Layers don't match what's displayed, blocks happen to be broken into pieces

[db_2014]

Hello:

Let me preface by saying that I'm just learning to use Autocad. We have version 2012. I just created quite a complex drawing. I was trying to separate all elements into different layers with their own colors and such. (For easy reference.)

So I decided to test my drawing by switching off layers in this palette:

But when I was turning off my layer "Bldg M" it would remove only some of its elements.

When I start selecting objects in the drawing screen from the layer "Bldg M" it shows them in the drop-down (shown above) as being in the layer "Bldg M". Hmm. But when I turn off that layer (again, as circled above), it doesn't remove them...

To see where those objects could be I also started turning off other layers, and it turns out that if I turn off layer "Bldg S" most of my objects from the layer "Bldg M" are also taken off the drawing area. But, again, when I select those objects in the drawing area they show (correctly) to be on the layer "Bldg M" in the drop-down control.

So in other words, I am totally confused????

Another weird thing that happens is that all objects on layer "Bldg M" were inserted as (my own) blocks using this button:

but when I turn off the "Bldg S" layer, it takes out some objects but leaves parts that were not supposed to be added as parts because they should've been inside the blocks and I could not've added them as parts.

So please let me know what I did wrong and how to correct it?

Thanks in advance.

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi,

you have found out what is the difference (one of them) between "layer on/off" and "layer freeze/thaw".

With short words: use freeze/thaw instead of on/off and you get what you estimate.

A bit more description: a blockdefinition can contain objects on different layers and a block itself can be inserted on a specific layer.

If you freeze the layer on which the block is inserted, then all the geometry of the block will get invisible.

If you switch off the layer on which the block is inserted, then only the geometry in the blockreference will be hidden that are exactly on that layer, the other objects from the symbol/block stay visible.

Saying that you also have to recognize, that layer "0" for geometry in the blockdefinition has a special meaning. Geometry on layer "0" will be handled in the same way as like they are on the layer of the blockdefinition.

HTH, - alfred -

[db_2014]

Thanks for your reply, Alfred.

I'm sorry, if I'm still not following it. Instead of trying to explain I made a short animated GIF to show what happens. Please take a look:

And to show that the part of the drawing consists of only blocks, I made this one:

So why are those layers not being turned off? And why do I get those parts left out?

[nestly2 · Accepted solution]

The block is on layer "Bldg - M", but the objects inside the block are on several different layers.

The only way to hide all the objects inside the block by turning Layers OFF is to turn off ALL the layers that are used inside the block.

Similarly, if you FREEZE the individual layers, the corrosponding objects will disappear, but you can also hide the entire block by FREEZing only the layer the block is on.

Also, since the objects inside the block have a color property of "BYBLOCK", everything inside the block will ignore the assigned layer colors, and instead use the color of the Layer the block is inserted on  (unless the whole block is assigned a color override, in which case it will use that color and ignore all layer settings.  So if the intent is to have objects inside the block display according to their individual layers, then you don't want to use "BYBLOCK" because the block can be only one color. "ByLayer" would be the correct color choice in that scenario.

For myself, I don't turn layers OFF at all, rather I FREEZE them because FREEZing is much more powerful and flexible, especially when you start working with viewports.

Tip:  XLIST command will allow you to determine the properties of the objects inside the block without actually opening the block with the Block Editor.

Here's a decent youtube to help understand some of the differences between OFF and Freeze https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG9JILLaoiU

Post a sample drawing with just one of your blocks if you need additonal assistance.

[db_2014]

Thanks. I get it now. My mistake was to set up elements in each block as "by block." Changing them to "by layer" and setting a specific layer that I want them to be on fixed the issue.

Just curious though if I want to make a block belong to whatever layer I insert it into. How do I do that?

[nestly2]

The "block" always belongs to the layer it's inserted on, but as you've found, the way the objects inside the block are displayed can vary greatly depending on the properities of those objects.

I "think" what you're asking though is how to make the block behave as a single object that inherits all the properties of the layer it's inserted on.  The answer is to make sure all the objects inside the block are on LAYER 0 and all the objects inside the block have "ByLayer" properties for Color/Linetype/Lineweight (which they will unless you've already overridden them.) 

[db_2014]

Thanks for your help. I just learned something 😉