[mapserver-users] Converting Cad .dxf to .shp files

[klehr1 at tampabay.rr.com]

I'm relatively new to GIS type files, though a decent perl/C programmer.  Anyway I have a DXF file that I'd like to convert to a shape file.  I have ArcView 3.2 (please no blasphemous remarks) and can convert the .dxf to the .shp but the generated .dbf file looks like junk, I was kind of hoping to see all the attributes within the .dxf layers neatly plugged into the .dbf file (as a normal .shp and .dbf would have).

I work with land parcel tables for municipalities, generally I receive a shape file, open up the dbf find the attributes I need, then write the map files to query the data I need.  

The dxf file has many layers, but I don't seem to see them in ArcView(or necessarily no how to get to that data).  Is there a good way to convert these files to pull out the attribute information of the lower dxf layers and put them into a decent .dbf file?  

The shape file looks good as far as visual appearance, I just need help building the parsing the lower layers into a decent .dbf

Thanks very much for your help and experiences.

Steve Lehr
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