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Suddenly cannot select objects on Layer 0

11 REPLIES 11
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Message 1 of 12
graham
2416 Views, 11 Replies

Suddenly cannot select objects on Layer 0

I'm working on a building plan, adding network lines and labels. I've completed about a third of the plan.

 

Suddenly, I cannot select anything on layer 0, which includes everything that I have been working on.

 

All layers are unlocked and thawed.

 

Zoom effects the entire plan except the labels that I've been working on.

 

I've done the first third of the building three times now. I don't know if I am hitting some secret 'mess with the users head' key that I can't ztrl-Z out of, or what, but I am getting frustrated.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thank you.

11 REPLIES 11
Message 2 of 12
wispoxy
in reply to: graham

An AutoCAD Hip Tip on Selecting the "Unselectable"

Well first off - if you haven't seen the fabulous answer Miss South Carolina gave on the Miss Teen USA contest yet - be sure to check this out for a little giggle.  I must admit I do feel sorry for the poor thing as I'm sure she is quite embarassed over this...(but then that didn't stop me from posting the link now did it!)  It's sure to make you smile and we need that when we're dealing with CAD, drawings,managers, and all that other stress we run into at work.

And speaking of stress...

There's nothing more frustrating than trying to select an object in your drawing only to find your selection goes ignored.  You pick and pick and pick to your hearts content and yet AutoCAD turns its nose up at you and pretends you don't exist.  Depending on the type of object that is suddenly invisible to AutoCAD (but not to you), there are a few settings that just might do the trick for you.

An AutoCAD Hip Tip on Selecting the Unselectable:

There are a variety of objects that are sometimes difficult to select.  Images, OLE Objects and wipeouts are the culprits I will address today. 

For example - you have a drawing with an Excel table in it.  The table was inserted with a simple copy/paste - which makes it an OLE object.  You need to move it - but alas, you can't select it!  The system variable OLEFRAME to the rescue.

Here are your settings for OLEFRAME:

 

0

Frame is not displayed and not plotted

1

Frame is displayed and is plotted

2

Frame is displayed but is not plotted

 

You will need to set OLEFRAME to 1 or 2 in order to select it.

Or perhaps you have an image in the drawing file.  Same scenario - you can't select it!  You're going to need to use the command IMAGEFRAME to sort this out.

Oddly enough - IMAGEFRAME is an actual AutoCAD command while OLEFRAME is a system variable - go figure!  Here are the settings for IMAGEFRAME:

0          Image frames are not displayed and not plotted. 1          Image frames are both displayed and plotted. This setting is the default. 2          Image frames are displayed but not plotted.

(Ok...basically the same as the settings for OLEFRAME).  It's nice that you can now display the frames for editing purposes, and yet they don't plot...very nice.

So what if you have a wipeout in the drawing?  Well then you're dealing with yet another animal altogether.  In this situation you will use the TFRAMES command to display and edit the frame.  This is a toggle setting so simply keying in TFRAMES will toggle the setting between on and off. Below you can see the wipeouts with TFRAMES off  (left) and with TFRAMES on (right).

Xxblog2Xxblog3

So there is my Hip Tip for a Thursday!  Only one more day before the big 3 day weekend in the U.S.  (For the "US-Americans" as Miss So. Carolina would say).  Enjoy!

Message 3 of 12
wispoxy
in reply to: graham

Also, make sure your layer is on.

Message 4 of 12
Patchy
in reply to: graham

Are you sure you did not do something with layer 0 while working thru the viewport?

ave it and reopen, see if the problem goes away.

 

Message 5 of 12
Kent1Cooper
in reply to: graham


@Anonymous wrote:

.... 

Suddenly, I cannot select anything on layer 0, which includes everything that I have been working on.

.... 

Zoom effects the entire plan except the labels that I've been working on.

....



Are you somehow switching between Model Space and Paper Space and Model-Space-through-a-Viewport-in-Paper-Space?  If the things you can't select are in Model Space but you're in Paper Space, looking into Model Space through a Viewport, try double-clicking in the Viewport to get into Model Space in it, and see whether you can then select those things.

 

EDIT:  Both the issues quoted above could be caused by your being in Model Space through a Paper-Space Viewport, if the things you can't select were drawn in Paper Space, and if you're Zooming in Model Space.  Type PSPACE to get into Paper Space and see whether that "fixes" those issues.  There's an Express Tool [in the version I have here] in the Layout Tools category called "Change Space" that can move things from Paper to Model or vice versa.

Kent Cooper, AIA
Message 6 of 12
Kent1Cooper
in reply to: wispoxy


@Anonymous wrote:

Also, make sure your layer is on.


[If it were not, they wouldn't be able to see the things to even try to select them, so I don't think that can be it.  They already said all Layers are Unlocked and Thawed, and I can only assume, given the description of the problem, also On.]

 

Even things on a Locked Layer can still be selected in noun-verb pick-first mode [they'll get un-selected if you then call up an editing command that would want to alter them, such as Copy, Move, Rotate, Erase], and also in editing commands that wouldn't alter them, such as for boundaries in Trim or Break or Hatch.  So a Locked Layer could be the problem, but only within certain commands, not in general.

Kent Cooper, AIA
Message 7 of 12
graham
in reply to: Patchy

Layer 0 is on. When I turn it off, the text all vanishes, so it is still the one I need to use.

 

When I zoom (via the mouse wheel) layer 0 DOES NOT zoom. Everything else does.

 

I have turned layer 0 off and on, saved quit and restarted, sworn freely in four languages, tried IMAGEFRAME... so far, the score is ill-trained CADmonkey 0, AutoCAD 3.

Message 8 of 12
Patchy
in reply to: graham

Let us see your drawing, can you attach it here.

Sounds like your text is in paper space, you activate the viewport and roll your wheel to zoom so you're actually working thru your viewport.

Message 9 of 12
graham
in reply to: Patchy

Unfortunately my drawing is for a client. I can't share it. I will explain the symptoms as well as my ability allows, but the actual drawing is not available.

Message 10 of 12
Kent1Cooper
in reply to: graham


@Anonymous wrote:

.... 

When I zoom (via the mouse wheel) layer 0 DOES NOT zoom. Everything else does.

.....


[See the second paragraph EDIT part of Post 5, which went in after you posted this.]

Kent Cooper, AIA
Message 11 of 12
graham
in reply to: Patchy

When I switched from model to paper, I got access to my text. Thank you!

Message 12 of 12
wispoxy
in reply to: Kent1Cooper

Kent1Cooper wrote:

 

[If it were not, they wouldn't be able to see the things to even try to select them, so I don't think that can be it.  They already said all Layers are Unlocked and Thawed, and I can only assume, given the description of the problem, also On.]

 

 

Wisp's Response:

 

I got a LISP toggle that grays out everything on a layer that's turned off.

I'm thinking though, I had an issue with 2013 where if you didn't REGEN after turning off the layer, some items would still be viewable.

Found out it was my current template and not AutoCAD.

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