Re: DXP2004
sigint - You are correct about being able to EXPORT netlists in many formats from most EDA packages. The problem is what you can do with the netlist once you read it into another, different, EDA package.
The netlist contains component names, pin numbers and names, as well as net names. In order for the EDA package to understand the netlist, you must have created a library of components that match the parameters in the netlist you try to load. For example, if the component in Orcad had a pin named A1 on a component name TQFP44, then DXP would have to have the exact same component name and pin number - TQFP_44, pin 1A would not correspond. Otherwise, what you will get in DXP is an ECO list of the components and pins in the netlist next to a list of components and pins of the placed components in the PCB editor, and you will have to match them pin-by-pin.
If it is a small board with few pins, it isn't much work. But if you have a 1000-2000 pin board, you're going to spend some time matching up the netlist. That is what I meant when I said above that you need to do some processing on the netlist. NO EDA package will let you import a raw, unprocessed, netlist from another EDA package - even if the format can be matched, there is still work to be done. The smoothest solution is still to bring in the schematic and generate the netlist from the EDA program that is going to have to use that netlist.
The question was "How does one import an Orcad netlist into DXP2004". The answer is you can't directly - you have to take an indirect path that involves manual labor. The manual labor can require more effort than reworking the schematic if the circuit is large. Been there - done that - many times over the 45 years I've been in the business (sigint - before you correct me again, only 30 something years of that has been with computer software).