topic Deleting unused layers. in Project data & BIM

Deleting unused layers.

Anonymous — Tue, 30 May 2023 11:06:45 GMT

Anyone knows a faster way of deleting layers that i do not use.Whenever we get back drawings from(mostly)engineers(dwg),the original layers are almost always duplicated but in CAPS.

Now,even though i use layer combinations efficiently,i find it rather inconviniencing to navigate through a host of layer i do not use.Is there no way to just delete ALL LAYERS that represent NO ELEMENTS at all in one fell swoop?
and i'm alone in this?

Re: Deleting unused layers.

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Apr 2004 10:59:36 GMT

Go to Options > Attribute Manager. Select the layers tab and there is a button to purge unused. Note that AM will consider as used any layer that is the current default tool setting, whether it is actually used or not.

Re: Deleting unused layers.

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Apr 2004 11:13:55 GMT

Wow!Matthew,you just saved me a couple of hours in future....previously i would spend an inordinate amount of time just figuring out which layers are unused.
This forum is truly invaluable!

Re: Deleting unused layers.

Link — Wed, 07 Apr 2004 15:26:08 GMT

Another effective way is to cut everything out of your project, delete all the layers using the Layer Settings Dialog, then paste everything back in again. This can be better than the method Matthew described (because of the default settings 'feature'), but on the other hand it can be impractical when you have sections/elevations.

Just food for thought:-)

Cheers,
Link.

Re: Deleting unused layers.

TomWaltz — Wed, 07 Apr 2004 16:37:56 GMT

Just be careful with that "Purge Unused" button. We've had it delete layers that had content on them before!

Re: Deleting unused layers.

Tom Krowka — Thu, 08 Apr 2004 21:08:24 GMT

I also have had that function delete layers with content on them. I would like to know how I can tell for sure that there is nothing on the layers to be deleted.

Re: Deleting unused layers.

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Apr 2004 21:40:01 GMT

The best approach is to set up standards and stick to them so that there is little need for deleting layers. Files from consultants (and others) should always be preprocessed before merging into the main project file. Civil engineers files particularly can carry a positively uncivil number of layers with them. The best way to protect yourself from serious layer infections is to practice safe merging.

Re: Deleting unused layers.

__archiben — Fri, 09 Apr 2004 10:58:41 GMT

Matthew wrote:
The best approach is to set up standards and stick to them so that there is little need for deleting layers. Files from consultants (and others) should always be preprocessed before merging into the main project file. Civil engineers files particularly can carry a positively uncivil number of layers with them.

...and possibly talk to your consultants and understand how they work, and how they use CAD. when i did this, it came as a revelation to me that the 'DWG' drawings that we see (i.e. the titled blocked, 'for issue' drawings) were comprised of several 'dwg' CAD/modelspace drawings that they themselves reference together. when we ask for a drawing from a consultant, more often than not they issue the 'DWG' rather than the 'dwg's: hence the already bound in mess of x-ref layers, duplicate information, our own information coming back to us, etc, etc...

simply by understanding and asking for the specific slices of information (their raw 'dwg's) meant that we got only the data that we needed, and by using archiCAD's x-ref management function we are able to efficiently transfer CAD data without the need for preprocessing or ending up with our own layers "infected".

couple of things to note on this:

talking to your consultants and agreeing the specific information and naming conventions is essential.
by prefixing our own layers with an "a" and ensuring that the x-ref file names don't begin with a number or an "a" they are automatically dropped to the bottom of the archiCAD layer list.
archiCAD merges x-ref data rather than truly referencing it: this can cause issues in the teamwork environment, but nothing that can't be overcome with controlled process: see my post here.

this also works well in reverse: creating viewsets of data required by consultants in archiCAD means that we can quickly publish 'dwg' files for transfer: typically an engineer won't want wall hatching, his own data back, etc. this can all be controlled by layer combination and display options. we've also set up consultant specific dwg translators that map pens to agreed colours and weights, (and vice versa), and we ensure that we only save out visible layers.

result: we're happy and the consultants are happy. no more cleaning up drawings and extremely efficient transfers. (we've sometimes swapped CAD data two or three times a day when co-ordinating tricky parts of the building).

see also the whinge and the wish.

Matthew wrote:
The best way to protect yourself from serious layer infections is to practice safe merging.

~/archiben

Re: Deleting unused layers.

Tom Krowka — Fri, 09 Apr 2004 14:16:50 GMT

All this is fine information. However, what I want to know is does AC or does it not purge supposedly "unused layers" that actually have any objects, lines, or anything else on it. It appears to me it does. If it does, the delete unused layers function should be at least named something else to prevent confusion and loss of work.

Re: Deleting unused layers.

Anonymous — Fri, 09 Apr 2004 14:41:09 GMT

Tom wrote:
All this is fine information. However, what I want to know is does AC or does it not purge supposedly "unused layers" that actually have any objects, lines, or anything else on it. It appears to me it does. If it does, the delete unused layers function should be at least named something else to prevent confusion and loss of work.

I have not experienced this myself, but I have not used the function on fully developed models/projects. I am always careful about using any function that changes the file in ways where I cannot immediately see the effect. This also includes deleting layers the old fashioned way, using the heavy, multi-story marquee, and so on.

Re: Deleting unused layers.

Anonymous — Sun, 11 Apr 2004 08:14:13 GMT

Tom wrote:
All this is fine information. However, what I want to know is does AC or does it not purge supposedly "unused layers" that actually have any objects, lines, or anything else on it. It appears to me it does. If it does, the delete unused layers function should be at least named something else to prevent confusion and loss of work.

I have done this several times - always very apprehensively - and not lost anything thank goodness.

Re: Deleting unused layers.

__archiben — Sun, 11 Apr 2004 13:42:29 GMT

Tom wrote:
All this is fine information. However, what I want to know is does AC or does it not purge supposedly "unused layers" that actually have any objects, lines, or anything else on it. It appears to me it does. If it does, the delete unused layers function should be at least named something else to prevent confusion and loss of work.

tom

i have never experienced archiCAD deleting layers with elements on them using this method. in fact, it actually works out the opposite: some unused layers aren't deleted because they are the current default layer of some of the tools.

where you may have trouble is if you use the attribute manager to purge "unused" line types, fill types, composites and materials: it can often be the case that elements of this type are unused in the project file, but can actually be in use in the GDL scripts of some objects. purging these attributes may then result in loss of data in the file . . . but as far as i recall, the attribute manager actually warns you of this?

HTH
~/archiben

Re: Deleting unused layers.

Tom Krowka — Thu, 15 Apr 2004 23:56:53 GMT

I believe it does warn me of the gdl script issue. If I simply tell attribute manager to delete unused layers, it does come up with the warning. But it doesn't tell me which layers. So when I choose not to delete unused layers because of the warning, I'm right back where I started.
I'm not at my machine, so I can't try it, but can I select one layer at at time in the attribute manager and try to delete it as unused that way? Somehow, I've got to get rid of some layers.

Also, does each tool have a default layer? If I delete that layer, then use the tool, will it automatically default to that tool layer and create the layer, or just put the object or whatever on the current layer? Will I have to know what the default layer is for each tool, and then create as new if it's been deleted?

This has been bugging me. I'm an ex-autodesk desktop user; they did do layers right.

Re: Deleting unused layers.

Djordje — Fri, 16 Apr 2004 06:37:51 GMT

Tom wrote:
Also, does each tool have a default layer? If I delete that layer, then use the tool, will it automatically default to that tool layer and create the layer, or just put the object or whatever on the current layer? Will I have to know what the default layer is for each tool, and then create as new if it's been deleted?

Yes, each tool does have its default layer; whether the layer will be created depends on the tool (some APIs, like Construction Grid, can create their layer if it is missing) but in general you will get a warning that a layer in missing and an option to choose a different one.

Tom wrote:
This has been bugging me. I'm an ex-autodesk desktop user; they did do layers right.

Hmmmm ... are you trying to re-arrange ArchiCAD layers in the AutoCAD fashion? That might be counterproductive, as the layers in ArchiCAD, although called the same, are not the same thing conceptually and functionally. Therefore I would advise you to first get a grip on the system as it is, and then start tweaking.

Anyway - as an ex ADTer, you are used to lots of layers. The default ArchiCAD batch is by far less than the ADT one.

HTH,

Re: Deleting unused layers.

Tom Krowka — Fri, 16 Apr 2004 16:20:36 GMT

I know it will tell me the layer is missing. Since it asks me to choose a different layer, it seems that AC does not automatically recreate the default layer. Is that correct?

The reason I'm asking these questions is I had done a layer purge before the project really got started, and I had only a few objects in it. Then I was not sure if the default layers would come back, so I started created layers of my own to put things on. Now I think I have a mess of layers that do not relate to the defaults.

I guess I'll start with a default template next project.

Re: Deleting unused layers.

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Aug 2004 16:34:32 GMT

Tom wrote:
what I want to know is does AC or does it not purge supposedly "unused layers" that actually have any objects, lines, or anything else on it. It appears to me it does.

Yes, it does! I just had it happen to me. I didn't use the Purge All, I went through and selected exactly the layer I wanted to delete -- every one of them we 'supposedly' unused. Now I have 14 details that are missing some or all of the 2D linework and/or annotation!

Ahhhh!!!!!!

Re: Deleting unused layers.

Tom Krowka — Mon, 09 Aug 2004 16:55:39 GMT

IMHO, I think the program should not delete any layer with anything on it, and it should automatically put objects or whatever on their default layer is by recreating it if the layer has been purged.

I find it hard to believe this has been overlooked. It would make layer management much easier.

Re: Deleting unused layers.

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Aug 2004 17:05:55 GMT

Tom wrote:
IMHO, I think the program should not delete any layer with anything on it,

Agreed! AutoCAD won't let you delete anything that is in use -- layers, linetypes, font styles, etc.. I can be annoying if you are having trouble finding the entity that is using the layer/linetype, but it's way better than finding out that ArchiCAD killed layers that had stuff on them.

Re: Deleting unused layers.

James Murray — Mon, 09 Aug 2004 17:31:57 GMT

Don't forget to vote.

Re: Deleting unused layers.

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Aug 2004 17:46:32 GMT

Tom wrote:
IMHO, I think the program should not delete any layer with anything on it, and it should automatically put objects or whatever on their default layer is by recreating it if the layer has been purged.

What would help when deleting layers with information still on them is to have a dialog box pop up and give you two options: delete all elements on current layer and move all elements on current layer to layer [0], or something along those lines.

Is there a poll/wish list for this anywhere (too lazy for a search)...