dgn-to-excel

The saved excerpt is a snapshot from review. The external source remains the complete and most current version.

---
name: "dgn-to-excel"
description: "Convert DGN files (v7-v8) to Excel databases. Extract elements, levels, and properties from infrastructure CAD files."
homepage: "https://datadrivenconstruction.io"
metadata: {"openclaw":{"emoji":"📄","os":["win32"],"homepage":"https://datadrivenconstruction.io","requires":{"bins":["python3","DgnExporter"]}}}
---

# DGN to Excel Conversion

## Business Case

### Problem Statement
DGN files are common in infrastructure and civil engineering:
- Transportation and highway design
- Bridge and tunnel projects
- Utility networks
- Rail infrastructure

Extracting structured data from DGN files for analysis and reporting can be challenging.

### Solution
Convert DGN files to structured Excel databases, supporting both v7 and v8 formats.

### Business Value
- **Infrastructure support** - Civil engineering focused
- **Legacy format support** - V7 and V8 DGN files
- **Data extraction** - Levels, cells, text, geometry
- **Batch processing** - Process multiple files
- **Structured output** - Excel format for analysis

## Technical Implementation

### CLI Syntax
```bash
DgnExporter.exe <input_dgn>
```

### Supported Versions
| Version | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| V7 DGN | Legacy MicroStation format (pre-V8) |
| V8 DGN | Modern MicroStation format |
| V8i DGN | MicroStation V8i format |

### Output Format
| Output | Description |
|--------|-------------|
| `.xlsx` | Excel database with all elements |

### Examples

```bash
# Basic conversion
DgnExporter.exe "C:\Projects\Bridge.dgn"

# Batch processing
for /R "C:\Infrastructure" %f in (*.dgn) do DgnExporter.exe "%f"

# PowerShell batch
Get-ChildItem "C:\Projects\*.dgn" -Recurse | ForEach-Object {
    & "C:\DDC\DgnExporter.exe" $_.FullName
}
```

### Python Integration

```python
import subprocess
import pandas as pd
from pathlib import Path
from typing import List, Optional, Dict, Any
from dataclasses import dataclass
from enum import Enum


class DGNElementType(Enum):
    """DGN element types."""
    CELL_HEADER = 2
    LINE = 3
    LINE_STRING = 4
    SHAPE = 6
    TEXT_NODE = 7
    CURVE = 11
    COMPLEX_CHAIN = 12
    COMPLEX_SHAPE = 14
    ELLIPSE = 15
    ARC = 16
    TEXT = 17
    SURFACE = 18
    SOLID = 19
    BSPLINE_CURVE = 21
    POINT_STRING = 22
    DIMENSION = 33
    SHARED_CELL = 35


@dataclass
class DGNElement:
    """Represents a DGN element."""
    element_id: int
    element_type: int
    type_name: str
    level: int
    color: int
    weight: int
    style: int

    # Geometry
    range_low_x: Optional[float] = None
    range_low_y: Optional[float] = None
    range_low_z: Optional[float] = None
    range_high_x: Optional[float] = None
    range_high_y: Optional[float] = None
    range_high_z: Optional[float] = None

    # Cell/Text specific
    cell_name: Optional[str] = None
    text_content: Optional[str] = None


@dataclass
class DGNLevel:
    """Represents a DGN level."""
    number: int
    name: str
    is_displayed: bool
    is_frozen: bool
    element_count: int


class DGNExporter:
    """DGN to Excel converter using DDC DgnExporter CLI."""

    def __init__(self, exporter_path: str = "DgnExporter.exe"):
        self.exporter = Path(exporter_path)
        if not self.exporter.exists():
            raise FileNotFoundError(f"DgnExporter not found: {exporter_path}")

    def convert(self, dgn_file: str) -> Path:
        """Convert DGN file to Excel."""
        dgn_path = Path(dgn_file)
        if not dgn_path.exists():
            raise FileNotFoundError(f"DGN file not found: {dgn_file}")

        cmd = [str(self.exporter), str(dgn_path)]
        result = subprocess.run(cmd, capture_output=True, text=True)

        if result.returncode != 0:
            raise RuntimeError(f"Export failed: {result.stderr}")

        return dgn_path.with_suffix('.xlsx')

    def batch_convert(self, folder: str,
                      include_subfolders: bool = True) -> List[Dict[str, Any]]:
        """Convert all DGN files in fold