Layer

Creates layers, changes their properties, and removes layers through the Drawing Explorer.

Accessing the Command

command bar: layer

aliases: la, ddlmodes, explayers

menu bar: Settings | Layers and Tools | Drawing Explorer | Layers

toolbar: Entity Properties | and 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.

Viewport Layer Properties

When you open the Drawing Explorer - Layers dialog when in paper space, additional columns display: New, VP Freeze, VP Color, VP Linetype, VP Lineweight and VP Plot Style (VP is short for Viewport). By default, these columns match the corresponding model space settings. VP layer properties can be set differently for each layout and for each paper space viewport.

If SHOWLAYERUSAGE is on, the Layer Usage icons indicate whether VP settings for the current layout or paper space viewport are different from the model space settings:

: Current layer with VP overrides.
: Layer with VP overrides.
: Empty layer with VP overrides.

If no paper space viewport is active, the VP settings apply to entities in the current layout.
If a viewport is active, the VP settings override the BYLAYER properties in the current viewport.
The VP Freeze setting ( or )allows 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 a new paper space viewport.

Create or modify VP layer properties, and then click X.

Press F1 to access help.

To remove VP Layer properties overrides:

Select the layer(s), then right click and choose Remove Viewport Overrides in the context menu.
The options are:
From Selected Layers
- For Current Viewport
- For All Viewports
From All Layers
- For Current Viewport
- For All Viewports

View Menu

Option	Description
Drawings	Toggles the display of the Drawings panel.
Details	Toggles the display of the Details panel.
Preview	Toggles the display of the Preview panel.
StatusBar	Toggles the display of the Status Bar.
Filters	Toggles the display of the Filters panel.
Details	Switches the display in the Details panel to Details view.
Icons	Switches the display in the Details panel to Icons view.
Regen	Forces the drawing display to be regenerated.
Toggle Regen	Toggles the automatic regen of the drawing display.
Show XRef Layers	Toggles the display of Xref layers in the Details panel.
Indicate layers in use	Toggles the SHOWLAYERUSAGE system variable On/Off.
Apply layer filter to layer toolbar	Applies the current layer filter to the Layer control on the Entity Properties toolbar.

Command Options

Option	Description
New	Creates new layers. A new layer is created as a copy of the currently selected layer.
Delete	Deletes layers from Drawing Explorer. The following layers cannot be deleted: 0 Any layer with entities.
Purge	Purges layers from the current drawing. The following layers cannot be purged: 0 Current layer. Any layer with entities.
Filter Text	If pressed, displays layers of which the name fits the Filter Text field only: layers starting with 'a' layers containing 'hatch' layers of which the third character is 'a' layer names of 5 characters long Accepted wild-card characters are listed in the Wild-Card Table below.
Filter Used	Displays the current layer filter. Click the down-arrow button to choose a different layer filter. All and All Used Layers are built-in layer filters. Choose All to see all layers in the list; choose All Used Layers to list non-empty layers only. If the drawing contains external references (Xrefs) a layer filter definitions for Xref layers and for each Xref are created automatically. Choose Show XRef Layers in the View menu to display the Xref layers in the Details pane.
Display Filter Panel	To toggle the display of the Filter Panel On/Off do one of the following: Click the Display Filter Panel button (). Check/uncheck the Filters option in the View menu. If the drawing contains external references (Xrefs) a layer filter definitions for Xref layers and for each Xref are created automatically. Choose Show XRef Layers in the View menu to display the Xref layers in the Details pane. On the Filter Panel: Select a filter in the list to apply the filter. The caption on the Filter Used list button displays the selected filter. Click the New button () to create a new layer filter definition. Click the Delete button () to delete the selected filter(s). The All Used Layers built-in filter 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: Type a search string in the Filter Name field. Accepted wild-card characters are listed in the Wild-Card Table below. (option) Type a search string in the Layer Name field (see Filter Text). (option) Click a property column, then set a filter criterion for this property. Multiple properties can have criterion applied. (option) Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each new row in the layer filter definition. Click the OK button to save the layer filter.
Invert Filter	Click the Invert Filter button to invert the current filter.

Current	Specifies the current working layer. Only one layer can be current at a time.
	If the SHOWLAYERUSAGE system variable is ON, the following icons display in the Layer Usage column: layer is current layer is not empty layer is empty When in a paper space layout or in a paper space viewport (model space with floating viewports) the following icons indicate VP overrides exist: VP overrides exist and layer is current VP overrides exist and layer is not empty VP overrides exist and layer is empty The Indicate layers in use item in the View menu toggles the SHOWLAYERUSAGE system variable ON/Off.

Layer Name	Specifies the name of the layer. Click in the column, then type a character to jump to the first layer starting with that character. To rename: Click the name twice, slowly. Enter the new layer name.
Description	(option) Describes the content of the layer. Click the field, then type.
On/Off	Toggles the selected layers between on and off: On - sets the normal state. Off - hides entities from view; entities are included in the calculation of extents. Click a lightbulb icon to change its status.
Freeze	Toggles the selected layers between frozen and thawed: Thaw - sets the normal state. Freeze - hides entities from view; entities are excluded in the calculation of extents, and are not exported with commands such as WBlock. Click an icon to toggle its status.
Locked	Toggles the selected layers between locked and unlocked: Unlocked - sets the normal state. Locked - prevents entities from being edited; entities are still visible. Click an icon to toggle its status.
Color	Specifies the color of the layer. Default color is white (black). To change the color: 1. Click a color square to see the Select Color dialog box. 2. Choose a color, and then click OK. See Color command.
Linetype	Specifies the linetype of selected layers. Default is "Continuous." To change the linetype: Click a linetype sample. Choose one from the droplist. To load additional linetype definitions: Click the Load option. 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: Click the lineweight sample. From the droplist, choose another linetweight. See LWeight command.
Plot Style	Specifies the plot style of selected layers. Default is "Color_7." To change the plot style" Click a plot style name. From the droplist, choose another style name. Plot styles are available only when they are enabled in the drawing; by default, they are not. See PlotStyle command.
Plot	Toggles the selected layers between plotable and not plotable: Plot - plots layer. No Plot - does not plot layer. Click an icon to toggle its status.
New Viewport	Specifies whether the layer is visible (thawed) or invisible (frozen) in a new layout viewport.
Material	Specifies the material of selected layers. Default is "Global." To change the material: Click the Material field. Click again to display the droplist, containing the available materials. Click to select a material in the list.
Preview	Displays the entities on the selected layer.

Wild-Card Characters

Wild-card characters can be used in the Filter text field and in Filter definitions to filter layers by name.

Character	Name	ASCII code*	Result	Example
#	pound	35	Matches numeric digits.	## matches any 2 digit number: 12 or 34 but not 5 or 123
@	at	64	Matches alphabetic characters.	@@@@@ matches all 5-letter layer names
.	period	46	Matches non-alphanumeric characters.	.* matches all layer names starting with an non-alphanumeric character: _SITEPLAN or +1_LEVEL
*	asterisk	42	Matches any character string.	A matches all layer names containing the letter A
?	question mark	63	Matches any single character.	?AB* matches LABORATORY and CABARET but not STABLE
~	tilde	126	Matches any string but the pattern.	~A matches all layer names not containing the letter A
[]	brackets	91 93	Matches any one of the characters enclosed.	LA[YB] matches LAY and LAB
[~]			Matches any one of the characters not enclosed.	LA[~YB] matches LAD but not LAY or LAB
[-]			Specifies a range for a single character.	LAY-[A-E] matches any combination of LAY- and A through E: LAY-A ... LAY-E but not LAY-F
`	reverse quote	96	Matches the next string exactly.	Allows to find a layer name that contains a wild-card character. If preceded with a reverse quote, it is not interpreted as a wild-card character. `~LAY* matches ~LAY-1,~LAYER-1, ~LAY-B, &ldots;

* ASCII code: if a character is not available on the keyboard, press and hold the Alt-key and type the ASCII code on the numeric keypad.

Shortcut Menu Options

Right-click layer names in Drawing Explorer to see the following shortcut menu:

Option	Keystroke	Description
New	Ctrl+N	Creates new layers.
Delete	Ctrl+D	Deletes layers from Drawing Explorer. The following layers cannot be deleted: 0 Any layer with entities.
Purge	Ctrl+P	Purges layers from the current drawing. The following layers cannot be purged: 0 Current layer. Any layer with entities.
Cut	Ctrl+X	Cuts the layer and its properties to the Clipboard.
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.

Status Bar Menu

Right-click O (or other layer name) on the status bar for the shortcut menu:

Shortcut Menu

Description

et cetera

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

To merge the content of two layers

Related Commands

-Layer - creates layers and changes their properties in the command bar.

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.

Explorer - Opens the Drawing Explorer dialog box.