Why no Layer color ByBlock?

[Anonymous]

Why can't I set a layer's color to ByBlock?  Both that and ByLayer are greyed out.  I have an urgent need for this functionality!

[rkmcswain]

That is illogical. What result would you expect from that setting if it were possible?

[Anonymous]

Why is it even in the dialog box if it's not available??  

[Anonymous]

I have A LOT of blocks where certain lines are on a given layer.  That layer used to be set to a certain color that wouldn't change, but now I have to make ALL THOSE LINES set to ByBlock color.  Isn't that the whole point of layer control??  Do I really need to go through several thousand blocks one by one and change the lines to "ByBlock" manually???

[rkmcswain]

neeboy042274 wrote:

Why is it even in the dialog box if it's not available??  

Because it's a standard dialog that is also used when assigning a color to an entity. Entities can be assigned the color ByBlock, layers cannot.

[SeeMSixty7 · Accepted solution]

If you want the functionality of ByBlock, then yes you do have to change every block, but that can easily be scripted and done rather quickly. Make sure that is the functionality you want before doing so. If you want to control color of entities inside a block via Layer Settings then ByLayer is the correct setting for the entities; then you simply change the layer color in your drawing that the block is inserted in and it changes the color of the entity within the block on that layer. If you set it to ByBlock, you will then find your self with some that will change via layer changes that the block is inserted on and not the layers the entity is on and some that have been set to a color independently. It does offer more flexibility, but it will also cause some confusion when you have some one unintentionally placing block with a color set to something different than bylayer. Just make sure that is what you want. Good luck

[Anonymous]

yeah I was afraid of that.  I colored all the blocks using several LISP routines, so I'll have to go back and modify the LISPs.

[Kent1Cooper]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Why can't I set a layer's color to ByBlock?  ....

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Another consideration:

Suppose you were able to assign ByBlock as the color of a Layer.  If that Layer is current and you draw anything other than a Block on it [I'm not aware of any way to restrict a Layer to allow only Blocks to be drawn on it, or any other similar entity-type restrictions], what color would or should it be?