You can change the name
of a layer and any of its properties, including color and linetype,
and you can reassign objects from one layer to another.
Because
everything in your drawing is associated with a layer, it's likely
that in the course of planning and creating a drawing, you'll need
to change what you place on a layer or how you view the layers in
combination. You can
- Reassign objects from one layer to another.
- Change the name of a layer.
- Change the default color, linetype, or
other properties of the layer.
Reassigning
an object to a different layer is useful if you create an object
on the wrong layer or decide to change your layer organization.
Unless the color, linetype, or other properties of the object have
been set explicitly, an object that you reassign to a different
layer will acquire the properties of that layer.
You
can change layer properties in the Layer Properties Manager and
in the Layer control on the Layers toolbar. Click the icons to change
settings. Layer names and colors can be changed only in the Layer
Properties Manager, not the Layer control.
Undo
Changes to Layer Settings
You
can use Layer Previous to undo changes you make to layer settings.
For example, if you freeze several layers and change some of the
geometry in a drawing, and then want to thaw the frozen layers,
you can do this with a single command without affecting the geometry
changes. In another example, if you changed the color and linetype
of several layers but later decide you prefer the old properties,
you can use Layer Previous to undo the changes and restore the original
layer settings.
When
you use Layer Previous, it undoes the most recent change or set
of changes made using either the Layer control or the Layer Properties
Manager. Every change you make to layer settings is tracked and
can be undone with Layer Previous. You can use LAYERPMODE to suspend layer
property tracking when you don't need it, such as when you run large
scripts. There is a modest performance gain in turning off Layer
Previous tracking.
Layer
Previous does not undo the following changes:
- Renamed layers. If
you rename a layer and change its properties, Layer Previous restores
the original properties but not the original layer name.
- Deleted
layers. If you delete or purge a layer, using Layer Previous
does not restore it.
- Added layers. If
you add a new layer to a drawing, using Layer Previous does not
remove it.
Changes in the Layer
Properties Manager can be grouped by enabling Combine Layer Property
Change option in User Preferences
tab in the Options dialog box. Layer creation
and deletion will be tracked in the Undo list as unique items.
To change the layer of
one or more objects
- Select the objects whose layer you want
to change.
- Click Home tab
Layers
panel Layer
Properties 
- In the Layer Properties Manager, select
the layer that you want to assign to the objects.
- Press ESC to remove selection.
To change the default linetype
assigned to a layer
- Click Home tab Layers Panel Layer Properties .
- In the Layer Properties Manager, select
the linetype for the layer you want to change.
- In the Select Linetype dialog box, if
the linetype you need is not displayed, click Load and use one of
the following methods:
- In the Load or Reload Linetypes dialog
box, select one or more linetypes to load. Click OK to return to
the Select Linetype dialog box.
- In the Load or Reload Linetypes dialog
box, click File to open additional linetype definition (LIN) files.
Select one or more linetypes to load. Click OK to return to the
Select Linetype dialog box.
- Select the linetype you want to use.
Click OK to return to the Layer Properties Manager.
- Click OK.
To rename a layer
- Click Home tab Layers
panel Layer
Properties
- In the Layer Properties Manager, select
a layer. Click the name or press F2.
- Enter a new name.
- Click OK.
To rename more than one
layer
- In the Rename dialog box, in the Named
Objects list, select Layers.
- In Old Name, enter the old name, using
wild-card characters; for example, enter stairs$*.
- In Rename To, enter the new name using
wild-card characters; for example, enter s_*.
Results for this example are as follows: the
layers STAIR$LEVEL-1, STAIR$LEVEL-2, STAIR$LEVEL-3 are renamed S_LEVEL-1,
S_LEVEL-2, S_LEVEL-3.
- Click OK.
CommandsCHANGE
Changes the properties
of existing objects.
CHPROP
Changes the properties
of an object.
CLASSICLAYER
Opens the legacy Layer
Properties Manager.
LAYER
Manages layers and layer
properties.
LAYERP
Undoes the last change
or set of changes made to layer settings.
LAYERPALETTE
Opens the modeless Layer
Properties Manager.
LAYERPMODE
Turns on and off the
tracking of changes made to layer settings.
PROPERTIES
Controls properties
of existing objects.
PURGE
Removes unused items,
such as block definitions and layers, from the drawing.
RENAME
Changes the names assigned
to items such as layers and dimension styles.
SETBYLAYER
Changes the property
overrides of selected objects to ByLayer.
System VariablesCLAYERLAYERDLGMODE
Sets the flavor of the
Layer Properties Manager that is defined for the use of the LAYER
command.
LAYERMANAGERSTATE
Indicates whether the
Layer Properties Manager is open or closed.
SETBYLAYERMODE
Controls which properties
are selected for the SETBYLAYER command.
