How to: "Which layer sets contain a particular layer?"

[JoeinNorCal]

Cleaning up layer sets, old layers, and trying to be efficient with my various views.  In a layer set, I can see used layers.  Is there a way to see the reverse:  "Go to" a layer and see which layer sets it's in.?

[glennw]

A layer should be available in all your layer sets.

[Kbird1]

16 hours ago, glennw said:

A layer should be available in all your layer sets.

 

 I think this assumes that you checked the  Modify All Layersets  Box before making the new Layer doesn't it?

 

Apparently not any longer....see below....

 

M.

[Chopsaw]

21 minutes ago, Kbird1 said:

I think this assumes that you checked the  Modify All Layersets  Box before making the new Layer doesn't it?

 

No.

[Chopsaw]

I think the original question must have been how to see which layersets have a particular layer turned on?

 

Not sure there is a fast way to do that.

[Kbird1]

21 minutes ago, Chopsaw said:

 

No.

 

K'    I have always assumed it needed to be Checked to add the new Layer you are about to make, to ALL Layersets , not just the current one.

 

M.

[Chopsaw]

Ok  you might as well take advantage of a little glitch if figured out a while back.

 

1. Select an item so that it highlights in ALDO
2. Go to you last listed layerset.
3. Hover mouse on layerset drop down.
4. Use up arrow key to scroll through all your layersets.
5. Or just randomly unintentionally scroll through your layersets by depressing your middle mouse button while on the dropdown menue. If you sometime wonder how you got to your 3D Framing Set while in plan view that could be it.

[Alaskan_Son]

I might be missing some thing about what you’re describing Chop, but I wouldn’t call that a glitch at all. That’s pretty standard Windows behavior.  

[Chopsaw]

Huh....    Tech support said it was a problem with my mouse and I should get a new one.  Or do you mean the tabbing with the arrow key that just a minute ago would only work in one direction ?

[Alaskan_Son]

23 minutes ago, Chopsaw said:

Or do you mean the tabbing with the arrow key that just a minute ago would only work in one direction ?

Not sure I follow.  I'm talking about hovering over your Active Layer Set Control or over your Active Dimension Defaults Control or over your Elevation Reference dropdown, or over your Drawing Group drop down, etc.  You can hover and use your mouse wheel or your arrow keys.  Been that way as long as I remember.  It's a handy feature and works that way in other programs as well.  Or are you talking about something more sinister?

[glennw]

6 hours ago, Kbird1 said:

I have always assumed it needed to be Checked to add the new Layer you are about to make, to ALL Layersets , not just the current one.

That setting only applies to a layers attributes - not the layer itself.

You can't add a layer to just the current layerset or any specific layerset - you add the layer to all layersets.

Think about the problems you would encounter by adding layers to only certain layersets. 

Way back, many versions ago, Chief would allow you to create new layers in only a certain layerset(s).

The problems it caused were significant and they changed the behavior - that was many versions ago. 

[Kbird1]

12 hours ago, Alaskan_Son said:

I might be missing some thing about what you’re describing Chop, but I wouldn’t call that a glitch at all. That’s pretty standard Windows behavior.  

 

Do you mean scrolling the inActive Window while hovering? you can disable that if desired/wanted  , it's confusing for some in Chief while in Split screen as you can scroll in and out ( zoom) but not really be active in that window.

 

M.

 

 

[Kbird1]

9 hours ago, glennw said:

Way back, many versions ago, Chief would allow you to create new layers in only a certain layerset(s).

The problems it caused were significant and they changed the behavior - that was many versions ago. 

 

Thank You !  .... good to know I am not forgetting things   just not current apparently , I learnt that the hard way many versions ago , so have used it ever since without noticing the Change.

 

M.

[DzinEye]

8 minutes ago, Kbird1 said:

 

Do you mean scrolling the inActive Window while hovering? you can disable that if desired/wanted  , it's confusing for some in Chief while in Split screen as you can scroll in and out ( zoom) but not really be active in that window.

 

M.

 

 

It's funny... many moons ago I suggested 'smarter windows' for just this reason...  at the time I didn't know that ability was 'Windows' driven and I'd wished I could do more than just scroll when hovering over any given window.  I still do, but only about 2 weeks ago I learned that this behavior was controllable in Windows, and ever since I've been wondering if I should turn it off or not.  Too many times I get messed up because I feel like I'm in the active window because of my ability to scroll in that window.  Tough decision because I use that scroll ability a lot.

[Chopsaw]

11 hours ago, Alaskan_Son said:

Or are you talking about something more sinister?

 

Yes much more sinister.  And it took me a while to figure out what was going on but I would pan in plan view and find myself in a totally different layerset without knowing I had changed the layerset when my mouse passed under the ALDO layerset dropdown and scramble it.     It still happens but now it is on my list of wacky things to remember.

[JJohnson]

On 5/16/2020 at 11:07 AM, JoeinNorCal said:

Cleaning up layer sets, old layers, and trying to be efficient with my various views.  In a layer set, I can see used layers.  Is there a way to see the reverse:  "Go to" a layer and see which layer sets it's in.?

Hi Joe,

If by cleaning up layer sets, you mean deleting unused layers, you may be able to, but there is no way to have a layer report the on the sets it is used in that I have seen.

There is a delete button in the layer properties, but I do not know how to activate it.  In my snip, it is greyed out even though the layer selected is one I made. 

 

 

[Kbird1]

5 minutes ago, JJohnson said:

Hi Joe,

If by cleaning up layer sets, you mean deleting unused layers, you may be able to, but there is no way to have a layer report the on the sets it is used in that I have seen.

There is a delete button in the layer properties, but I do not know how to activate it.  In my snip, it is greyed out even though the layer selected is one I made. 

 

 

 

You can't delete layers that are in use ..... There is a button to delete all un-used layers in Layerset Management in X12 at least

 

M.

[JoeinNorCal]

16 hours ago, Chopsaw said:

I think the original question must have been how to see which layersets have a particular layer turned on?

 

Not sure there is a fast way to do that.

Thanks all. Chopsaw's summary of my original question is correct.  Also, I'm on a Mac, so I can't use his trick to buzz through my currently too-many layer sets.

 

I have a layer called "Layer 3," from when I was just beginning.  I have no idea what's on it.  But there is a + sign in the layer description, showing that it IS being used, SOMEWHERE.  I went to "all off" layer set and set "Layer 3" to display.  I can't find anything, on any floor.  I've used select all, made sure that I'm looking at my whole workspace, etc.  It SEEMS like it's a layer that I should delete in my cleanup.  But given the disorganized way that I created this file, it could contain work that I don't want to delete, and which I should simply put on a layer that makes sense (now that I understand layers and layer sets).

 

Any suggestions?

[JJohnson]

39 minutes ago, JoeinNorCal said:

Thanks all. Chopsaw's summary of my original question is correct.  Also, I'm on a Mac, so I can't use his trick to buzz through my currently too-many layer sets.

 

I have a layer called "Layer 3," from when I was just beginning.  I have no idea what's on it.  But there is a + sign in the layer description, showing that it IS being used, SOMEWHERE.  I went to "all off" layer set and set "Layer 3" to display.  I can't find anything, on any floor.  I've used select all, made sure that I'm looking at my whole workspace, etc.  It SEEMS like it's a layer that I should delete in my cleanup.  But given the disorganized way that I created this file, it could contain work that I don't want to delete, and which I should simply put on a layer that makes sense (now that I understand layers and layer sets).

 

Any suggestions?

 

Post the plan so it can be checked out.

[Richard_Morrison]

44 minutes ago, JoeinNorCal said:

Any suggestions?

Yes, you will need to check all CAD Details and Cross Sections, as well the plans

[Kbird1]

47 minutes ago, JoeinNorCal said:

Thanks all. Chopsaw's summary of my original question is correct.  Also, I'm on a Mac, so I can't use his trick to buzz through my currently too-many layer sets.

 

I have a layer called "Layer 3," from when I was just beginning.  I have no idea what's on it.  But there is a + sign in the layer description, showing that it IS being used, SOMEWHERE.  I went to "all off" layer set and set "Layer 3" to display.  I can't find anything, on any floor.  I've used select all, made sure that I'm looking at my whole workspace, etc.  It SEEMS like it's a layer that I should delete in my cleanup.  But given the disorganized way that I created this file, it could contain work that I don't want to delete, and which I should simply put on a layer that makes sense (now that I understand layers and layer sets).

 

Any suggestions?

 

Does it not tell you which Layerset it is in when you try to delete it , not sure if it still happens in X12 ? you used to get a warning along with where it was in use.... though it sometimes said "multiple places"

[Dermot]

Every layer is always available in all layer sets.  All layers will always have the same name in all layer sets but they may not have any of the other settings the same.

 

The only way I know of to see which layer sets a layer is turned on in is to select the layer and scroll through all of the layer sets.

 

The layer display options will tell you how a layer is being used and why you can't delete it.

 

If the layer is showing an "S" image then this means that it is a system layer and it can't be deleted.

 

If the layer is showing a wrench image, then this means that one of the program defaults is using this layer and it can't be deleted.

 

If the layer is showing a "+" image, then this means that something in your plan is using the layer and it can't be deleted.  Something in your plan could mean it is in a plan view, a cross section or elevation view, a cad detail, or maybe inside of a cad block somewhere.

 

If you hold your mouse over the "+" in the layer display options dialog, a pop-up will tell you if the layer is also used in defaults or is a system layer.

 

[CAmichael240114]

Also a layer ("A" for example) can not be deleted if an item, symbol or CAD block is added to the library on that layer ("A").

You have to find that item in the library, change it on to another layer, then you can delete the layer.

It is hard find if the layer is blocked within a CAD block.

[JoeinNorCal]

1 hour ago, Dermot said:

If the layer is showing a "+" image, then this means that something in your plan is using the layer and it can't be deleted.  Something in your plan could mean it is in a plan view, a cross section or elevation view, a cad detail, or maybe inside of a cad block somewhere.

Thank you.  So far, I've found it used in an old 3D view, though I still haven't found what it is.  Will keep plugging!

[glennw]

3 hours ago, JoeinNorCal said:

Thanks all. Chopsaw's summary of my original question is correct.  Also, I'm on a Mac, so I can't use his trick to buzz through my currently too-many layer sets.

I am also on a mac and it works for me.

Select the layer you want to track.

Tab so that the Layer Set drop down has the focus.

Use the arrow keys to scroll through the layer sets.