In Autocad 2004 is there a way to change you current layer, line weight, style,
and color by clicking on a line that already has all the properties you want?
This rather than having to set them individually?
I think you can mandate all of these properties for a given layer 'by layer',
but this is not what I'm talking about.
Thanks for your help.
=============================================That seems to be for changing the properties of an existing object, not
changing your active settings, unless I missed something.
*Some architects* (The anarchists and democrats).
It seems to me that the primary reason for grouping objects onto layers is
not lineweight, it is visibility. Since the exigencies of plotting
lineweights and controlling visibility will not always map 1:1, I see no
reason to make unnecessarily restrictive rules in this regard. Most of the
time I draw BYLAYER, but if it suits the purposes of legibility of plots and
ease of use for the file, I respect no taboo about using other colors or
linetypes, and would encourage others to liberate themselves of any such
notion.
In fact I would go one further, I would advise CAD users to investigate and
use BYBLOCK color and linetypes in their standard blocks for maximum graphic
flexibility. There's no reason why CAD plots have to look dull and flat just
because someone thinks that everything has to be BYLAYER.
I was teasing you and actually agree with you. In our work, non-bylayer
settings are not often necessary and should be avoided when possible.
For things like contours, there simply is no reason to use anything but
bylayer for linetype, color, etc.
I guess it would be more appropriate for me to say something like
"bylayer should always be used for object settings unless it is
necessary to deviate". I've never liked that statement because it
leaves too much wiggle room for the lazy cad operator.
Couldn't agree more about BYBLOCK. Seems to be an often misunderstood
and/or ignored concept.
==================================================="Weight, style and colour should all be bylayer anyway..."
I disagree entirely. The logic of your layers has traditionaly been mandated by
Autodesk in this fashion. But the rest of the software world has been free to
have different line weights on each layer, like every other vector based program
in existence.
Autocad recognizing different line weights on each layer has been in a long time
coming. How long did it take, 20 years? I'm really glad to see this. Autocad
has finally matured to the point where it gains some respect from me. Geez, it
took Autodesk ten years to implement external reference files. All this stuff
was in Microstation since day one.
I'm glad, I'd say excited but that would be an overstatement, that Autocad is
finally up to snuff for the most part.
So is there a command that lets me change my active draw settings to match an
existing object? Or might we need to wait until the next release for this?
No, there isn't one built in. It would take about 5 lines of lisp code,
with a little knowledge, though.
The rest of your post here shows your ignorance of Acad's capabilities.
Acad had these settings since 2.6, at aleast, if I'm not mistaken.
XRefing has been arounds since R9 or 10, maybe before that (that's over
ten years ago).
You're talking about setting properties BEFORE you draw the object.
Type PROPERTIES
This will bring up your properties dialogue box.
Set all the properties the way you want them (linetype scale, colour, layer,
linetype, thickness etc.)
Now draw your objects as normal.
DJE
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