CompuServe Thread

Mike: Not really. "The AutoCAD Database Book" is more about the drawing file *as* database, and how to send some of that data to other programs (a very simple dBASE BOM application, exporting to a spreadsheet, etc.). A substantial part of the book consists of appendices documenting the AutoCAD database and DXF file formats (group codes and all that). Smith & Gesner's book "Maximizing AutoCAD II: AutoLISP" (or something like that) also has a chapter on developing a dBASE program that works on data exported from AutoCAD. Robert Schutz and I recently looked over four AutoCAD applications which let you read and write dBASE DBF files from inside of AutoCAD, and the reviews should appear in the January CADalyst. – Mark M.

The regular portion of the book (about interfacing with DBase) is pretty i [DT innocous stuff. The good portion of the book is the appendixes. These describe the DXF format in much better manner than the AutoCAD Reference Manual does. The main portion of the book does talk about trying to tie dBase and AutoCAD together through AutoLisp, but, I must admit, I have never bothered to read it all. One track mind and all. -Scott Taylor