Embed DGN Linetypes into AutoCAD Template File

[jamesloy22]

I have been reading through the forums but I have not found a good solution. I am creating a new .dwt template file (for 2013 AutoCAD) and I am trying to figure out if it is possible to "embed" complex linetypes from an existing .rsc file into the .dwt template file itself. I know you can't load a .rsc like you can a .lin, and I am hoping there is some work around. Some of these linetypes that the .rsc file contains have point symbols with text inside of them.

Thanks. Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

[pendean]

A DWT is a DWG with the last letter changed to "lock it" from editing: change the extension letter, do what you need, then change it back.

This should help you get started if you understand how to use Microstation (DGN source): http://communities.bentley.com/products/interoperability/f/19567/t/100486

[artc2]

The only way to bring rsc linestyles into a dwg file with AutoCAD is to use DGNIMPORT to import a dgn file that contains geometry that uses those linestyles.  Once they are in the dwg file, you can erase the geometry that was imported and the linestyles will remain and can be used like any other linetypes in the drawing.  And, as Dean said, a dwt is essentially a dwg, so you can just change the filename extension from dwg to dwt to use it as a template file.

[jamesloy22]

Does anyone know more about the ACAD_DGNLINESTYLECOMP library definition? It seems that when you DGNImport it creates this library definition but I am unfamiliar what exactly this definition is or how reliable it is.

Thanks.

[artc2]

That's the lookup key (i.e. name) for the dictionary in the drawing that we use to store the objects that contain some of the dgn linestyle data.  That dictionary is not anything you should need to look at or work with directly.

The dgn linestyles have entries in the linetype table of the drawing and will show up in the linetype dialog.  That's the way that you should work with them.

[jamesloy22]

Can this dictionary be imported from one DWG to another? In one drawing I have, this dictionary has some really complex linetypes (that were not made using a .lin file) that I desire to transfer from one DWG to another. I have tried using the design center to copy the linetypes individually but it appears that the linetypes "dissappear" or revert back to a continous line after I save the file. If there was a way to load the dictionary that would be ideal.

Thanks again.

[artc2]

The dictionary is only part of the data for dgn linestyles in dwg files.  There are also the actual LinetypeTableRecords that reference the data in the dictionary and there can also be many anonymous blocks referenced by the data in the dictionary.

If you create entities in the drawing that use the linetypes that are dgn linestyles, and then you insert that drawing into another drawing, all of the necessary dgn linestyle data should come in because it is used by the entities being inserted.  You could then erase the insert and purge the inserted block and be left with only the dgn linestyle data that you want.

[jamesloy22]

Does importing the linetypes using "import" work differently than copying and pasting the lineytpes using the design center? If so what is the difference?

Thanks.

[artc2 · Accepted solution]

I assume that by "import" you mean import a dgn file.  In that case, the difference is that for import you are importing the linestyles from the dgn file or an rsc file that the dgn file references, whereas with copy/paste using Design Center, you are copying linetypes from a dwg file that are the result of importing linestyles from a dgn/rsc file at some point.

[jamesloy22]

Does inserting a DGN (insert command like inserting a block) act in the same manner as importing a DGN?

[artc2]

You can't insert a dgn file.  You can import (IMPORT or DGNIMPORT) or underlay (ATTACH or DGNATTACH) dgn files.