Drawing eXchange Engine (DXE)

DXE is a programmer's toolkit for reading, writing, and displaying AutoCAD drawing (DWG) and DXF files.

Who uses DXE?

A number of very large CAD companys who we can't name except under nondisclosure.
Tailor Made Software sublicenses DXE for his applications.
Mercedes Benz. They have built a drawing manager using DXED (display), which is used on half a dozen different Unix and Windows platforms.
US Gypsum. Product drawing distribution system.
XTree. Their DWG/DXF DOS viewer is built with the core of DXE.
Hewlett Packard - DWG to DXF to DWG translator.
SoftSource (that's us). The core of DXE is the guts of our highly acclaimed Drawing Librarian and Vdraft CAD System.

But is it accurate?

DXE has been around, working hard, for a long time. Here is what the critics have to say about accuracy: "SoftSource's DXE based DRAWING Librarian Professional 1991.7 stands out from the crowd because it displays drawings with total accuracy. None of the other evaluated programs could do this during PC Week Labs' tests." PC Week

Ok, so what else can be done with DXE?

Vdraft - AutoCAD drawing CAD System.
An AutoCAD/DXF Netscape Internet Explorer plug-in.
Translators from DWG or DXF to DWG, DXF, SVF, HPGL, PostScript, AutoCAD slide, etc.
DWG/DXF viewers.
A stereogram generator that takes any AutoCAD drawing or DXF file and turns it into a 3d stereogram.
A program that turns USGS topographical data into an AutoCAD drawing.
The Design Features Document of DXE and more DXE Uses.
Programming base class structures. Go to the on the Vdraft web page for current API programming support.

Related information

Some of the DXE current users.

Have questions? Email Gary Rohrabaugh - President SoftSource LLC

DXE has its origins in the mid 1980s as the read engine for early SoftSource CAD display-print products. Mike, DXE’s designer, pushed the window of read-write API to the point that even the blank spaces were duplicated in output files. A 51K version of DXE shocked even Autodesk with its extreme accuracy. The chief evaluator proclaimed “we have to have ‘DXE’ no matter what it costs”. While lever heads negotiated the contract, DXE did become a tool Autodesk used to bring AutoCAD compatibility to a number of their standard products. The DXE library of CAD tools has been used in a number of major CAD systems as well as the basis for innovative technologies like the web server based, Universal Vector Translator. DXE is not a consumer product. The API documentation is hundreds of pages long. SoftSource directly supports it integration and use with licensee’s applications. We have a bank of prewritten applications and sample code that makes implementation fast and very reliable.