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Layers Functional Bar

CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 0    Ribbon: HomeLayers > CAD software Layers Functional Bar 1 Layer Manager

CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 2    Ribbon: ManagePalettes > CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 3 Layer Manager

CAD software Layers Functional Bar 4    Menu: ViewToolbars > Functional > CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 5 Layer Manager

CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 6    Toolbar: FunctionalCAD software Layers Functional Bar 7 Layer Manager

CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 8  Command line: LAYERSQUICK

The Layers functional bar is designed to manage layers and their properties:

CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 9

CAD software Layers Functional Bar 10

At the top of the toolbar, immediately under the title, the name of the current layer and the Search for layer field are displayed (the search is carried out by the layer name):

CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 11

The field’s CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 12 Clear button resets the search results.

The bottom part of the toolbar contains information about the displayed layers, the total number of layers, the number of turned off, frozen and locked layers:

CAD software Layers Functional Bar 13

Below the name of the current layer there are buttons:

CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 14 Add

Adds a new layer.

CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 15 Add Layer VP Frozen in All Viewports

Adds a layer frozen in all viewports.

CAD software Layers Functional Bar 16 Delete

Deletes the selected layer.

CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 17 Layer walk

Enables view mode for only selected layers.

CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 18 Refresh

Regeneration.

CAD software Layers Functional Bar 19 Tree or CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 20 table view

Changes the presentation format of layers and their properties in the bar.

CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 21 Layer Settings

Manages the display options in the Layers bar and properties of layers included in external references.

The list of layers can be presented in a tree or table view. By default, the display mode is set to a tree view.

Table view of the list of layers

CAD software Layers Functional Bar 22

The table view displays layer properties as a table with columns:

CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 23 Status

Indicator of the content of objects on the layer.

     CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 24

The current layer.

     CAD software Layers Functional Bar 25

The layer contains objects.

     CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 26

The layer contains no objects.

     CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 27 CAD software Layers Functional Bar 28

Xref layers (a layer contains/does not contain objects).

     CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 29 CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 30 CAD software Layers Functional Bar 31

The layer has properties override enabled in the viewport (layer is current, layer contains/does not contain objects).

Name

Displays the layer name.

CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 32 On

Displays the layer's visibility icon.

CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 33 Freeze

Displays the layer's freeze icon.

CAD software Layers Functional Bar 34 Lock

Displays the layer's lock icon.

Color

Displays the layer’s color.

Linetype

Displays the layer's linetype.

Lineweight

Displays the layer's lineweight.

Transparency

Displays layer’s transparency.

Plot Style

Displays the layer's plot style.

CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 35 Plot

Displays the plot resolution for the layer.

CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 36 New VP Freeze

Displays the icon of the layer freeze in a new viewport.

Description

Brief information about the layer.

Covering

Displays the layer covering.

When working in paper space and with a current paper viewport, columns with information about the parameters of layers in the current viewport are added to the layer list table:

CAD software Layers Functional Bar 37 VP Freeze

Displays the icon of the layer freeze in the current viewport.

VP Color

Displays the layer’s color in the current viewport.

VP Line Type

Displays the layer’s linetype in the current viewport.

VP Line Weight

Displays the layer’s line weight in the current viewport.

VP Transparency

Displays the layer’s transparency in the current viewport.

VP Plot Style

Displays the layer’s plot style in the current viewport.

Double-clicking the left mouse button on the column title separator automatically changes the width of columns:

CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 38

Tree view of the list of layers

CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 39

In the tree view, the left column displays the names of the layers, and the right one displays the properties.

The Properties column displays the following options: Status, Color (VP Color), Layer Visibility, Frozen, Locked, Plot, New VP Freeze, VP Freeze.

The remaining parameters are expanded as a list under the layer name when you left-click on the arrow to the left of the layer name:

CAD software Layers Functional Bar 40

CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 41

Search for Layers by Name

To quickly search for layers by name, use the Search for layer field in the upper right part of the dialog.

To search for layers by name:

4.    Enter the layer’s name or part of the name in the field to search.

As you type, only those elements whose names contain the entered expression remain in the list of layers.

CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 42

CAD software Layers Functional Bar 43

 

The following special characters can be used in the field:

 

Character

Corresponding characters in a layer’s name

*

Asterisk

Any sequence of characters.

?

Question mark

Any single character.

#

Hash

Any single digit.

@

At sign

Any single letter.

.

Dot

Any single character other than a letter or digit.

~

Tilde

Any sequence of characters except the one after the tilde.

[  ]

Square brackets

Any single character of those located inside brackets.

[~]

Tilde in square brackets

Any single character except those inside brackets.

[-]

Dash in square brackets

Any single character from the range starting with the character to the left of the dash and ending with the character to the right of the dash.

`

Backquote

A backquote indicates that the character that follows it is a regular character and not a special character.

Creating a New Layer

A newly created layer has properties set by default (the same as layer 0). If you select a layer before clicking the button, the properties of that layer will be used by default for the new layer. After creating a new layer, its properties can be modified.

To create a new layer:

5.    Click the CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 44 Add button.

To create a new layer frozen in all viewports:

6.    Click the CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 45 Add Layer VP Frozen in All Viewports button. A layer frozen in all viewports will have the CAD software Layers Functional Bar 46 icon next to its name in the VP Freeze column.

A new layer is added to the list of layers with the default name LayerN, where N is the sequential number of the created layer, starting from 1. The name assigned to the created layer by default can be changed. The name should contain at least one character. Layer names should not be duplicated. Invalid characters for a layer name: < > / \ “ ” : ; ? * | , = ` tab character.

A new layer can be also created by the context menu command Add or Add Layer VP Frozen in All Viewports.

Deleting a Layer

Layers that are not used in the document can be deleted. The current layer, even if it is not used in the document, cannot be deleted. You can remove several layers at once.

To delete a layer:

7.    Select one or more layers in the list.

 Click the CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 47 Delete dialog button

A layer can also be deleted using the Delete context menu command.

When deleting used layers that contain objects, the Delete command opens the Delete Used Layers dialog box to select deletion options:

CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 48

Delete layers and:

Selects an action with objects of the layer to be deleted.

Delete objects

Deletes the selected layer with all objects on it.

Change objects layer to

Moves objects of the layer being deleted. You can move objects to an automatically created new layer LayerN or select an existing layer from the list.

Copy ByLayer property values from layer

Saves the By Layer property values for objects being moved.

Authorize the removal of used layers:

Sets permission to delete layers with certain properties: Turned off, Frozen, Locked. These options are only available if the layers to be deleted contain these properties. The number of selected layers with this property is displayed in brackets.

Authorize the removal of current layer

Sets permission to delete the current layer.

Remove and make current

Selects the current layer from the list when deleting a previously installed one.

9.    After setting the parameters, click the Delete dialog button.

If there are layers in the selection for deletion that cannot be deleted, information about them (layer name and reason) is displayed in the Delete Layers dialog:

CAD software Layers Functional Bar 49

note         You can delete the Defpoints standard system layer using the LAYDEL command.

View mode for selected layers (layer walk)

In the selected layers view mode, the visibility of all layers except the selected ones is turned off, and when exiting the mode, it is restored to its previous position. This mode is convenient to use when there are a large number of layers in the drawing.

To view one or more selected layers:

10. Select one or more layers in the list with the left mouse button.

11. Enable the CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 50 Layer Walk button, in this case the visibility of all layers except the selected ones will be temporarily disabled. The CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 51 icon is displayed next to the selected layers in the CAD software Layers Functional Bar 52 column, indicating that these layers are visible in the drawing.

12. You can add other layers for viewing by left-clicking on the CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 53 icon in the CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 54 column (the icon changes to CAD software Layers Functional Bar 55).

13. Left-clicking on the CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 56 icon turns off the layer visibility (the icon changes to CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 57).

To exit the view mode for selected layers:

14. Disable the CAD software Layers Functional Bar 58 Layer Walk button.

The visibility of all turned off layers will be restored.

Layer Settings

To manage the display parameters of layers and the layer properties included in external references, use the Layer Settings dialog, which is opened by clicking the CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 59 button.

CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 60

Dialog options:

 

Indicate layers in use

Whether or not to mark unused layers in the list of layers.

The status of the used layers does not depend on the option.

The status of an unused layer when the option is enabled will look like this: CAD software Layers Functional Bar 61, CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 62 or CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 63; with the option disabled – CAD software Layers Functional Bar 64, CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 65 or CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 66.

Xref Layer Settings:

 

Retain/Don’t retain overrides to xref layer properties

Whether or not changes to the parameters of layers included in external references are retained.

Sorting Layers

The list of layers can be sorted by any parameter. To sort the list of layers by any parameter, just left-click on its column header.

The sorting direction is indicated by an arrow in the header of the sorted parameter.

CAD software Layers Functional Bar 67 CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 68

Editing Layer Parameters

Selecting layers from the list

A layer is selected by clicking on it with the left mouse button.

You can edit the parameters of several selected layers at once.

Holding down the SHIFT key selects all layers located between the first and last mouse click.

By holding down the CTRL key, you can add any layer from the list to the existing selection of layers by clicking the mouse.

All layers in the list are selected using the Select All context menu command. The Unselect All command deselects all selected layers in the list.

Renaming a Layer

The following layers cannot be renamed: Layer 0 and layers that depend on xrefs.

To rename a layer:

15. Select a layer in the list.

16. Left-click on the layer name or press the F2 key.

17. Enter a new layer name.

18. Press ENTER.

A layer can also be renamed using the Rename context menu command.

Setting a Layer Current

To set a layer current:

19. Left-click in the icon display column opposite the name of the selected layer. The CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 69 icon will be located opposite the selected layer, which indicates that this layer is the current one.

The current layer can also be selected using the Set Current context menu command.

Assigning Properties to a Layer

A layer can be assigned such properties as Color, Linetype, Lineweight, Transparency, Description and Covering, which will be inherited by all objects on that layer if these object properties are set to By Layer.

To assign Color, Linetype, Lineweight, Transparency, Description and Covering for one layer in a tree view of the list of layers:

20. Open the layer parameters by left-clicking on the arrow to the left of the layer name.

21. Left-click on the desired parameter.

22. Select the required parameter value from the drop-down list. For the Explanation property, in the Place for description... field, enter the explanatory text.

Color, Linetype, Lineweight, Transparency, Description and Covering can be set for several layers at once:

23. Change the presentation of layers to table view format using the CAD software Layers Functional Bar 70 button.

24. Select one or more layers in the list.

25. Left-click in the column of the desired property of one of the selected layers.

26. Select the required parameter value from the drop-down list. For the Explanation column, enter the explanatory text in the Place for description... field.

The description can also be changed using the Change Description context menu command.

Managing a Layer Visibility

Objects located on turned off layers are not displayed on the screen and are not printed, but take part in the drawing regeneration. However, when turning layers on/off, the drawing does not regenerate. In this regard, it is recommended to turn layers on/off in cases where this needs to be done frequently and when layers are turned off for a short time. Otherwise, it is better to freeze the layers.

Visible layers are indicated by the CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 71 icon. The CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 72 icon indicates that the visibility of this layer is turned off.

You can turn visibility on and off for several layers at once.

When you turn off the visibility of the current layer, a warning window appears.

CAD software Layers Functional Bar 73

To turn on/off a layer visibility:

27. Select one or more layers in the list.

28. Left-click in the column that displays the CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 74 (CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 75) icon next to the name of one of the selected layers.

note         You can manage the visibility of drawing objects not only by switching the visibility of the layer they lie on, but also directly using the commands for hiding and isolating objects.

Freezing a Layer

Objects located on frozen layers are not displayed on the screen, are not printed, and do not participate in drawing regeneration. Freezing unnecessary layers in large drawings can accelerate displaying and regenerating operations. However, the operation of thawing one or more layers leads to the drawing regeneration, which takes quite a long time. In this regard, layers should be frozen in cases where it is rarely necessary and when layers are frozen for a long time. Otherwise, it is better to turn off the visibility of layers.

Frozen layers are indicated by the CAD software Layers Functional Bar 76 icon, and thawed ones by CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 77.

You can freeze and thaw several layers at once. You cannot freeze the current ( CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 78 ) layer.

To freeze/thaw a layer:

29. Select one or more layers in the list.

30. Left-click in the column that displays the CAD software Layers Functional Bar 79 (CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 80) icon next to the name of one of the selected layers.

Freezing Layers in Layout Viewports

Layers can be frozen in individual layout viewports. This way, you can get different displays of the same objects in different viewports without creating additional (duplicate) geometry, for example, by creating two viewports for the same object and freezing the layer with design elements in the second viewport.

Layers frozen in the current viewport are indicated by the CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 81 icon.

The section of Managing Frozen Layers in Individual Viewports describes the VPLAYER command in detail.

To freeze a layer in the current viewport:

31. Activate the viewport by double-clicking on it with the left mouse button.

32. In the list of layers, select all layers to be frozen in the current viewport.

33. Freeze the selected layers by clicking on the CAD software Layers Functional Bar 82 icon for any selected layer.

The layer will be frozen only in this viewport and visible in all others. When printing a layout, the frozen layer will also not be plotted in just that one viewport.

To freeze a layer in all VPs:

     

1.    In the list of layers, select all layers that should be frozen in all viewports.

2.    Right-click on the selected layers to open the context menu and select the VP Freeze Layer > In All Viewports command.

The layers will be frozen and invisible in all viewports.

To freeze a layer on all VPs except the current one:

     

1.    Activate the viewport by double-clicking on it with the left mouse button.

2.    In the list of layers, select all layers that should be frozen in all viewports except the current one.

3.    Right-click on the selected layers to open the context menu and select the VP Freeze Layer > In All Viewports Except Current command.

The layers will be frozen and invisible in all viewports except the current one.

You can also use the LAYVPI command to freeze a layer in all layout viewports except the current one.

To thaw a layer in all VPs:

     

1.    In the list of layers, select all layers to be thawed in all viewports.

2.    Right-click on the selected layers to open the context menu and select the VP Thaw Layer in All Viewports command.

The layers will be thawed and visible in all viewports of all layouts.

Overriding Layer Properties in Viewports

Layer property override is a way to display objects in different layout viewports with different property values (color, linetype and lineweight, transparency) without changing the properties that are assigned with ByLayer or ByBlock values.

To override properties for the current layout viewport in a tree view of the list of layers:

3.    Activate the viewport by double-clicking on it with the left mouse button.

4.    Open the layer parameters by left-clicking on the arrow to the left of the layer name.

5.    Left-click on the desired property: VP Color, VP Linetype, VP Lineweight or VP Transparency.

6.    Select a value from the drop-down list.

To override properties for the current layout viewport for multiple layers:

7.    Change the presentation of layers to table format using the CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 83 button.

8.    Select one or more layers in the list.

9.    Left-click in the property column (VP Color, VP Linetype, VP Lineweight or VP Transparency) of one of the selected layers.

10. Select a value from the drop-down list.

The parameters will be changed only in that layout viewport. In other viewports and in Mjodel space, these parameters will remain unchanged.

Layers that have property overrides in viewports are highlighted in blue and the status indicator for such layers has changed:

CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 84

Removing Viewport Layer Property Overrides

To cancel overrides of layer properties in viewports, use the Remove Viewport Overrides for context menu command.

CAD software Layers Functional Bar 85

Command options:

Selected Layers

Removes property overrides for selected layers.

Removal can be made:

In Current Viewport only

In All Viewports.

All Layers

Removes property overrides in all layers.

Removal can be made:

In Current Viewport only

In All Viewports.

Locking a Layer to Make Changes

Objects located on locked layers are displayed on the screen, but they cannot be edited. You can create new objects on a locked layer. For a locked layer, you can change the color, linetype and lineweight, and allow or disallow its printing.

Locked layers are indicated by the CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 86 icon, and unlocked layers are indicated by the CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 87 icon.

You can lock and unlock several layers at once.

To lock/unlock a layer:

11. Select one or more layers in the list.

12. Left-click in the column that displays the CAD software Layers Functional Bar 88 (CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 89) icon next to the name of one of the selected layers.

There is a mode for enabling the selection of objects on locked layers to view their properties and use object snap.

To be able to select objects on locked layers:

In the status bar, enable the CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 90 Select objects on locked layers button.

Managing Layer Availability for Plotting

The CAD software Layers Functional Bar 91 icon displayed as an outline indicates that objects located on the layer will be plotted. Objects on layers marked with the CAD drawing Layers Functional Bar 92 icon will not be plotted.

You can enable or disable printing for several layers at once.

To prohibit/allow a layer to be plotted:

13. Select one or more layers in the list.

14. Left-click in the column that displays the CAD drafting Layers Functional Bar 93 (CAD software Layers Functional Bar 94) icon next to the name of one of the selected layers.

 

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