New DWF Toolkit Compatible with Existing Autodesk DWF Viewers

The DWF 7.0 Toolkit allows a 3rd party developer to develop applications that read or write multi-sheet drawings in DWF (Design Web Format) format. The toolkit contains a C++ library that aids in the generation, reading, and parsing of DWF files. Experienced C++ programmers can use it to work with DWF files without having to understand their complete underlying data format. This toolkit contains support for the DWF file as defined with the release of AutoCAD 2006. The DWF Toolkit is not intended for Visual Basic programmers who wish to work with the API of the Autodesk DWF Viewer. These users should consult the Autodesk DWF Viewer API documentation.

The version of the DWF Toolkit is not to be confused with the version of a DWF file.

1. A DWF file has a file version. It appears at the beginning of every DWF file. It is visible by viewing any DWF file with any text editor such as NotePad. (Note: The rest of the DWF will not appear readable in the editor.)
2. The DWF Toolkit has a release version. The toolkit is incorporated into DWF-related applications. For example, the DWF Toolkit version is listed in the About box of Autodesk DWF Viewer and Autodesk DWF Composer.

The two versions are not the same. This is a common misconception. The DWF Toolkit is an API with version numbers that are independent of the DWF file version. Autodesk happened to release the DWF Toolkit 6.0 at the same time it released the DWF 6.0 (multi-sheet DWF) file format. This coincidence has confused many people.

The DWF Toolkit 7.0 is what Autodesk and Autodesk partners use to read and write DWF 6.0 files as well as DWF 6.1 files (3D DWF). Even though there is a DWF 7.0 Toolkit, DWF 7.0 files do not yet exist. Future versions of the toolkit will be DWF Toolkit 7.1, 7.2, 8.0, etc. The DWF file format version number will only change if we modify the DWF file format itself. For example, the DWF 5.5 format introduced Block Refs. The DWF 6.0 format contained multiple pages. The DWF 6.1 format introduced 3D. The DWF Toolkit version 7.0 is the successor to DWF Toolkit version 6.0. DWF Toolkit 7.0 is recommended for all DWF needs regardless of the file version. It reads and writes a DWF file of any DWF format version.

	DWF Format 5.5 single sheet 2D	DWF Format 6.0 multi-sheet 2D	DWF Format 6.1 single sheet 3D
DWF Toolkit 6.0	Read/ Write	Read/ Write
DWF Toolkit 7.0	Read/ Write	Read/ Write	Read/ Write
DWF Viewer 5.x	View/ Print	View/ Print
DWF Viewer 6.x	View/ Print	View/ Print	View/ Print
DWF Composer 1.x	View/ Print	View/ Print
DWF Composer 2.x	View/Print/ Markup/Measure	View/Print/ Markup/Measure	View/Print/ Markup/Measure