In many modeling studies, drawings of the site being modeled are generated in a CAD package such as AutoCAD. These drawings can be exported from the CAD package in DWG or DXF format. DXF stands for "Drawing Exchange Format" and is supported by most CAD programs. DWG and DXF files can be imported into SMS and displayed to assist in model placement or simply to enhance the display of a model.
The objects in a DWG or DXF file are organized into layers. The display of layers in a CAD drawing is controlled using the check boxes in the Project Explorer. Individual layers can be turned off/on or if you would like to turn off the display of all CAD data then uncheck the box next to the CAD folder.
To Delete the CAD Data right-click on the CAD data folder in the tree and select Delete from the pop-up menu. If the CAD data was imported from a file, the file is not deleted from disk.
CAD data can be converted to SMS feature objects by right-clicking on the CAD data folder in the Project Explorer and selecting CAD To -> Map command. CAD points are turned into points, CAD lines and polylines are turned into arcs, and CAD polygons are turned into polygons. The feature objects are added to the active coverage. Once converted, the feature objects can be used to build conceptual models.
A set of CAD 3D faces which have been imported to SMS can be converted to a 2D Scatter Set by right-clicking on the CAD data folder in the Project Explorer and selecting the CAD To -> 2D Scatter command.
This command converts any visible geometric data into CAD format internally within SMS. This CAD data will be saved with the project as a DWG file, or can be exported as a separate DWG or DXF file. This command is found by right-clicking in the empty space in the Project Explorer.