DWG File | CAD BIM file formats

DWG file | .dwg file | File .dwg | *.dwg

Format DWG was created by Autodesk for the AutoCAD software.

DWG is one of the most popular binary CAD file formats. DWG file It has a proprietary, licensed specification. High fees licensing and consistent legal actions have led to numerous Autodesk litigation with other CAD software vendors. Autodesk's efforts to protect copyrights and patents have resulted in alternative designs that allows access to DWG by reverse engineering methods. Alternative versions of the dwg file format are GNU LibreDWG and OpenDWG.

The first is a less popular format, but completely free for all CAD software developers.

The second requires joining the Open Design Consortium Alliance and pay the subscription fee.  The ODA Consortium includes companies such as Microsoft, Bentley, Carlson, ESRI, IntelliCAD, Knowledge Bas, Hilti, 3ds Spatial, Lexmark, Siemens, HP, Oracle, Hexagon, Intergraph, Dasault Systèmes , Epic Games or even Autodesk (only for BIM files and products)

Thanks to the work of ODA engineers, the ODA Consortium has achieved a state in which many CAD programs alternative to AutoCAD have full support for all previous versions of the DWG format. For development reasons, in CAD applications that do not tap the Open Design Alliance library, full support for the latest version of dwg files is only possible several months after Autodesk releases the new dwg specification. On the other hand, it should be noted that the compatibility of ODA libraries with older versions of dwg files is better than that offered in new versions of AutoCAD software, because new versions of AutoCAD dwg files are not fully compatible with old versions of these files. This means that the latest version of AutoCAD may have trouble opening dwg files created with older versions of AutoCAD. ODA libraries allow you to write and read old versions of *.dwg files at 100% Compatibility.

The dwg format is used to create and save 2D drawings and to create and model 3D designs.