Inserts and Layers

[kevingtonbeare]

I am having problems with making layers invisible in blocks once they have been inserted into a drawing.

I am laying out a radio transmitter chassis. I have built up a library of component outlines. I have two templates, one for imperial measurements, the other for metric measurements. Each template has the same layers. One of the layers, called 'Objects' shows the component outline as it would appear on the final drawing. Another layer, called 'DrillingPattern' shows just the size and outline of the required chassis or panel hole or cutout and any associated dimensions. Having built a library of components, I can play chess with them on a drawing of the chassis so that interferences between components can be eliminated.

The problem is that when I want to show a drawing of the chassis or panel with just the drilling pattern, everything on the 'Objects' layer in each of the inserted blocks still shows.

What am I doing wrong?

[stewpye]

I've noticed that when you insert a block it is inserted onto the current layer.
To get the layers back to what they should be you have to select the block then modify > attributes - leave all unchanged and click OK. The block will now regain it's original layer attributes.

I always insert blocks onto layer 0. They are the only things I put on layer 0. They don't need their own layer because you can hide them from the block list.

Is this what you were talking about?
I'm not sure if there is a reason for this behaviour or if it is a bug....

BTW, I also use QCad for electronic chassis design.

[andrew]

Not sure if I understand the problem correctly, but I think there are two other threads that seem related to this:

http://www.ribbonsoft.com/rsforum/viewt ... ight=layer
http://www.ribbonsoft.com/rsforum/viewt ... ight=layer

Note also question 21 in the FAQ:

http://www.ribbonsoft.com/qcad_doc_faq.html#21

[stewpye]

Thanks Andrew,

Those topics are kind of related. I'll try and explain the issue with more detail. It's not a real problem for me because I've found a way around it but it would be good to know if there is a reason for it.

Layer 0 on the current drawing is set to:
Colour: black/white
Line width: 0.25

I have a .dxf file in the library with the following layers and attributes...
(these names etc are for example only)

Layer Blue
Colour: Blue
Line width: .5

Layer Red
Colour: Red
Line width: .2

When I insert the part into the drawing on layer 0 all the entities take on the attributes of layer 0. (colour, line width etc.)
The layers appear in the layer list but hiding them does not hide them. If I select the block and Modify > Attributes and just hit enter with all unchanged the entities regain their layer attributes (colour and line width) and can be hidden by using the layers toolbar.

I hope that made better sense...

[mick]

I just tried a test drawing to simulate this. 4 layers: 0, chassis, drilling pattern & objects.

An object block was created, putting the outline on the "objects" layer and the drilling pattern on the "drilling pattern" layer. Everything was set to "bylayer".

A simple chassis outline was drawn on the "chassis" layer and 4 insertions of the object block made on layer 0. The layer attribute of one insertion were then changed to "chassis" just to see what would happen.

As expected, switching off the "objects" and "drilling pattern" layers turned off just those items. Turning off 0 switched off the 3 blocks on that layer. Turning off "chassis" also turned off all of the changed block, but I expected that.

It was possible to change colours of the insertions as a whole by changing the layer colours but not individual insertions. I also expected this. The same applied to linetypes.

As I use Autocad at work, this behaviour seems perfectly ok. However, exploding a block doesn't dump the bits of block onto layer 0. I find that preferable to Autocad's way.

If anyone would like me to try anything else on this, just post here.

This is on the community version of Qcad.

[mick]

However, exploding a block doesn't dump the bits of block onto layer 0. I find that preferable to Autocad's way.

Drat! That's been changed to the Autocad system now.