Macro or Lisp that takes selected text, makes a new layer with the same name as selected text and then puts selected text on that new layer
Hi, here you are:
(defun c:Text2Layer ( / oldcmdecho ss i ent edata txt layName )
(vl-load-com)
;; Store current command echo setting and turn it off for cleaner execution
(setq oldcmdecho (getvar "CMDECHO"))
(setvar "CMDECHO" 0)
(prompt "\nSelect TEXT or MTEXT to create layers from: ")
;; Only allow selection of Text or MText objects
(if (setq ss (ssget '((0 . "TEXT,MTEXT"))))
(progn
(setq i 0)
;; Loop through all selected text objects
(while (< i (sslength ss))
(setq ent (ssname ss i))
(setq edata (entget ent))
;; Extract the text string (DXF group code 1)
(setq txt (cdr (assoc 1 edata)))
;; Clean up text for valid layer name
;; Replaces illegal AutoCAD characters with an underscore
(setq layName (vl-string-translate "<>/\\\":;?*|=''," "______________" txt))
;; Check if the layer already exists
(if (not (tblsearch "layer" layName))
;; If it doesn't exist, make it
(command "._-layer" "_make" layName "")
)
;; Move the entity to the new layer (Modify DXF group code 8)
(setq edata (subst (cons 8 layName) (assoc 8 edata) edata))
(entmod edata)
(setq i (1+ i))
)
(princ (strcat "\nSuccess! Processed " (itoa (sslength ss)) " text object(s)."))
)
(princ "\nNo text selected.")
)
;; Restore original command echo setting
(setvar "CMDECHO" oldcmdecho)
(princ)
)
.... ;; Check if the layer already exists (if (not (tblsearch "layer" layName)) ;; If it doesn't exist, make it (command "._-layer" "_make" layName "") ) ....
A suggestion:
That approach, using the Make option in the LAYER command, will make each Layer current in the process. If doing that, I would suggest that you also save the initial current Layer [the CLAYER System Variable] at the beginning, and reset it at the end, as the routine does with CMDECHO.
But instead, I recommend that you use the New option in the LAYER command, rather than Make. Then the current Layer is not changed, but the New Layer will still be available to put the Text/Mtext on. No need to save the initial current Layer and restore it later, because the initial current Layer will remain current throughout.
Also, using the Make option that causes the Layer to become current will run into trouble if the Layer already exists but is Frozen, because a Frozen Layer cannot be made current, so you should include a Thaw option on the Layer name first. With the New option, that is not a problem, unless you don't want to see the Text/Mtext disappear when it's moved to the frozen Layer.
And while we're in that part of the routine, you really don't need to test whether the Layer exists. You can just do the LAYER command part [whether with the Make or New option], without its being an argument within an (if) function, and it won't matter if the Layer already exists. It will not cause any error -- the command will just go back to the main prompt again [to be concluded with the final Enter ""].
Hello. Yes, thank you for these comments, which help improve the process. As with every AutoLISP programming request, especially when it comes from people who are unfamiliar with the language, we provide a draft version that is then discussed and refined based on feedback from the original requester. These discussions help requesters improve their skills in this area.
@paullimapa wrote:
.... it's possible especially with MText that contain multiple lines of word wrapped content that the text string is now separated into two dxf group codes:
dxf group code 3 and dxf group code of 1
.... check to make sure length of textstring is not greater than 255. ....
The DXF code 1 & 3 thing is independent of word wrapping. It's just about total characters in the text content -- beyond 250 it brings in a 3 entry for each clump of 250 characters, with the leftovers going in the 1 entry. However, @frederick_gillis, can you enlighten us on the circumstances under which you need to do this? I can't imagine a reason to make a Layer whose name is extracted text content of hundreds of characters, even if a Layer name of up to 255 is "allowed."
A more direct and much shorter way to make all alphabetic characters in a string lower-case:
(defun to-lower (s) (strcase s T))No list to build or string to re-build from the list, no stepping through, no calculation of adjusted ASCII values, no effect on non-alphabetic characters, etc. Read about the [which] argument in the AutoLisp Reference's entry for the (strcase) function.
Maybe shorter enough that you could just omit that sub-routine entirely, and use (strcase) directly where needed.
