how to locate "buried" entities on a given layer

[mikegera]

Say I have a layer that appears to have nothing on it but will not purge.  How do I identify, visibly, all entities tied to that layer? 

My guess is that they are inside of blocks.

Thanks for any replies.  

[Valentin_CAD]

@mikegera ,

This may help:

• Remove Unwanted Layers in Blocks | CAD Tips (cadalyst.com)

• Unable to delete or purge a layer in AutoCAD and Civil 3D (autodesk.com)

[pendean]

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@mikegera wrote:

Say I have a layer that appears to have nothing on it but will not purge....

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Why not just use LAYMRG command to merge it with layer 0? if it has anything buried on it it will now be associated with the layer you should never draw on but always have and leave thawed/unlocked/on all the time 🙂

[Kent1Cooper]

Yes, you could LAYDEL or LAYMRG the offending Layer as a brute-force way of eliminating the problem, but that won't tell you what was preventing PURGE from removing it.  And the LAYMRG approach could leave you with things on the target Layer you gave it that you'd really rather have removed entirely, but now you won't easily be able to isolate them.

But if you want to know where the issue is, in new-enough versions PURGE now has a way of locating such buried entities:

Pick your Layer in the left side, and the right side will tell you what is on it, including [when applicable] names of Blocks they're buried in.

[vinodkl]

Hello @mikegera 

I usually try find the entities on the layer by making it the current layer and draw a line. Next use the command "LAYISO" and select the line which I drew and press "Enter" key. This would isolate all the entities of that layer, so you can check where they are located. Hope that helps 🙂

[Kent1Cooper]

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@vinodkl wrote:

.... "LAYISO" ....

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That can be useful, but can miss some things, for example:

1.  There's a Block that has something on that Layer in it, but the Block is not actually inserted anywhere so that you could see it.

2.  There are things on that Layer in different spaces than the one you're in [such as paper vs. model, or different Layouts].

[mikegera]

Kent,

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but if there's a block associated with the .dwg file that's not being used, purge will eliminate it, thus clearing the way for the layer to be subsequently purged. 

[mikegera]

That's what I ended up doing.

It worked, of course, but never satisfied my curiosity.

I wish there was a way to somehow list all entities associated with a given layer.

[pendean]

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@mikegera wrote:

...I wish there was a way to somehow list all entities associated with a given layer.

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Search the Autodesk App Store and the web for what you crave, it might exist is there is a lot of demand for it.