AutoCAD LT - Hatching and Layer 0

[tpreston]

1. I have a dwg file with entities drawn on a few different layers....ie Walls, Doors, Fixtures, Grid, Furniture, etc.
2. I have all layers OFF except for the layers that contain entities that I need for a hatch boundary....Walls & Doors Layers....I want to create a solid hatch between the lines that represent the edge of a wall.  Some of those walls have door openings and those openings were created with a door block that shows a door and an arc representing the door swing.
3. When I pick a point in between the lines, I keep getting an error that Autocad can't determine any boundaries.
4. BUT, when I turn Layer 0 to ON, hatching works perfectly.

Just wondering if anyone else has come across this and if the problem is a bug or just my within my drawing

[ The subject line of this post has been edited to include the product name by @handjonathan ]

[pendean · Accepted solution]

@tpreston General core rules in AutoCAD (40-ish years now) for layer 0:
1. Always be on/thawed/unlocked.
2. Nothing should ever be drawn on it or placed on it that forces you to freeze/off that layer to hide content. Nothing. Ever.

And... a general rule for less troublesome hatching in AutoCAD:
A. FREEZE, not "off", layers that are not needed for your selections, since off still make them selectable, but FREEZE removes that quirk out of the equation.

Now you know.

[user181]

Are any lines within the door block drawn on layer DEFPOINTS?  If 0 is frozen defpoints layer can't be selected or modifed or used for hatch boundary

[tpreston]

Thanks for the replies.  I've been using AutoCAD since the days of DOS.  I have always used the practice of selecting objects on certain layers that I need for reference and then using the LAYISO command to turn off all other layers(including Layer 0).  I don't recall every having this issue before( but as stated above, I am dating myself with using DOS and my memory may not be as sharp as before). 

I tried setting LAYISO to freeze instead of Off and still had the same issues. I guess if i'm going to continue to use the LAYISO command I just need to then go back and Thaw Layer 0 before continuing.

[tpreston]

I checked the entities contained in my Door block and none are on the DEFPOPINTS layer, however they are all on Layer 0.  The block itself is on Layer "Doors".  I'm guessing since the door block is on Layer "Doors" and the block entities are on Layer 0, and Layer 0 is off or frozen, that is the issue?

[pendean]

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@tpreston wrote:

I checked the entities contained in my Door block and none are on the DEFPOPINTS layer, however they are all on Layer 0.  The block itself is on Layer "Doors".  I'm guessing since the door block is on Layer "Doors" and the block entities are on Layer 0, and Layer 0 is off or frozen, that is the issue?

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Pretty much.

You never mentioned LAYISO in any early post: LOCK&FADE might be the other setting to try, but don't shy away from LAYFRZ to freeze what's left on screen that may interfere with your hatching tasks.