One of the basic needs of any AutoCAD user to handle geospatial information, by downloading files from the web or by collaborating with others GIS users, is importing into AutoCAD Esri shapefiles (SHP file format)
Please, also take a look at the following updated (MAY18) videos for all CAD systems:
Spatial Manager™ for AutoCAD lets you to import graphic objects into AutoCAD from a large number of GIS sources including Esri shapefile format
The application detects what type of information the shapefile contains to import (points, lines or polygons) and presents to the user only those import options that are valid for that type of object. In the case of polygonal objects, the closed borders can be automatically filled by using AutoCAD Hatches, or import not only the border of the polygons but also their centroids by using Points or AutoCAD Blocks
For any imported table or file, regardless of its format or type, it is possible to automatically subdivide the imported objects into various AutoCAD Layers, according to the value of a field in the source data table
In this first example in the Blog on a practical application of Spatial Manager™ for AutoCAD, an SHP Parcels file is imported on a drawing, which already contains other Objects belonging to the city. The import process fills every Parcel using a Solid transparent Hatch, distributes every Parcel into new Layers according to the zones to which each Parcel belongs and applies random colors for every new Layer created. The alphanumeric data of every Parcel is also imported using AutoCAD Extended Entity Data (EED or XDATA)!
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