Layer Management

[Steve Jepson]

From time to time my view sets get screwed up and I loose the layer settings with it if I haven't set up a Layer Combination for that view yet.

It is making the Layer Combination again that I need some help with.

In this case, I have turned on all of the layers, then used the Quick Layers pallet to turn off all of the layers I don't want to see.

Now I have the layers I want for that view set again and I can make a new Layer Combination for it. However, there are still lots of layers turned on that I do not need for this view set. They are not showing up because they are on a different story or something, but I don't want to include them in my Layer Combination for this view.

Is there a way to save only the layers currently visible to a Layer Combination?

[Steve Jepson]

Figured it out.

Very simple. All you need to do, to save only the layers you want to see for a view set, is to select everything you want to see, then click the Hide Others' Layer button on the Quick Layers pallet, then save the Layer Combination. Bob's your uncle!

[Richard Morrison]

Steve,

While having a specific layer combo is a "clean" way to update views, are you aware that under "view settings" you can "get current window's settings" if what you're looking at is correct? You don't really need a specific layer combo.

[Steve Jepson]

Yes, I am aware of that. I was all excited about not needing to use them anymore, however, sooner or later I do something to mess things up and the view sets do not display the way I saved them.

Operator error of some kind I am sure, but then what? It can take quite a bit of time to define some Layer Combos and I am tired of doing it over and over.

If I use a designated Layer Combo I can restore my view very fast. Sometimes the difference is so small that I don't notice it until after I run the prints. To late then.

Until I figure out how I keep loosing the proper layers for each view it is much safer for me to use a Layer Combo.

One of these days I am going to take the time to discover what I am dong to loose layer settings in my views.

How do you see what layers are on in the Custom layer combo?
There could be lots of things you don't see because you are on a different story, or in a detail, section, etc... not because its layer is turned off.

What happens then when you are on a different story, everything looks fine so you save the view with the Custom layer combo.
Now go back to the old view, will it be using the new layer combo called Custom, or does it use the to old one? How many layer combos can you have called Custom before the computer gets mixed up?

If the Custom layer combo that is generated would do the step of turning off all layers not being used and not visible, then save it as a Custom layer I thing my problems would be over.

As it is, I think a Custom layer combo is made up of every layer that is not turned off at the time you save the view. There is a big difference and I think this is causing me trouble.

[Richard Morrison]

Steve,

I wonder if your problem is in how you are getting from view to view? I keep the Organizer-Layout Editor open at all times (a benefit of a 30" monitor), and can generally see all my views in a single window. Getting from one view to another is just a matter of picking the view and double-clicking. I don't think I've ever had a situation where the layer combos changed on me after they were saved with the view. But actually, if you change, say, the official "framing plan" layer combo while in one window, it will change it for all of the other windows that use this "official" layer combo. This could be either good or very, very bad.

If you use "custom" layer combos, however, you won't run into this issue of multiple views changing all at once. Could this be your problem?

BTW, I don't believe there is any limit to the number of "custom" layer combos you can have -- but just one per view.

[Steve Jepson]

Richard,

I think it is the way I am opening drawings. In Layout I often just right click a drawing and use the "open source view" rather than hunt it down in the Navigator. Also, I open drawings a lot from the section markers.
Some times I open it from the Project Map instead of the View Map. Sometimes I open it from the Open Detail thing on my tool bar.

So many ways to get to the same drawing. Too many.

I think some of these ways to open a drawing are using a different set of layers based on where I am opening it from, instead of based on the layer combo of the drawing its self.

[Anonymous]

Steve wrote:
Richard,

I think it is the way I am opening drawings. In Layout I often just right click a drawing and use the "open source view" rather than hunt it down in the Navigator. Also, I open drawings a lot from the section markers.
Some times I open it from the Project Map instead of the View Map. Sometimes I open it from the Open Detail thing on my tool bar.

So many ways to get to the same drawing. Too many.

Important things like opening the settings dialogs and navigating the project necessarily have several ways go about them. It would be difficult for everyone to conform to a single method and most use several depending on the circumstances. Just find the ways that work for yo.

I think some of these ways to open a drawing are using a different set of layers based on where I am opening it from, instead of based on the layer combo of the drawing its self.

Opening a drawing in any way other than with the View Map will retain the current layer and view settings. You can double click the current view name in the map to reset these.

I strongly recommend setting up standard layer combinations for the different view types. This makes it much easier to control and maintain the quality of your output. Trying to manage separate "custom" settings in each seems a nightmare to me.

[Anonymous]

In our office, I've had problems (like Steve) in AC/PM9 with "custom" layer definitions saaved with views changing what layers show up when going from AC to PM, losing information, and eventually not remembering wht the "custom" setting is in AC (sometimes changes from the intended setting to all layers turned on).

Weird, inconsistent error. To combat this problem, I insist that everyone use the redefined viewsets from the template and update the layer combination if they add layers. Anyone who creates a Saved View that uses "custom" gets a slap on the wrist and a black mark in the book...

[Richard Morrison]

I remember layer combination problems in 9, which I think was due to the disconnection of AC & PM, but 10 has been pretty good in this regard.

[Jefferson]

Hey Steve -

I'm with Richard all the way on his navigation method, Organizer is open ALL the time, [ screen shot shows even on a 17" laptop there's room], with my standard view settings saved for reference/starting point. I frequently navigate in-between views, with custom layer combos, or what I refer to as "working" layer combos, [anything I need to proof the model, and speed], via the Project Map, and when and if I need/want to redefine a view, I do it from the View Map. This allows me to use a limited number of set layer combos, and then "tweak" them per view, per project.

As you said there so many ways to get to a view that their saved settings end up vulnerable. It becomes confusing and requires an inordinate amount of discipline/attention to navigate in the same way, but if I don't, my experience was, you start getting haywire layer combos with saved settings.