Common Questions

ArcGIS for AutoCAD versions are released independently of other ArcGIS products and made available for download at no cost when new functionality is added. Check back frequently for updates. The current version of ArcGIS for AutoCAD can be viewed using the About ArcGIS menu selection found on the ArcGIS menu in AutoCAD. Use this to compare your version to the current version found on ESRI.com.

Any and all GIS data types supported by ArcGIS Server are accessible through ArcGIS for AutoCAD without conversion, translation, or configuration. ArcGIS Server manages all connections to the data and passes the display of features through the map service image. Requests to identify features are handled on the server, and the results are passed along to the ArcGIS for AutoCAD Identify dialog box.

No. ArcGIS for AutoCAD is a no-cost client to ArcGIS Server map services. However, you do need to have network or Web access to ArcGIS Server map services.

Yes. ESRI customers can access a wealth of the map service content for free. Non-ESRI customers would pay a subscription fee. Premium services for both ESRI and non-ESRI customers are available for a fee.

ArcGIS for AutoCAD requires AutoCAD products that support the AutoCAD .NET 2.0 APIs, including AutoCAD 2007 through 2009, as well as Autodesk 3D Map and Civil versions 2007 through 2009. AutoCAD versions prior to 2007 and AutoCAD LT do not support the necessary APIs required by ArcGIS for AutoCAD. Support for AutoCAD 2010-based products is not currently available.

No. Currently, there is no equivalent for ArcGIS for AutoCAD running in MicroStation.

ArcGIS for AutoCAD provides access to ArcGIS Server map services, which may contain content based on WMS or WFS layers. However, ArcGIS for AutoCAD cannot connect directly to a WMS or WFS.

No. ArcGIS for AutoCAD currently supports only the viewing of ArcGIS Server map services and access to the tabular attributes of features represented in the map service.

ArcGIS Desktop tools are used to author the map and its symbology, which are served by ArcGIS Server. The ArcGIS for AutoCAD user sees the same map as the ArcGIS Desktop user, ensuring consistency and clear communication of the meaning of the map for all users of the information. In the map service management panel, you can turn layers of a map on or off.

No. Currently, you cannot snap to features represented in the map service from within AutoCAD using ArcGIS for AutoCAD.

No. Currently, the geometry of the features represented in the map service is visually represented as part of the map service only.

Yes. ArcGIS for AutoCAD comes with a rich collection of AutoLISP callable functions that allow you to define and manipulate GIS schemas, attributes, and map services.

The mapping specification for drawings is an encoding method that allows users to create, manipulate, and define how CAD data is organized and attributed as GIS content, and it is implemented in both ArcGIS for AutoCAD and ArcGIS 9.3. The mapping specification for drawings includes a filtering criteria based on your existing CAD standards to define how your drawings should be interpreted as GIS feature classes. This method also includes the means to add a schema of attributes to any AutoCAD entity. The mapping specification for drawings is recommended by ESRI as a best practice to share data between AutoCAD and ArcGIS using an AutoCAD file.

Using ArcGIS for AutoCAD, you can right–click any AutoCAD entity encoded with the mapping specification for drawings attributes and use the standard AutoCAD properties dialog box to view and modify them.

The fidelity and flexibility of GIS data exchanged inside an AutoCAD file using the mapping specification for drawings tools implemented in ArcGIS for AutoCAD and ArcGIS 9.3 is a better and easier means to pass data back and forth between AutoCAD and ArcGIS.

No, not yet. ArcGIS for AutoCAD does allow you to create and modify AutoCAD drawings that may contain data that was exported from a geodatabase; however, the mapping specification for drawings data would only be a copy of the geodatabase information. It is not intended to be a geodatabase editing solution without added workflow processes.