About Application Compatibility

With each new AutoCAD-based product release, retest your custom applications to ensure they work correctly before rolling out the latest release to all users.

Third-party applications might need to be repurchased and in-house custom .NET and ObjectARX applications might need to be recompiled when upgrading to the latest release. The changes to the AutoCAD application programming interfaces (APIs) varies from release to release with most major changes being aligned with the introduction of a new native drawing file format.

Note: Starting with AutoCAD 2014-based products, custom applications must work under secure mode; when the SECURELOAD system variable is set to 1 or 2. When operating under secure mode, the AutoCAD-based product is restricted to loading and executing files that contain code from trusted locations; trusted locations are specified by the TRUSTEDPATHS system variable. For more information, see About Security and Protecting Against Viruses.

The following table lists the .NET and ObjectARX SDKs that are supported with the corresponding AutoCAD release.

AutoCAD Release	Supported .NET and ObjectARX SDK	.NET Framework
AutoCAD 2022	AutoCAD 2022, AutoCAD 2021	4.8
AutoCAD 2021	AutoCAD 2021	4.8
AutoCAD 2020	AutoCAD 2020, AutoCAD 2019	4.7
AutoCAD 2019	AutoCAD 2019	4.7
AutoCAD 2018	AutoCAD 2018	4.6
AutoCAD 2017	AutoCAD 2017	4.6
AutoCAD 2016	AutoCAD 2015, AutoCAD 2016	4.5
AutoCAD 2015	AutoCAD 2015	4.5
AutoCAD 2014	AutoCAD 2013, AutoCAD 2014	4.0
AutoCAD 2013	AutoCAD 2013	4.0
AutoCAD 2012	AutoCAD 2010, AutoCAD 2011, AutoCAD 2012	3.51 SP1
AutoCAD 2011	AutoCAD 2010, 2011	3.51 SP1
AutoCAD 2010	AutoCAD 2010	3.51 SP1
AutoCAD 2009	AutoCAD 2007, AutoCAD 2008, AutoCAD 2009	3.0
AutoCAD 2008	AutoCAD 2007, AutoCAD 2008	2.0
AutoCAD 2007	AutoCAD 2007	2.0
AutoCAD 2006	AutoCAD 2004, AutoCAD 2005, AutoCAD 2006	1.1 SP1
AutoCAD 2005	AutoCAD 2004, AutoCAD 2005	1.1
AutoCAD 2004	AutoCAD 2004	N/A

The following resources can be helpful in determining the changes to the APIs that might impact your custom programs:

• Product Help – Changes that affect the AutoLISP programming language can be found in the 'New and Changed AutoLISP Functions Reference (AutoLISP)' topic of the product's online Help.
• ActiveX Reference Guide – Changes to the ActiveX API can be found under the ActiveX API History topic of the ActiveX Developer’s Guide (<drive>:\Program Files\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\acad_aag.chm).
• Managed .NET SDK – Changes to the Managed .NET SDK can be found in the What’s New and Migration Guide section of the Managed .NET Reference Guide (<drive>:\<objectarx install folder>\docs\arxmgd.chm - https://www.autodesk.com/developer-network/platform-technologies/autocad/objectarx).
• ObjectARX SDK – Changes to the ObjectARX SDK can be found in the What’s New and Migration Guide section of the ObjectARX Reference Guide (<drive>:\<objectarx install folder>\docs\arxref.chm - https://www.autodesk.com/developer-network/platform-technologies/autocad/objectarx)