Layer

Option

Description

New

Creates new layers with the generic name "NewLayer1". The new layer that is created copies the properties of the currently selected layer.

Delete

Deletes layers, except for the following, which cannot be deleted:

• 0
• Any layer with entities

Purge

Purges layers from the current drawing, except for the following layers, which cannot be purged:

• 0
• The current layer
• Any layer with entities

Xref symbols On/Off

Toggle the display of Xref layers ("symbols"):

• On - layers from xref'ed drawings are displayed
• Off - layers from xref'ed drawings are not displayed

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:

• All - the only layer filter that appears in all drawings, and displays all layers
• Viewport Overrides - you've overridden the properties of a viewport layer
• Xref - the drawing has externally referenced drawings attached
• 'xref name' - the name of each xref'ed drawing (note that layers from xref'ed drawings are prefixed automatically with the drawing's name)

Display Filter Panel

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.

•  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.

Invert Filter

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.

Current

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:

•  - Layer is current
•  - Layer is not empty
•  - Layer is empty

In paper space layouts or viewports (model space with floating viewports), the following icons indicate when viewport overrides exist:

•  - Viewport overrides exist and layer is current
•  - Viewport overrides exist and layer is not empty
•  - Viewport overrides exist and layer is empty

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:

• On - displays entities on the layer
• Off - hides entities from view; entities are included in the calculation of extents

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:

• Thaw - displays entities on the layer
• Freeze - hides entities from view; entities are excluded in the calculation of extents, and are not exported with commands such as WBlock

Locked

Toggles the selected layers between locked and unlocked. To change the status, select one or more layers, and then click a padlock icon:

• Unlocked - allows entities to be edited
• Locked - prevents entities from being edited; entities are still visible

Color

Specifies the color of the layer. The default color is white (black). To change the color:

1. Choose one or more layers
2. Click a color square to display the Select Color dialog box; see Color command
3. Choose a color, and then click OK

Linetype

Specifies the linetype of selected layers. The default linetype is "Continuous." To change the linetype:

1. Choose one or more layers
2. Click a linetype sample
3. Choose one from the droplist

To load additional linetype definitions:

1. Click the Load option.
2. In the Load Linetypes dialog box, choose a linetype, and then click OK. See Linetype command.

Lineweight

Specifies the linetype of selected layers. Default is "Default." To change the lineweight:

1. Choose one or more layers
2. Click the lineweight sample
3. From the droplist, choose another 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:

1. Choose one or more layers
2. Click the transparency number
3. From the droplist, choose another number

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"

1. Choose one or more layers
2. Click a plot style name
3. From the droplist, choose another style name

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:

•  Print- prints the layer
• No Print - does not print the layer

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:

• Thaw - displays entities on the layer in the new viewport
• Freeze - initially hides entities from view when the viewport is created

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:

1. Select one or more layers.
2. Click the Material field.
3. Click again to display the droplist, containing the materials available in the drawing.
4. Select a material in the list.

When you need to add more materials to the drawing, see the Materials command.

Preview

Displays the entities on the selected layer.

Header Option

Description

VP Freeze

Freezes the layer in the current layout; overrides the freeze/thaw setting in model space

Specifies the color of entities on this layer in the current layout; overrides the color setting in model space

Specifies the linetype for entities in the current layout; overrides the linetype setting in model space

Specifies the lightweight in the current layout; overrides the lightweight setting in model space

Specifies the transparency of entities on this layer in the current layout; overrides the transparency setting in model space

Specifies the plot style name in the current layout; overrides the plot style setting in model space

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
Icons
Tree

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:

•  - Layer is not empty
•  - Layer is empty

Apply layer filter to layer toolbar

Applies the current layer filter to the Layer control on the Entity Properties toolbar.

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

[~]

Specifies any one of the characters not found in the square brackets.

For example, LA[~YB] matches LAD but not LAY or LAB

[-]

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.

Option

Keystroke

Description

New

Ctrl+N

Creates a new layer.

Delete

Ctrl+D

Deletes layers from the drawing, except for the following ones:

• 0
• Any layer with entities

Purge

Ctrl+P

Purges layers from the current drawing, except for the following ones:

• 0
• Current layer
• Any layer with entities

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:

• For current viewport - removes overrides from the current viewport
• For all viewports - removes overrides from all viewports in the drawing

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.

Shortcut Option

Description

0
Defpoints

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.