[Plugin] importDXFtext

TIG · 1 Mar 2022, 11:43

I'll look at the alignment issue shortly...

However, the current TEXT import does work for me, albeit with text pieces miles from the origin, making selecting / viewing / editing them very awkward [even with the help of the Outliner] - when using your TEXT dxf example - is this the issue you are referring to ?
e.g. the first piece of TEXT processed is -
X = 2677161.876174174 [42.25 miles from the origin] Y = 1237562.802 ... Text = "430287"

Also note that in that file several ATTRIBS also have no 'string' at all [code 1] - the omission is in the DXF file, not the ruby side...

uwesketch · 1 Mar 2022, 14:24

Yes, it is the file called map with Isocontours TEXT.dxf.
I am running with v4.1
after the import finished, I see only 250 sub groups. 225 ATEXT and 25 MTEXT.
They are either called "ATEXT #..." or "MTEXT #...".
But there are no sub groups called "TEXT #..." in the outliner.

The first TEXT entry listed in the console is:

Layer = 01139
Color = 0
X = 2677161.876174174
Y = 1237562.802
Z = 0.0
Height = 0.9999999999999997
Text = 430287
Oblique = 15.0
Justification_H = 2
Justification_V = 2
Style = STANDARD
Rotation = 0.0

Yes, the origin is far off. This is the Swiss coordinate system LV95.

There are or instance two TEXT called Rinderweidstrasse and Rinderweidweg. These should be easily visible in Sketchup in the very top right of he imported group, but they do not exist.
(choose parallel projection, top view, then in the outliner select an ATEXT and then "yoom selection" in the context menu)
BTW, the first 12 MTEXT are in the bottom left corner of the group near the Origin, the other MTEXTs and the ATEXTs are in the top right corner of the group.

TIG · 1 Mar 2022, 14:56

Here's v4.2
https://sketchucation.com/pluginstore?pln=importDXFtext
Which attempts to address some of the recent issues...
Please test and report...

uwesketch · 1 Mar 2022, 21:07

I tested v4.2: better again

TEXTs are still not imported, the console output is a bit different now, but in Sketchup there are no TEXT groups created. Only 25 MTEXT and 225 ATEXT groups.
I am testing btw with SketchUp 2022. DXFImport v3.4 is running on SketchUp 2021.
console output of importing "map with Isocontours TEXT.dxf":
Making 74 TEXT Entities...
74 : 0
Making 25 MTEXT Entities...
25 : 0
Making 436 ATTRIBUTE TEXT Entities...
225 : 211

Rotation testing (dxf issues with special chars.dxf):
Here the 3DText objects that were far off in the lat version, are now closer again, but still not fully correct:
It seems the attachment point for rotation is not read correctly:

In below screen shots, black is the unrotated text from v3.4, green is where it should be according to the DXF definition, red is where the import is placed.
Looks like all are attachment point issues, except the "Masse am Bau:" which is shifted down since version 3.4.

TIG · 2 Mar 2022, 11:59

The TEXT is NOT imported for me.
Says 74 made, 0 failed.
But in the Outliner there's nothing ! a mystery...
Investigating...

TIG · 2 Mar 2022, 12:34

I got to the bottom of this !
It did process all of the TEXT but then it wasn't adding the 3d-text geometry !!
Another stupid temp-typo...
Now it's fixed...
Here's v4.3
https://sketchucation.com/pluginstore?pln=importDXFtext

I'll look at the rotation reports next...

uwesketch · 2 Mar 2022, 15:22

@tig said:

I got to the bottom of this !
It did process all of the TEXT but then it wasn't adding the 3d-text geometry !!
Now it's fixed...

I tested v4.3 re TEXT: IT IS BACK Great!
And the position and rotation of TEXT is very precise.
Funny, that two TEXTs ("Sunnenberg" and "Rinderweidweg") are slightly off (only by a 1/4 of the font height).
In below screen shots, green are TEXTs that are precisely positioned, red marked the two longer TEXTs that are a bit shifted. I think it can be ignored, but still wanted to let you know.

TIG · 2 Mar 2022, 15:31

The dropped tail of the 'g' is causing the issue - it's fixable...

uwesketch · 2 Mar 2022, 15:41

Makes sense. Then it could be fixed consistently as done with MTEXT.

TIG · 2 Mar 2022, 15:47

Here's v4.4 which fixes the dropped letters, like 'g', affecting the text's insertion-point.
https://sketchucation.com/pluginstore?pln=importDXFtext

Please re-comment on the rotation/alignment issues you've previously raised, as recent changes might have had an influence...

uwesketch · 2 Mar 2022, 16:45

TEXT is now all fine. Perfect!

In the same file there are as well some MTEXTs. (The blueish texts).
These MTEXTS are still shifted as soon as there is a rotation involved.
Later I will also send a report based on our other test file.

TIG · 2 Mar 2022, 19:03

Thanks, I'll investigate it all tomorrow...

uwesketch · 2 Mar 2022, 19:20

I tested v4.4 with the testfile "dxf issues with special chars.dxf".
The displacement of rotated MTexts is the same as with v4.2 reported in this post:

http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=23002&p=678093#p678060

TIG · 3 Mar 2022, 13:45

Here's v4.5
I'm hopeful it addresses the alignment / rotation weirdness...
https://sketchucation.com/pluginstore?pln=importDXFtext
Please test and report back...

uwesketch · 3 Mar 2022, 20:05

The first test with the imported file "map with Isocontours TEXT.dxf" showed no differences to the dxf file anymore. Very nice!

Also the file "dxf issues with special chars.dxf" did not show position diffs due to rotation. But there is another issue, which I will report in a later post, as it does not have to do with rotation.

However I have another file called "map with Isocontours.dxf" where all text are MTEXTs. (see attachment)
99% are at the right position, but the imported text is slightly wider than the text in dxf.
I checked the dxf and saw, that these MTEXTs have a "width factor" of 0.84 defined. This factor pretty much explains the difference. It is defined on style level. The style is called "ERSTELLTER_STIL_1" and in code 41 you find the 0.84. I think the factor could be applied as well in SketchUp by using the "Scale feature".
Text scaling issue:
During import, this style is also read and the factor properly reported as WidthFactor, but it is not applied.
The console output is:


2 DXF STYLES;

Name = ERSTELLTER_STIL_1
Height = 0.0
WidthFactor = 0.84
Oblique = 0.0
Flipped = 0
FontFile = 
FontName = Arial
Color = 256

In below screen shot, green is the DXF file, red the imported 3DText.

Only two MTEXTS are not right positioned:
It seems it has to do with the letters qpgjy, but this time it is shifted downwards.

In below screen shots, green is the DXF file, red the imported 3DText.

map with Isocontours.dxf

TIG · 4 Mar 2022, 16:55

Here's v4.6
https://sketchucation.com/pluginstore?pln=importDXFtext
I think it addresses the Mtext dropped string problem if there are certain dropped letters like 'g'.
The width-scaling should also now works. [Also the DXF Style 'Standard' is now applied more logically]
Some add string formatting with residual \A characters is also improved ?

Please report back...

uwesketch · 5 Mar 2022, 20:58

Sorry, took a bit longer this time.

I dislocated for the weekend and have to install version 4.5 and 4.6 on another PC.
Somehow I have the impression that v4.5 is perfect for TEXT, but 4.6 not anymore.
But let me test all files in details and come back.

TIG · 6 Mar 2022, 14:04

For v4.6 it seems to work OK with TEXT for me, but I welcome your insights / comments ...

In passing, I have now added the text's box-width to MTEXT, but currently do nothing with it.
Usually it's 0.0, but if the text-string is long it can have a dimension.
However using that to divide up and wrap the string using \n is fraught with issues - like how do we decide where to break etc... So I've left it along, for now...

uwesketch · 6 Mar 2022, 18:42

I think I found the issue regarding TEXT:
in v4.5 you take the font Arial Narrow, as indicated int he DXF "map with Isocontours TEXT.dxf".
In v4.6 you take the font Arial.
The screen shot below shows in green the original DXF, in black the text imported with v4.6
The text in grey above is a 3DText I created with font Arial. The text in grey at the bopttom is a 3DText I created with font Arial Narrow (same as when imported with v4.5.
Can you change that back for TEXT to how it worked in v4.5?

Oblique angle: Where we will always have a difference is the oblique angle. It is in this DXF 15° - see green text above. As there is no corresponding feature in SketchUp 3DText and the scale tool cannot be used, an approximation would be making the text italic. However italic has an obliquity angle of only 9°.

MTEXT in "map with Isocoutours.dxf" imported with v4.6:
This looks now perfect!

MTEXTs and ATEXT in "dxf issues with special chars.dxf" imported with v4.6:
also here all looks very good. Great.
The "Nische für späteren Duscheneinbau is now as well shifted to the right height.
Also the text with "Masse am Bau:"

text word wrap: Indeed, the next step would be to do the text word wrap. I have written down a few ideas. From a simple approximation to a luxury implementation.
Unfortunately I forgot to take the notes with me. So I can only send it next week.
But I remember the simple approach

Get the width of the box (BoxWidth) from code 41 not being empty/missing and not 0
calculate an average character width (CharWidth). This is done by taking 2/3 of the letter height - which we know from the DXF.
calculate the number of characters fitting into the width of the box:
NoOfChars = BoxWidth / CharWidth
Loop over each line in the MText (= \P delimited string) and wrap this line using some regexp or below piece of ruby:


BoxWidth= 660
CharHeight = 100
CharWidth = CharHeight * 2/3
NoOfChars = BoxWidth / CharWidth
result = ""
word_array = 'To be or not to be-that is longwordwise the question'.split(/\s/)
line = word_array.shift
word_array.each do |word|
  if (line + " " + word).length <= max_length
    line << " " + word
  elsif word.length > max_length
    result << line + "\n" unless line.empty?
    line = word
  else
    result << line + "\n"
    line = word
  end
end
result << line
puts result

Maybe you can already do something with it and maybe it is even enough.

TIG · 6 Mar 2022, 20:30

Thanks for the word-wrap ideas...
I had some similar ideas...
I'll investigate further...

The 'Font' name is taken from the DXF text's entries [3] from Style 1000.
in ...TEXT.dxf 'Arial Narrow' is the font in the STYLE 'STANDARD'
It defaults to 'Arial' if the font is not available on your PC computer.
But 'Arial Narrow' should be available !?

Although the ...TEXT.dxf includes that Font in a Style, it is not picked up in the file parsing...
But some other Fonts are e.g. 'Cadastra' and 'Univers'...
It's because the names 'Standard' & 'STANDARD' are used in the file in different lines...
Now trapped...

Here's v4.7
https://sketchucation.com/pluginstore?pln=importDXFtext