custom button - layer on/off?

[johnny]

Is it possible to make a custom button to turn a certain layer on/off or set of layers?  Or for that matter, can you make a button to change layersets and annosets?

 

I've seen some people with custom buttons and don't fully understand the limitations of those.

[Chopsaw]

Johnny I believe the extent of what you can do is edit the way the icons look or add more stock but less commonly used icons.  Move things around and organize them almost any way you like.  Or add custom library icons of your own.  I recently added a second Annotation set drop down tool over near the right end to be used with ALDO Layersets.  But if you want a button to quickly take you to your favorite layerset or annoset with one click I think the answer is No.  But someone hinted that things are going to be a little different in X10 so that may make things easier to do what you need.

[glennw]

Y

1 hour ago, johnny said:

Is it possible to make a custom button to turn a certain layer on/off

Johnny,

The closest you could get would be to use the Layer Hider which I have mapped to the LH shortcut.

There is also a toolbar button for Layer Hider.

1 hour ago, johnny said:

I've seen some people with custom buttons and don't fully understand the limitations of those.

Custom buttons can only be used to place library items.

[johnny]

Thanks guys.  So if I had a fav object like wall type I could use a button to quickly access that.

[glennw]

Johnny,

Yes, wall types, details, line types, blocked text.

Anything you can store in the library.

So you could have a "Walls" tool bar with a whole lot of wall types that you could select with 1 click.

[MarkMc]

Another tactic I use is to force folders to the top of the user library combined with a filter for the user library. Have one folder (spaces in the front of name) "       _most", another per project "        A_projectname" a few others I move around that are needed often. Spaces in the front of the name forces the folder up the chain. One advantage is that when using replace from library- the program will automatically look in the folder the object being replaced is in, saves clicks.

[BrownTiger]

Your "button" must set a global ruby variable, and cause a refresh.

Your special text items (labels) could use macros to check if/how they should supply the text.

 

Or you can define a special layer(set) to switch labels.

 

Alaskan_Son posted an example how to do this.. Beyond simple label switching, is pretty problematic - because of half hazard read/only ruby integration.

 

 

[Joe_Carrick]

The G5 key causes a "Refresh" and forces all "visible" macros to be executed.  I use a couple of macros to set "Ruby Global Variables" that may be needed by other macros.  They set those "Globals" but display nothing.  Some of them are in Room Labels, some in Cabinet Labels, some in other Labels, and some in Text Boxes.

 

One way to get all macros to execute is to do a "Print Preview" in the Layout.  This essentially displays all the Plan Views that have been sent to Layout and forces the macros in those views to execute.