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AutoCAD conversion

ARender can convert AutoCAD and related CAD files (DWG, DXF, DWF, DGN, IFC) to PDF for viewing. This requires CADConverter, a paid add-on sold separately.

CADConverter is a command-line tool that runs on Windows and Linux. See Supported formats — AutoCAD for the full list of supported formats and DWG versions.

Prerequisites​

  1. Obtain CADConverter — contact ARender Support via your Jira account to request a quote. You will receive a download link for ftk_cadconverter_202X.Y-windows.zip or ftk_cadconverter_202X.Y-linux.zip.

  2. Obtain a license file:

    • Unzip the package. It contains the CADConverter executable and a getmachineid utility.
    • Run getmachineid (Windows: getmachineid.exe, Linux: ./getmachineid).
    • Send the displayed Machine ID to ARender Support.
    • Place the received CADConverter.lic file in the same folder as the CADConverter executable.

  3. Add CADConverter to the system PATH so it can be invoked from anywhere, or use an absolute path in the factory configuration.

Configuring ARender​

CADConverter is not bundled with ARender — it must be installed separately and registered in the rendition configuration. The setup involves three changes:

  1. Factory bean — declare a dwgFactory in the document-converter (TaskConversion) module
  2. Factory registration — map drawing/dwg to dwgFactory in the converter's factoriesBeanNames
  3. Broker MIME type — add drawing/dwg to the broker's conversionTargetMimeTypes so it routes DWG files to the converter

Step 1 — Mount CADConverter and the factory config into document-converter:

docker-compose.yml
document-converter:
  image: artifactory.arondor.cloud:5001/arender-document-converter
  volumes:
    - /path/to/cadconverter:/opt/CadConverter
    - ./factories_custom.xml:/opt/arender/modules/TaskConversion/factories_custom.xml
  environment:
    # Register dwgFactory for the drawing/dwg MIME type
    - "DCV_APP_FACTORIESBEANNAMES_DWGFACTORY=drawing/dwg"

Make sure the CADConverter binary and CADConverter.lic are both inside the mounted folder.

Step 2 — Create the factory configuration file:

factories_custom.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
       xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
       xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
       http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd">

    <bean id="dwgFactory"
          class="com.arondor.rendition.generic.document.GenericExternalToolDocumentConversion">
        <property name="customToolCommandLine"
                  value="/opt/CadConverter/CADConverter %i %o 4692" />
        <property name="forcedExtension" value=".dwg" />
    </bean>
</beans>

%i is replaced by the input file path, %o by the output file path, and 4692 is the resolution parameter.

Step 3 — Register the DWG MIME type on the broker:

Add drawing/dwg to the broker's conversion target list. The simplest approach is an environment variable on the document-service-broker service:

docker-compose.yml
document-service-broker:
  image: artifactory.arondor.cloud:5001/arender-document-service-broker
  environment:
    # Append drawing/dwg to the default conversionTargetMimeTypes list.
    # Copy the full default value from the broker's application.properties
    # and append ,drawing/dwg at the end.
    - "DSB_ARENDER_FORMAT_CONVERSIONTARGETMIMETYPES_APPLICATION-PDF=text/rtf,application/msword,...,text/x-vcard,drawing/dwg"

Fonts setup​

CADConverter ships with a fonts folder containing SHX fonts. It automatically looks for fonts there, and on Windows also in C:\Windows\Fonts.

To add custom font directories, set the ACAD environment variable:

export ACAD=/path/to/fonts1:/path/to/fonts2

Restart and verify​

Restart the rendition services after making configuration changes. Then open a .dwg file in ARender to confirm it converts and displays correctly.

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