Layer And Line Type Management

Lab # 13

LAB # 13
LAYER AND LINE TYPE MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVE
To understand the concept of layers and line management.

THEORY
Layering
Introducing here you to the Layer and Linetype properties dialog box. With this dialog box, all the attributes of Layers and linetypes are displayed in a logical accessible and useable manner. The layer tab present all functions needed to create, rename, delete and assign properties to your drwaings layer. -Click on the layer drop down list on the object properties toolbars displaying on the top of work space area.

The AutoCAD extension package that will be used in this subject provides extensive facilities to aid in the use and management of layers. Therefore, this section need only introduce the basic commands that are used to define and select layers.

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Layer
The LAYER command lets you control which drawing layer you are currently drawing on, and which drawing layers are displayed. It also controls the color and linetype associated with each drawing layer. Format: LAYER

?/ Make/ Set/ New/ ON/ OFF/ Color/ Ltype/ Freeze/ Thaw/ LOck/ Unlock: Options ? wildname Make name Set name New name, name ON wildname OFF wildname Color c wildname Ltype x wildname Ltype ? Freeze wildname Thaw wildname LOck wildname Unlock wildname Lists layers, with states, colors and linetypes. Creates a new layer and makes it current. Sets current layer. Creates new layers. Turns on specified layers. Turns off specified layers. Assigns color "c" to specified layers. Assigns linetype "x" to specified layers. Lists loaded linetypes. Completely ignores layers during regeneration. "Unfreezes" specified layers. Disallows editing of specified layers. Allows editing of specified layers.

Where "wildname" appears above, the layer name(s) can include "*" and "?" wild cards. A single "*" selects all existing layers.

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Working with Layers An AutoCAD drawing can have layers, similar to the transparent overlays drafters use to create pencil drawings. For example, in a drawing of a house you can have the wall lines on one layer, the electrical wiring on a second layer, and plumbing on a third. It's helpful to use different colors for different layers so you can tell them apart. To create a new layer: 1. 2. 3. Click the Layer button at the left end of the toolbar. The Layer Control dialogue box appears. Type a name for your new layer. The name you typed appears in the edit box. Click the New button. Your new layer appears in the Layer Name list box.

To change the color of a layer: 1. 2. Click the Layer button in the toolbar. The Layer Control dialogue box appears. Select a layer from the Layer Name list box. Click the Set Color... button. The Select Color dialogue box appears. Click a color to select it. Click OK twice to clear both dialogue boxes. To change to another layer: 1. 2. Click the down arrow to the right of the current layer name box in the toolbar. A list appears, showing all the layers in your drawing. Pick a name from the list by clicking on it.

The layer you picked is now current -- any entities you draw will be created on it, until you switch to another layer.

Ddlmodes
This command performs the same function as the LAYER command just described except that it does it in a much more convenient fashion by making use of a pop-up dialogue box on the screen. This dialogue box also allows you to rename a layer, which is not possible with the older, LAYER command. This command (since it has such an obscure name!!) is best called up by picking "Modify Layer..." from the Settings pull-down menu. The colour and line styles of entities drawn with AutoCAD are generally determined by the layer on which those objects reside. However, it is possible to override this by specifically defining these attributes for the objects in the drawing. This is done using the COLOR and LINETYPE commands. These commands are not discussed further in these notes, as it is unwise to mix the two methods of determining these attributes. Also note that the colour of an entity is used to determine which pen will be used
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when the drawing is plotted. This means that part of the function of layers can be to determine which pen is used for drawing on a multi-pen plotter. Another important facility that is offered by AutoCAD is the opportunity to freeze and / or thaw layers on a per viewport basis when working in paper space with TILEMODE "off". This is achieved using the VPLAYER command. This facility allows you to have the same view of a drawing model in two viewports, where each displays a different set of layers. This is crucial if a single drawing is to contain, say, a reflected ceiling plan and a furniture layout plan of the same part of the model.

Vplayer
This command allows you to freeze and thaw layers in selected viewports. It will only operate if TILEMODE is set to 0 ("off"). Options associated with this command allow you to: list all layers that are frozen in a particular viewport; create layers which are frozen in all viewports; tag existing layers so that they are automatically frozen in any new viewports that are created; and reset selected layers in selected viewports back to their default state.

LINETYPE :
AutoCAD provide you with an update collection of line types to use in your drawings. A line type value can be assigned to the layer on which the object will be drawn all 45 default Linetypes are stored in AutoCAD files. -Click Linetype box in the layer dialog box and modify by change, load, scale etc.

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LINETYPE
The LINETYPE command sets the linetype for new entities. It can also load linetype definitions from a library file, write new definitions to a library file, and list the linetype definitions in a library file. You can control the dot-dash linetype of each entity individually, or by layer. To change the linetype of existing objects, use the CHANGE command. To control layer linetypes, use the LAYER command. Format: ?/Create/Load/Set: Options ? Create Lists the linetypes defined in a specified library file. Allows creation of a new linetype and stores it in a specified library file. Loads selected linetypes from a specified library file. Sets the current linetype used for newly drawn entities. ? LINETYPE

Load Set

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ASSIGNMENTS
Implement and change the property of layer and linetype in your drawing.

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