Difference of drivers?

Difference of drivers?

Most of my work is finalized in Autocad R-11/12 as it gets sent to a laser cutting machine. In talking to the machine software designer, they used the H-PGL driver from Autocad R-10 as a basis for machine operations. Their system is to have Autocad write the drawing to a PLT file and then some conversion takes place and begin cutting.

Although we can get any version of Autocad to write out a plot file in proper HPGL format, there seems to be a difference in version formats. The laser machines move quite slowly, and the line drawing or sorting function has to be different between R-11/12 files and any more modern versions. Doing a file direct from a more modern version of Autocad will cut OK, won't miss any linework, but it is the constant searching around for the next element that wastes our time. Five seconds in time saved on the standard pen plotter equates to about 60-90 on the laser machine. Filtering our new drawings through Autocad R-11/12 to obtain results from the earlier version has "production" benefits.

Is there a difference in how the earlier version of plot drivers work than the later?

Wm.