3.3.5. Managing layers and working with properties

In the ARCHLine.XP^® program the Modify menu - Layer control mode option is turned off as default. 

When setting the general properties of element types you must specify to which layer you want to assign the elements of the element type in question.

You can place elements with different properties (different color, line type, line width, even different type, etc.) on the same layer, which due to other aspects, you want to handle together.

For example:

When you select Layer1 in the Wall properties dialog box, it means that the program will place all walls created after setting with the given properties on Layer1. By turning a layer on or off or locking it, you can display, turn off, or use as background these walls together, where in the latter case you can only make reference to them but they are non-editable.

Let’s see detailed, what’s the different between the turned on/off option of the Layer control mode:

Layer control mode - turned off

Let’s have the Layer control mode in the Modify menu turned off:

• The program set the elements to the element type assigned layer in the Properties dialog window. Except if during the creating command activate another layer from the State - Layer list box.

• When setting the general properties of the element you can specify the color, line type, and line width directly by defining the property (e.g. the color is red).

• You can specify these properties indirectly in such a way, that the element acquires its properties from the layer assigned to the element. In this case for color, line type, and line width you must set each Layer property separately in the Properties dialog box. E.g. for color activate the Layer option.

Modify object properties:

You can modify the properties of elements already existing on a layer similarly to the method described above. In the Modify object properties dialog box you can assign color, line type, and line width separately to the layer or if these are already assigned, you can change them by directly specifying the properties.

Layer control mode - turned on

Let’s have the Layer control mode in the Modify menu turned on:

In case of Layer control mode:

• the program set the new elements to the active layer and not to the element type assigned layer

• the elements to be placed on the layer automatically acquire the layer properties

2To choose fast the active layer use the Status - Layer list box. 

So when the Layer control mode is activated, the color, line type, and line width of the element will be ‛layer type’.

• Click Layer in the Status bar and specify the required layers in the Layer management dialog box then displayed, and assign the different color, line type, and line width properties to the layers.

• Be the Layer2 the active layer.

Since the elements placed on a layer acquire these properties from the layer, the program ignores the general properties set in the Properties dialog box. While the Layer control mode is active, you cannot set the general properties upon the global specification of element properties, these fields included the layer field are grayed out:

In the following example you see the Line general properties dialog box.

By double clicking the element (line) used with these properties, you can see in the Modify properties dialog box in that the properties of the elements are defined by the active layer (Layer 2) and the element is set to this layer. The color, line type, and line width of the element are also ‛layer marked’.

Modify properties

When modifying the properties assigned to the layer, the elements in the drawing which belong to the given layer and whose properties are layer associated, will automatically be updated.

You can also modify layer associated properties subsequently:
If, for example, the program constructs each element of Layer1 with green lines, but you subsequently change the line color of one element to blue, the element in question, although it is placed on a green-line layer, will be blue in accordance with the modification.

!The difference between the on and off status of the layer control mode is that if turned on, the program set the new elements to the active layer and not to the element type assigned layer and the elements to be placed on the layer automatically acquire the layer properties (color, line type, line width) at once. At the same time you can assign layer properties even if the layer control mode is off, but only one at a time.
There is no difference between the on and off status when modifying element properties.

Example 1:

• Be the Layer control mode turned on.

• In the Layer management dialog box assign to the Dimension layer the color green and a line width of 0.15. Make the layer active.

• Draw a line and specify its size.

You see that the dimension has acquired the properties assigned to the layer. Let’s see it in the Dimension general properties dialog box:

• Double click dimension.

The word Layer appears in the color box in the general properties.

• Click color. Next to the color palette then displayed, the option is activated indicating that the dimension has acquired the color assigned to the layer.

Next to the color you see that line width is also assigned to the layer.

• By clicking and modifying the color box, the color properties of the element are not layer associated anymore.