Bryson Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 So, Excel thing works. Thanks all. Today's issue is AutoCAD... I have a (pre-existing) drawing of my theatre. It's an old one, so I can't go back to the originator. Whoever drew it incorporated the lights in the Key into the "Instruments" layer rather than the "key" layer. No problem, I thought. I changed the lights to be in the key layer, but they still appear and disappear when I turn on and off the instruments layer. I've checked and they are in the "key" layer, at least as far as the object properties says... Am I missing a step? (I'm a bit more used to Vectorworks these days, and 2009 is very new to me anyway..) I can even send you the DWG if you feel really helpful... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Hmmm. Don't know AutoCad so can't offer any specific solutions. Can make a couple of educated guesses, however, based on experience of other CAD progs! You could try exploding each of the symbols into individual entities, changing the layer, and re-grouping. Or could you just erase what's there and insert a new instance of each symbol onto the correct layer? Perhaps that's just a bit too easy .... :** laughs out loud **: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 grum is pretty good on autocad - drop him a pm he might be able to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryson Posted February 6, 2009 Author Share Posted February 6, 2009 Or could you just erase what's there and insert a new instance of each symbol onto the correct layer? Perhaps that's just a bit too easy .... :** laughs out loud **: I think that might be a solution, but I just can't see why my current method doesn't work. It's a bit clunky, though. You could try exploding each of the symbols into individual entities, changing the layer, and re-grouping.I'll try that, but again, surely my method should work? The weird thing is, it does work on some things...but not others. Odd. A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on. Aha...Seems like the lights are indeed "blocks" where the individual components have a different layer to the whole. Surely there must be a way to do this other than the long way round? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 You could try exploding each of the symbols into individual entities, changing the layer, and re-grouping.I'll try that, but again, surely my method should work? The weird thing is, it does work on some things...but not others. Odd. A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on. Aha...Seems like the lights are indeed "blocks" where the individual components have a different layer to the whole. Surely there must be a way to do this other than the long way round?I'm not sure if there's a way around this. I often encounter this with TurboCad - entities which have been grouped sometimes (but not always) need to be exploded, modified and regrouped if their properties are to be altered. TurboCad, although much further down the CAD 'ladder' than AutoCad, clearly suffers from some of the same quirks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benash Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 If you block something with a different layer to "Layer 0" it will retain that layer no matter what you do to the block. the only way I know to get around it is to explode the block, change layer to '0' and then re-block it. Make sure when you re-do the block that you use the original block (not one that has been flipped or rotated) and that your base point is the same otherwise all your blocks will get moved out of place. There may be other layers that will do what I'm saying, perhaps if all the line properties are set to 'by layer' but I always make sure everything is in '0' before I block it. Send me the dwg and I'll have a play with it at work. Cheers, Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 At least in autocad 2005 you can 'edit block' which I believe allows you to change the layers of the items inside the block. There may also be a downloadable tool that someone has written for you to change a block's contents layer automagically Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roderick Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 AutoCad is a bit(!) clumsy when it comes to blocks and has some odd ideas about what it 'helpful'.The trick is indeed to make sure all parts of the block are created on the '0' layer, then it will behave and sit on the layer you wanted it. If you have any problems, please send me the drawing and I'll fix it for you, won't take long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac.calder Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Often the fixtures are created as blocks on special layers for a specific reason - ie all of mine have the instrument on the 0 layer, then an assortment of text fields on different layers so that I can turn on the labels I want to see when I print it out... That said, I believe it is better to keep the instrument on 0 so that it is possible to show only the instruments you want/need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamharman Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 I've just tried changing things between layers on Autocad 2000 and that works ok, all objects come and go with the layers like you'd expect. Maybe it's a "feature" of 2009? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryson Posted February 8, 2009 Author Share Posted February 8, 2009 The Block Editor was the "step" I was missing. Thanks all! Given the amount of "helpful" messages AutoCAD 2009 pops up about obvious things (Example, when I close the quick properties window it insists on telling me that I'm closing the quick properties window but it's ok, I can have it back later...) a message saying "you have just changed the layer on a block. Individual items in the block will retain their original layer assignments" might have been helpful...but no. Just the obvious stuff.... Sigh... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryson Posted February 8, 2009 Author Share Posted February 8, 2009 So, here's today's query: Is there a keyboard command (or toolbar button) for "Lock all layers except the current layer"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roderick Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 So, here's today's query: Is there a keyboard command (or toolbar button) for "Lock all layers except the current layer"?Probably not, that would be too handy and user friendly :huh: The quick way to do this is to use 'Layer Properties Manager', the button left of the Layer list, highlight all layer (click & shift-click), lock all layers and then unlock the current layer. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryson Posted February 8, 2009 Author Share Posted February 8, 2009 It looks like there may be a way with LAYISO (Layer Isolate) It says "hides or locks all layers other than that of the selected object, according to current setting" The default seems to be to hide them all. So the question is, how do I change that setting to lock rather than hide? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roderick Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Just had a look at that in AutoCad 2009.You can change the setting in Settings: Type LAYISO and the S and 'enter'Select between 'Off' & 'Lock & Fade', you'll be looking for 'Lock & Fade'.What it appears to be doing is lock all other layers and fade them to show the working layer more clearly, but you can set the level of 'Fade' in the same settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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