drawing interchange format (DXF)
Drawing Interchange Format (DXF) or Drawing Exchange Format (DXF) is a file format integrated in AutoCAD, compatible with common CAD systems for the exchange of CAD data, which can also be used across programs for different operating systems.
Like the DWG format, the first DXF version was launched with AutoCAD 1.0 in December 1982. It ran on a personal computer( PC) with two floppy drives without a hard disk, and the storage capacity was a maximum of 360 KB. What was missing was the interface to exchange geometry data from AutoCAD between different platforms( Mac OS, MSDOS, etc.) For this purpose, Autodesk developed the DXF data format.
Today, the DXF exchange format is considered an industry standard and most CAD programs and CNC programs are capable of importing and exporting these files. In addition, they can be generated with text editors or common programming languages, for example to calculate geometric models or optimize surfaces. Numerous conversion programs are available for handling DXF data, for processing PDF files with CAD programs or for exchanging different formats with each other. The file extension is *.dxf.