topic How to regenerate xref layer list? in AutoCAD Forum

How to regenerate xref layer list?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 16:38:01 GMT

I have a file that I have about 6 referenced files in, lets call it my work file. When I delete or add a layer in any of the xrefs it adds it to the list in my work file as unreconciled, that's fine then I reconcile them and move on. But it never deletes them or changes the properties as I change the layer in the xref (color, lineweight, linetype, etc.) Additionally if I change the name for example from Layer_1 to Layer_2 in the xref it adds Layer_2 but also keeps Layer_1 on the list, annoying.

I know there is a way to make it so that my work file uses whatever setting I set in my xref but I cannot remember how? I also know that I tried this in the past and it didn't fit my needs. When I setup my layouts/sheets I do it all in my work file so that all of the drawings are together in one file. Within each viewport I turn on and off the layer visibility. I cannot think of the command but once I told the file to use the layer settings in the xrefs it deleted all of those settings and basically all my viewports went to the stock setting of everything on. Also, I have tweeked some of the lineweights and colors of xref layers in my work file and not in my xref bewcause I like to be able to change the color it appears between files.

The other way I know I can regenerate this list is by detaching the file and then reattaching it, but same as above I would have to redo all of my layer settings in each viewport. I am in the middle of this project, so I have about 50 sheets each with multiple viewports each with their own specific layers turned on and off. I really do not want to go through and redo all of that.

You cannot 'laydel' xref layers becuase they do not show up on the list. You also cannot 'laymrg' because they do not show up on the list. I know they are xref dependant...but they're not. They don't exist anymore and in the effort of layer managment I want them to go away.

TLDR: I am tired of extra layers showing up from my xref that dont even exist anymore. How do I regen that list without detaching and reattching and without changing it to read the settings in my xref as default?

Re: How to regenerate xref layer list?

rkmcswain — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 17:01:39 GMT

smitha15 wrote:

When I delete or add a layer in any of the xrefs it adds it to the list in my work file as unreconciled, that's fine then I reconcile them and move on. But it never deletes them or changes the properties as I change the layer in the xref (color, lineweight, linetype, etc.)

1. Set VISRETAIN to 0 to get the child drawing(s) layer properties to update each time you open the parent drawing.

2. Set LAYEREVALCTL to 0 if you don't want to mess with reconciled and unreconciled layers.

Re: How to regenerate xref layer list?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 17:08:50 GMT

Yep...that's the command I was talking about. And all of the viewports go
back to the original settings, all of the layers that I turned visibility
on and off to goes to whatever is in the file and any setting that I DO
want to override in the layer list go back to whatever is in the file. That
is exactly what I do not want.

Can I get rid of those layers another way? Manually? That was my question.

Re: How to regenerate xref layer list?

rkmcswain — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 18:18:35 GMT

smitha15 wrote:
.... if I change the name for example from Layer_1 to Layer_2 in the xref it adds Layer_2 but also keeps Layer_1 on the list, annoying.

Specific to that point ^^^^^ yes it does add "Xref|Layer 2" while keeping "Xref|Layer 1" in the list of layers, but when you save and close and reopen the Parent drawing, the layer "Xref|Layer 1" goes away.

OOTB - Visretain is all or none. You can't choose what layer properties to import and which ones to keep as defined in the parent drawing.

With customization, most things are possible however.

Re: How to regenerate xref layer list?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 18:29:15 GMT

Okay, I understand that VISRETAIN will fix my layer list problem, but it
creates another problem with my visibility problem within my layout
viewports. Does the visibility of the layer always match the xref file in
this case as well? For example, If I try this method in a new project and
start from scratch, will I still be able to toggle the visibility of layers
within a viewport or will they always be the visibility of the layer within
the xref?

My goal is to be able to have demo, existing, and new layers on top of each
other in my xref like I have now and be able to turn them on and off per
viewport once and batchplot rather than changing the layerstate or layer
visibility per each sheet every time I plot. Or is there another way to
control the visibility that I am not thinking of?

Thanks.

Re: How to regenerate xref layer list?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 19:08:53 GMT

I'm also dealing with xref issues and have been suggested Visretain. When researching it Xrefoverride came up as a related command. Maybe it could help you?

Re: How to regenerate xref layer list?

rkmcswain — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 19:16:39 GMT

eljefe7734 wrote:

.... When researching it Xrefoverride came up as a related command. Maybe it could help you?

What XREFOVERRIDE does is this: If this is enabled, and the child drawing contains objects with hard-coded colors, it allows you to override those hard coded colors by treating everything in the child drawing like it's bylayer.

For example:

1. I xref "child" into "parent".

2. "child" contains some lines on layer "lines", but the color of these lines is "green", not bylayer.

3. While inside parent, I change the color of the layer [child|lines] to yellow, but the lines remain green since their color is hard-coded in "child".

4. If XrefOverRide is enabled, then the green lines would change to yellow - effectively overriding the hard-coded green.

Re: How to regenerate xref layer list?

JustOpie — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 19:41:24 GMT

If going with VISRETAIN = 0, then you will need to restore a layer state for the desired output on a sheet by sheet basis.

Re: How to regenerate xref layer list?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 19:46:03 GMT

I am probably going to accept the messy layer list over redoing every layout. Maybe for my next project I will begin to incorportate layer states. Thanks all.

Re: How to regenerate xref layer list?

JustOpie — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 19:51:06 GMT

If you plan on using layer states, you can read how I have handle this in the past.

Re: How to regenerate xref layer list?

dnelsonP2CLG — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 18:20:48 GMT

Adding my 2 cents I feel that this is a huge issue that needs to be resolved. We use sheet sets exclusively with many views placed on each sheet from a child drawing. Views are setup in the child drawing with DDView and placed on a sheet with sheet set manager adding our details number, detail title and scale automatically from the incoming information. BAM! What a great tool unless you forget to set Visretain to 0. The first reset of Visretain as mentioned above updates all of the attached views to the current layer settings in the child drawing. OUCH! lost time and what a pain. Only solutions are to reattach the views with the correct Visretain value or to use layer states on the drawings (not great if you are using scripts to set your layers in the child drawing, our case) or to use the layer dialog on the viewports and set the layers individually.

The ddview command does have the option to "update the layers" for the view in the child drawing. Why is this there? Is something broken? Make sense that this should follow through to the drawing it is attached to. This is the biggest bust in the Sheetset tool.... I "heart" sheetsets and if you have not been using them START!!

My vote: Autodesk please take a look at this to see if we could update attached xref layers by the individual viewport without having to use Visretain...

Or: Hire a draftsman that can remember to set Visretain to the correct value before adding views..... (I'm over 50 and have C.R.S.)

Cheers,

Re: How to regenerate xref layer list?

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 00:51:07 GMT

Just leave VISRETAIN on always and continue working as before. You might see some extra layers in the list during that session, but once you close the file and reopen it tomorrow the layers are gone, no need to do anything. My visretain has been on since R11 (not 2011, but R11) with no issues.

And with multiple layouts and several dozen viewports, layer states are a time sucking nightmare.