Creates layers and layer states, changes their properties, and removes layers through the Drawing Explorer dialog box.
Note: This dialog box must be closed to return to the drawing, unlike the Layers panel, which can remain open at all times; see the LayersPanelOpen command.
Accessing the Command
command bar: layer
aliases: la
ddlmodes
explayers
menu bar: Settings | Layers
Tools | Drawing Explorer | Layers
toolbar: Entity Properties |
Layers |
ribbon: Home | Settings | Drawing Explorer | Layers
Home | Layers | Layers
status bar: Layer field ( 0 )
: layer
Displays the Layers section of the Drawing Explorer dialog box:
Create layers or modify layer properties, and then click X.
Press F1 to access help.
Properties of Layers in Viewports
When you open the Drawing Explorer - Layers dialog when in paper space, additional columns are displayed: VP Freeze, VP Color, VP Linetype, VP Lineweight, and VP Plot Style, where VP is short for viewport.
By default, these columns match the corresponding model space settings, but viewport layer properties can be set differently for each layout and for each paper space viewport. If the SHOWLAYERUSAGE variable is on, then the Layer Usage icons indicate when viewport settings for the current layout and paper space viewport are different from model space settings:
: Current layer with viewport overrides.
: Layer with viewport overrides.
: Empty layer with viewport overrides.
If no paper space viewport is active, then the settings apply to entities in the current layout. If a viewport is active, then viewport settings override the BYLAYER properties in the current viewport.
The VP Freeze setting ( or
) allows you to control the visibility of model space entities in the current viewport. The New setting controls whether a layer is either Frozen (
) are Thawed (
) in new paper space viewports.
Command Options
Option |
Description |
|
Creates new layers with the generic name "NewLayer1". The new layer that is created copies the properties of the currently selected layer. |
|
Deletes layers, except for the following, which cannot be deleted:
|
|
Purges layers from the current drawing, except for the following layers, which cannot be purged:
|
|
Toggle the display of Xref layers ("symbols"):
|
|
Filter the names of layers to shorten longer lists of layers. As you type characters, the program displays the layer names containing the text. Any layers containing the sequence of characters are listed, no matter where in the layer name the sequence is located. For example, entering "do" returns layers named DOOR and WINDOW. |
Filter Used |
Displays the current layer filter, if any are defined in the current drawing. Click the down-arrow button to choose a different layer filter The program creates the following layer filters automatically:
|
|
Toggles the display of the Filter Panel on and off. You can think of layer filters as "layer groups," groups of layers that you need to show or turn on-off all at once. The program creates layer filters in certain cases automatically, as described above.
|
|
Inverts the content of current filter, so that the dialog box displays all layers not included in the filter. For example, to see all layers not in an xref'ed drawing, choose the Xref filter, and then click Invert Filter. |
|
Specifies the current working layer. Only one layer can be current at a time. |
If the SHOWLAYERUSAGE variable is on, then following icons display in the Layer Usage column:
In paper space layouts or viewports (model space with floating viewports), the following icons indicate when viewport overrides exist:
The Indicate layers in use item in the View menu toggles the SHOWLAYERUSAGE system variable ON/Off. |
|
|
|
Header Options |
Description |
Layer Name |
Specifies the name of the layer. In long lists of layers, you can type a character to jump to the first layer starting with that character, such as 'd' for DOORS. To sort the layer names from A to Z, click the Layer Name header; to reverse the order from Z to A, click the header a second time. To rename a layer:
|
Description |
(optional) Describes the content of the layer. Click the field, and then type. |
On/Off |
Toggles the selected layers between on and off. To change the status, select one or more layers, and then click a lightbulb icon:
|
Freeze |
Toggles the selected layers between frozen and thawed. To change the status, select one or more layers, and then click a sun/snowflake icon:
|
Locked |
Toggles the selected layers between locked and unlocked. To change the status, select one or more layers, and then click a padlock icon:
|
Color |
Specifies the color of the layer. The default color is white (black). To change the color:
|
Linetype |
Specifies the linetype of selected layers. The default linetype is "Continuous." To change the linetype:
To load additional linetype definitions:
|
Lineweight |
Specifies the linetype of selected layers. Default is "Default." To change the lineweight:
See LWeight command. |
Transparency |
Sets the transparency of entities on the selected layer(s) between 0 (fully opaque) and 90 (fully transparent); the default is 0. To change the transparency:
The 2DWireframe visual style ignores this setting; instead, use the TRANSPARENCYDISPLAY variable to control the level of transparency. |
Plot Style |
Specifies the plot style of selected layers, if plot styles are enabled in the current drawing. The default is "Color_7." To change the plot style"
By default, plot styles are not enabled in drawings. To add plot styles to the drawing, see the PlotStyle command. |
Plot |
Toggles selected layers between being printed and not printed. To change the status, select one or more layers, and then click the printer icon:
Some layers created by the program also do not print by default, such as DefPoints. |
New VP |
Specifies whether the layer is visible (thawed) or invisible (frozen) when you make a new viewport (VP) in a layout tab. To change the status, select one or more layers, and then click a sun/snowflake icon:
See the MView command. |
Material |
Specifies the material of selected layers. The default is material is name "Global." To change the material assigned to one or more layers:
When you need to add more materials to the drawing, see the Materials command. |
Preview |
Displays the entities on the selected layer. |
Viewport Headers
The following headers appear when you switch to from model tab to a layout tab, and then open the Drawing Explorer:
Header Option |
Description |
VP Freeze |
Freezes the layer in the current layout; overrides the freeze/thaw setting in model space |
VP Color |
Specifies the color of entities on this layer in the current layout; overrides the color setting in model space |
VP Linetype |
Specifies the linetype for entities in the current layout; overrides the linetype setting in model space |
VP Lineweight |
Specifies the lightweight in the current layout; overrides the lightweight setting in model space |
VP Transparency |
Specifies the transparency of entities on this layer in the current layout; overrides the transparency setting in model space |
VP Plotstyle |
Specifies the plot style name in the current layout; overrides the plot style setting in model space |
About Layer Filters
You can think of layer filters as "layer groups," groups of layers that you need to show or turn on-or-off all at once. The program creates layer filters in certain cases automatically, as described above.
- To apply a filter, select its name in the list
- To make a new layer filter, click the New button (
); see the Layer Property Filter dialog box below
- To delete selected filter(s), click the Delete button (
); filters created by the program, such as All and Xrefs, cannot be deleted
To create a new layer filter definition:
-
Click the New button (
) on the Filter Panel toolbar. The Layer Property Filter dialog box displays:
- Filter Name - enter a name for the filter in the Filter Name field. It can be descriptive of which layers the filter displays, such as 'Door and Windows.'
- Layer Name - enter a layer name in the Layer Name field. You can use wildcards, such as ? and * to specify more than one layer with a similar name, such as Doors-* for Doors-Exterior and Doors-Interior.
-
Properties - to specify which layers to include according to their properties, select a property (such as Freeze), and the filter includes all layer(s) that currently are frozen.
- Click OK to save the layer filter.
- To use a layer filter, click on its name in either the Filters panel or from the Filters droplist. Notice that the layers shown in the Drawing Explorer changes.
About the View Menu
The View menu on the Drawing Explorer's menu bar contains options specific to layers:
Option |
Description |
Drawings |
Toggles the display of the Drawings panel (left side of the Drawing Explorer). |
Details |
Toggles the display of the Layers panel. |
Preview |
Toggles the display of the Preview panel at the bottom of the Drawing Explorer. |
StatusBar |
Toggles the display of the Status Bar at the very bottom of the Drawing Explorer. |
Filters |
Toggles the display of the Filters panel. |
Details |
Only the Details view is available for layers. |
Regen |
Forces the drawing display to be regenerated. See the Regen command. |
Regen at Each Change |
Toggles the automatic regeneration of the drawing display each time you make a change in the Drawing Explorer. |
Show/Hide XRef Symbols |
Toggles the display of layers from externally-referenced drawings (the word Symbols should be 'Drawings'). |
Indicate Layers in Use |
Toggles the SHOWLAYERUSAGE variable On/Off to show or not show the in-use and not-in-use icons in the Current column:
|
Apply layer filter to layer toolbar |
Applies the current layer filter to the Layer control on the Entity Properties toolbar. |
About Wild-Card Characters
Wild-card characters can be used in the Filter text field and in Filter definitions to filter layers by name.
Character |
ASCII code* |
Description |
# |
35 |
# matches any digit For example, ## matches 12 and 34 but not 5 or 123 |
@ |
64 |
Matches any alphabetic character, so not digits or symbols For example, @@@@@ matches all 5-letter layer names |
. |
46 |
Matches non-alphanumeric characters, so symbols but not letters or numbers For example, .* matches all layer names starting with an non-alphanumeric character such as _SITEPLAN and +1_LEVEL |
* |
42 |
Matches any string, including letters, numbers, and characters. For example, A* matches all layer names starting with the letter A |
? |
63 |
Matches any single character. For example, ?AB* matches LABORATORY and CABARET but not STABLE, because STABLE begins with two letters and the ? specifies a single letter |
~ |
126 |
Negative match, in which any string but the pattern is returned. For example, ~*A* matches all layer names not containing the letter A |
[] |
91 93 |
Matches any one of the characters enclosed inside the square brackets. For example, LA[YB] matches LAY and LAB |
[~] |
91 126 93 |
Specifies any one of the characters not found in the square brackets. For example, LA[~YB] matches LAD but not LAY or LAB |
[-] |
91 45 93 |
Specifies a range for a single character in the layer name. For example, LAY-[A-E] matches any combination of LAY- and A through E, such as LAY-A ... LAY-E but not LAY-F |
` |
96 |
Matches the next string exactly to find a layer name that contains a wild-card character when it is prefixed by the reverse quote character. Use ` to search for layer names that include characters like ? and ~. For example, `~LAY* matches ~LAY-1,~LAYER-1, and ~LAY-B. |
* ASCII code: if a character is not available on the keyboard, press and hold the Alt-key and then type the ASCII code on the numeric keypad.
Shortcut Menu Options
Right-click a layer name to see the following shortcut menu:
The keystrokes listed work only in the Drawing Explorer.
Option |
Keystroke |
Description |
New |
Ctrl+N |
Creates a new layer. |
Delete |
Ctrl+D |
Deletes layers from the drawing, except for the following ones:
|
Purge |
Ctrl+P |
Purges layers from the current drawing, except for the following ones:
|
Cut |
Ctrl+X |
Cuts the layer and its properties to the Clipboard, which can then be pasted elsewhere in the Drawing Explorer, such as into the layer system of another drawing. |
Copy |
Ctrl+C |
Copies the layer and its properties to the Clipboard. |
Paste |
Ctrl+V |
Pastes the layer from the Clipboard into Drawing Explorer. |
Rename |
Renames the selected layer. |
|
Select All |
Selects all layers. |
|
Set Current |
Specifies the current working layer. Only one layer can be current at a time. |
|
Remove Viewport Overrides |
Removes overrides from properties that were set differently for viewports: From Selected Layers - select an option:
From All Layers - removes the overrides form all layers in the drawing for either the current viewport or all viewports. |
|
Isolate Selected Layers |
Dims the entities on all other layers, except for the one(s) selected. Use the LayUnIso command to unisolate layers. See the LayIso command. |
About the Status Bar Menu
Right-click 0 (or other layer name) on the status bar for the shortcut menu:
Shortcut Option |
Description |
0 |
Chooses the current working layer. When the drawing contains additional layers, their names are listed here. |
Properties |
Opens the Layers section of the Drawing Explorer. |
Procedures
Related Commands
-Layer - creates layers and changes their properties in the command bar.
LayersPanelOpen - opens the Layers panel, which allows to edit the layers in the current drawing, apply layer states and layer filters.
LayersPanelClose - closes the Layers panel.
LayerState - saves and restores layer states.
LayMCur - changes the working layer to that of a selected entity
LayFrz - freezes layers associated with selected entities.
LayThw - thaws all frozen layers.
LayIso - isolates layers associated with selected entities.
LayLck - locks layers associated with selected entities.
LayUlk - unlocks layers associated with selected entities.
LayOff - turns off layers associated with selected entities.
LayOn - turns on all layers that have been turned off.
Materials - creates materials and edits their properties through the Drawing Explorer.
VpLayer - changes the properties of layers in the current paperspace viewport.
Explorer - Opens the Drawing Explorer dialog box.