I have a situation where i have to stick to existing CAD Viewer component even though that component is not supporting latest DWG versions (Above DWG 2004 version). That's why we are on a look out for a DWG Version Converter component (.Net API suitable to .Net Framework 1.1, Language VB.Net).
Current Implementation:
User attaches a CAD Drawing in our application, we parse the drawing file and determines its version and check whether it is compatible with our application or not. If Drawing is not compatible we are advising our application user to convert that drawing by saving as 2002-2004 version. Problem here is some users don't have CAD Editor i.e. AutoCAD, so they are unable to convert and attach to our application.
Proposed Implementation:
After determining Drawing Version, if it is not compatible with our CAD Viewer component, instead of alerting user to convert that drawing, we need a API Call which will convert attached drawing format to any version below DWG 2004.
Can you please suggest any component vendor who can provide us this version conversion functionality.
Thank, Sriram .V
DWG Trueview is a free viewer from Autodesk. It also converts from one CAD version to another. It doesn't have an API but it does do batch conversions. You used to be able to fudge API calls to it but that loophole has probably long been closed. Maybe. It's worth investigating. Perhaps you could script it. There's some more homework for you. Good luck.