SDF is a native Autodesk file-based geospatial format that is optimized for storing large, classified data sets. SDF is like SHP format in that it contains both spatial data and attribute data. However, unlike SHP, it stores both types of data in a single file rather than a set of files.
To export drawing objects to SDF
- In the Planning And Analysis Workspace, click
. 
- In the Export Location dialog box, select the Autodesk SDF file format and a location for the exported files. Click OK.
- In the Export dialog box, specify how to export objects. To use settings that you stored previously, click Load and select the profile containing the settings.
- On the Selection tab, specify the objects to export.
- To select a subset of objects, click Select manually and choose either Select Objects or Quick Select.
- To filter the selection to export only objects on specific layers or in specific classes, specify the layers and classes to include.
- To export polygons from a polygon topology, select the topology.
- To preview the objects that will be exported, click Preview Filtered Selection.
- On the Feature Class tab, do the following:
- To create multiple classes, select Create Multiple Classes Based On A Drawing Object.
- Click Select Attributes and select the data to export with the objects. Tip: If you are exporting data from an external database, you can export the entire record from the database or just the key fields. Because the key field values are stored in the map, choosing the key field (listed under Link Templates) makes the export faster.
- On the Options tab, select the options you want.
- To perform a coordinate conversion, you must have a coordinate system assigned to the map.
- Check Treat closed polylines as polygons (if it is available) unless you want only polygon objects to be exported as polygons.
- Click OK to begin the export process.