are available only if the same fields exist in the incoming data for all mapped fields.
You cannot copy a "By Data" or "ACAD_TEXT" setting.