Controlling Layers through the Layer Command

Controlling Layers through the Layer Command
You’ve seen how the Layer Properties Manager dialog box makes it easy to view and edit layer
information and how you can easily select layer colors from an on-screen toolbar. But you can also
control layers through the Command prompt

WARNING
You won’t see the Pstyle option in the layer prompt or the Truecolor/True Color/Color
Books options in the color option prompt unless you’re using named plot styles. See Chapter 9 for
more on plot styles.
Use these steps to control layers through the Command prompt:
1.
Press the Esc key to make sure any current command is canceled.
2.
At the Command prompt, enter
–Layer
↵
. Make sure you include the minus sign in front of
the word
Layer
. The following prompt appears:
Enter an option
[?/Make/Set/New/ON/OFF/Color/Ltype/LWeight/MATerial/Plot/ Freeze/Thaw/
LOck/Unlock/stAte].
You’ll learn about many of the options in this prompt as you work through this chapter.
3. Enter N↵to select the New option. 4.At the
Enter name list for new layer(s):
prompt, enter Wall2↵. The
[?/Make/
Set/New/ON/OFF/Color/Ltype/LWeight/MATerial/Plot/Freeze/Thaw/LOck/Unlock/
stAte]:
prompt appears again.
5. Enter C ↵.6.
At the
New color [Truecolor/COlorbook]:
prompt, enter
Yellow
↵ . Or, you can enter
2 ↵ ,the numeric equivalent of the color yellow in AutoCAD.
7. At the Enter name list of layer(s) for color 2 (yellow) <0>:
prompt, enter Wall2 ↵ .The
[?/Make/Set/New/ON/OFF/Color/Ltype/LWeight/MATerial/Plot/Freeze/Thaw/
LOck/Unlock/stAte]:
prompt appears again.
8. Press ↵to exit the Layer command.
Each method of controlling layers has its own advantages. The Layer Properties Manager dialog
box offers more information about your layers at a glance. On the other hand, the Layer command
offers a quick way to control and create layers if you’re in a hurry. Also, if you intend to write custom
macros, you’ll want to know how to use the Layer command as opposed to using the Layer
Properties Manager dialog box, because dialog boxes can’t be controlled through custom toolbar
buttons or scripts.