The RimEngine is a powerful component that supports nearly all operations a developer might want to perform with a document or graphic file. However, this general-purpose approach makes the RimEngine interface complex and challenging to use.
To address this, the RxSDK was developed to provide developer-friendly interfaces—referred to as objects—that simplify commonly used operations. Compared to the RimEngine, RxSDK components offer a much simpler interface. With just a few lines of code, you can create a basic viewer using RxSDK components.
RxSDK Objects
The RxSDK consists of the following objects:
| No | Object Name | Description |
|---|
| 1 | RxEngine | The first object used in your code. Locates all available file format filters and manages FlexLM licenses (unless overridden by a Rasterex license code). |
| 2 | RxDoc | Handles document loading and provides methods to manipulate layout, pages, blocks, and layers. |
| 3 | RxLoadSettings | Overrides filter settings during loading. |
| 4 | RxSaveSettings | Overrides filter settings during saving. |
| 5 | RxText | Provides functions for extracting and searching fortext in a document. |
| 6 | RxDisplay | Displays document contents on your screen. |
| 7 | RxDisplay3D | Offers specific functions for displaying 3D files, such as rotation using matrices and walkthroughs. |
| 8 | RxPrint | Provides printer-specific functions, including printing, listing printers, and paper sizes. |
| 9 | RxPrint3D | Provides functions for printing 3D files. |
| 10 | RxConvert | Converts supported document formats to various formats, including PDF, TIFF, DWG, PNG, PLT, JPEG, etc. |
| 11 | RxAcadConverter | Converts between AutoCAD versions. |
| 12 | RxPDF | Functions for merging/splitting PDFs, adding markup (burned-in or as annotations), and converting to PDF/A without data loss. |
| 13 | RxRedline | Provides complete markup support for your application. |
| 14 | RxSymbols | Loads symbols from Rasterex libraries and generates various barcode standard images. |
What You Will Find in This Document
This document provides information about the RxSDK Core components, which include:
| Module | Objects / Interfaces |
|---|
| RxDocCOM | RxEngine and RxDoc |
| RxConfigCOM | RxLoadSettings and RxSaveSettings |
| RxTextCOM | RxText |
Coordinate Systems
The RxSDK operates with three coordinate systems:
- Original Coordinate System: The system used by the application that created the document (e.g., AutoCAD DWG coordinates).
- World Coordinate System: The internal system used by RxSDK components.
- Screen Coordinate System: The system used by Windows (Device coordinates).
- When a document is loaded, it is transformed and scaled from the original coordinate system to the world coordinate system.
- When a document is displayed, it is transformed and scaled from the world coordinate system to the screen coordinate system.
Notes
- Documents may use either a top-down or bottom-up world coordinate system, depending on the source format:
- Bottom-up: Common in CAD formats (e.g., DWG, DGN, PLT).
- Top-down: Common in other formats (e.g., TIFF, PDF, Word).
- Use the
ScreenToWorld function to transform from screen to world coordinates, and WorldToScreen to transform from world to screen coordinates. Both are provided by the RxDoc object.
Supported File Formats
The following tables detail the available filters and the formats they support.
| Filter Name | Extension | Description | Version Support |
|---|
| RxFilter_ACAD | DWG, DXF | AutoCAD drawing format | 2.5 – 2026 |
| RxFilter_Anvil1000 | DRW | Anvil 1000 drawing format | 1, 2, and 3 |
| RxFilter_CadKey | PRT | Cadkey drawing format | - |
| RxFilter_Calcomp | CCP | Calcomp plotter format | - |
| RxFilter_CGM | CGM | Computer graphics metafile | Binary only |
| RxFilter_DWF3 | DWF | Autodesk drawing web format | Up to version 4 |
| RxFilter_DWF | DWF | Autodesk drawing web format | Up to version 5.5 |
| RxFilter_DWF6 | DWF | Autodesk design web format | Version 6 and up |
| RxFilter_DWF7 | DWF, DWFX | Autodesk design web format | Version 7 and up |
| RxFilter_FelixCAD | FLX | FelixCAD drawing format | 2, 3, and 4 |
| RxFilter_Gerber | GBR | Gerber plotter format | RS-274D, RS-274X, X2, X3 |
| RxFilter_HPGL | PLT | HP graphic language | HPGL, HPGL/2, HP-RTL |
| RxFilter_MicrostationV8 | DGN | Microstation drawing format | All including 8.x |
| RxFilter_ME10 | MI | ME 10/30 drawing format | - |
| RxFilter_RND | RND | Autodesk render format | - |
| RxFilter_SLD | SLD | Autodesk slide format | - |
| RxFilter_VC5 | VC5 | RxSpotlight vector format | 5.x |
| RxFilter_VEC | VEC | Data Design Systems format | - |
Hybrid formats combine a CAD file (usually AutoCAD DWG) with one or more raster files (e.g., TIF, JPG, CALS).
| Filter Name | Extension | Description | Version Support |
|---|
| RxFilter_CADOverlay | RES | CAD Overlay hybrid | - |
| RxFilter_RasterCAD | REF | GTX RasterCAD hybrid | - |
| RxFilter_TAF | TAF | Tessel CADRaster | - |
| Filter Name | Extension | Description | Version Support |
|---|
| RxFilter_BMP | BMP | Windows image file format | Windows BMP and OS/2 DIB |
| RxFilter_CALS | CAL | CALS raster format | Type I and II |
| RxFilter_CIT | CIT | Intergraph Group 4 Raster | - |
| RxFilter_DSI | DSI | Cimage DSI Raster | Group 4 |
| RxFilter_EDMICS | TG4 | EDMICS raster format | Tiled Group 4 |
| RxFilter_ESP | IG4 | Image Systems Group 4 | - |
| RxFilter_GIF | GIF | Compuserve GIF | GIF 87a / 89a |
| RxFilter_GTX | G3, G4, RNL | GTX raster formats | - |
| RxFilter_HEIC | HEIC | HEIF image file format | - |
| RxFilter_JBIG | JBG | JBIG image file format | - |
| RxFilter_JPEG | JPG | JFIF compliant JPEG | - |
| RxFilter_JPEG2000 | JP2, J2K | JPEG 2000 | - |
| RxFilter_PCX | PCX | PC Paintbrush | - |
| RxFilter_PNG | PNG | Portable network graphics | - |
| RxFilter_PSD | PSD | Adobe Photoshop | - |
| RxFilter_RAS | RAS | Sun image file format | - |
| RxFilter_RGB | RGB | Intergraph RGB Type 27 | - |
| RxFilter_RLC | RLC | Run length format | RLC, RLC-2 |
| RxFilter_RLE | RLE | Intergraph RLE Raster | - |
| RxFilter_SFF | SFF | Structured Fax Format | - |
| RxFilter_TG4 | TG4 | Intergraph tiled raster format | - |
| RxFilter_TGA | TGA | TARGA image file format | - |
| RxFilter_TIFF | TIF | Tagged image file format | - |
| RxFilter_WEBP | WEBP | Google image file format | - |
| RxFilter_XWD | XWD | X-Windows dump format | - |
| Filter Name | Extension | Description | Version Support |
|---|
| RxFilter_Binary | * | Hex dump of unsupported files | - |
| RxFilter_DynaPDF | PDF | Adobe portable document format | All |
| RxFilter_Metafile | WMF, EMF | Windows metafile format | Enhanced and standard |
| RxFilter_Text | TXT | Text file | ASCII |
| RxFilter_PPT | PPT | PowerPoint format | 97, 2000, XP, 2003 |
| RxFilter_Word2000 | DOC | Word file format | 97, 2000, XP, 2003 |
| RxFilter_Word95 | DOC | Word file format | 95, 6.0 |
| Filter Name | Extension | Description | Version Support |
|---|
| RxFilter_Excel | XLS | Excel file format | 95, 97, 2000, XP, 2003 |
| Filter Name | Extension | Description | Version Support |
|---|
| RxFilter_GLTF | GLTF, GLB | GLTF (GL Transmission Format) | All |
| RxFilter_IFC | IFC, IFCZIP, IFCXML | IFC | All |
| RxFilter_Inventor | IPT, IDW, IAM | Inventor part, drawing, and assembly | Up to and including 2026 |
| RxFilter_SolidEdge | PAR, DFT | SolidEdge part and drawings | Up to and including 17 |
| RxFilter_STL | STL | Stereolithography file format | - |
Write-Only File Filters
Some filters are write-only, meaning they can only write to the specified format and cannot load it. These are used to convert other supported formats to the specified format.
| Filter Name | Extension | Description | Version Support |
|---|
| RxFilter_SVG | SVG | Scalable Vector Graphics | 1.1 |
| RxFilter_PDFW | PDF | Acrobat PDF | 1.7, PDF/A-2b, PDF/A-3b, PDF/A-2u, PDF/A-3u, PDF/A-4, PDF/A-4e |