  The production of $D^{*\pm}$, $D^\pm$ and $D_s^\pm$ charmed mesons has been
measured with the ATLAS detector in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV at the
LHC, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $280\,$nb$^{-1}$.
The charmed mesons have been reconstructed in the range of transverse momentum
$3.5<p_{\rm T}(D)<100$ GeV and pseudorapidity $|\eta(D)|<2.1$. The differential
cross sections as a function of transverse momentum and pseudorapidity were
measured for $D^{*\pm}$ and $D^\pm$ production. The next-to-leading-order QCD
predictions are consistent with the data in the visible kinematic region within
the large theoretical uncertainties. Using the visible $D$ cross sections and
an extrapolation to the full kinematic phase space, the strangeness-suppression
factor in charm fragmentation, the fraction of charged non-strange $D$ mesons
produced in a vector state, and the total cross section of charm production at
$\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV were derived.
