Lesson 7: Use Object Classes When Exporting

When you export to a spatial data format, such as Autodesk SDF, Oracle, or SHP, you create feature classes. Feature classes are like object classes: they have properties that represent the geometry of objects, as well as properties that represent attribute data. Some database spatial data formats support multiple feature classes within a single file. These formats include Oracle, SQL Server, and some file-based data formats, such as Autodesk SDF. Some formats (for example, SHP) store only a single feature class in each file.

If you have classified objects in your drawing, you can use the object classes as the basis for the new feature classes. In this lesson, you export the object classes in your drawing to multiple feature classes in a single Autodesk SDF file. You then connect to that file in a new drawing to see how the resulting feature classes appear in a map.