Cannot delete layer
brandor
Traveler
Hello,
I want to tidy up my layers a bit and delete the ones I don't need. However, when deleting the "RELIEF / CONTOURS" layer, I get a warning that there are still entities here. The layer cannot be deleted in this way.
I have actually deleted all the elements there. If I zoom out really far, I can't see anything. If I select Delete and drag a selection window from top left to bottom right, I can't select any elements either. There is nothing there!
All sheets are also visible. Nothing can actually be hidden there. What other things could be there? And how can I find and select them?
Does anyone have any tips for me?
That would be great!
Thanks
Brandor
Comments
You could try selecting by layer?
Pick the delete tool and right click in the window, then pick Layer. You will be prompted for the name of the layer in the command line. Once you have entered the layer name on your keyboard you should then see in the command line how many entities are on that layer.
Best to check what they are before you go ahead and delete them, though.
Oh, that's a good idea. I've tried that. And yes, an entity is found and marked. However, I can't see it ... Even by zooming in / out I can't see anything ...
I then boldly selected "Do It". I couldn't see any change to my map. That looks good so far.
But I still can't delete this layer. There are still entities. If I do the whole thing (delete) again, another (or the same?) entity is found. But it looks like it can't simply be deleted. I have tried this several times now.
Is there anything else I can try?
Is the layer frozen ? That catches me from time to time.
Yes, good thought. Unfortunately, that doesn't help either. The layer is not frozen. I've just tried that again. Hmmm ...
Note that CC3+ do also have non-drawing entities that you can't find in the drawing window, but still lives on a layer and blocks it from deletion. Map notes are one example that comes to mind. And there is no user-facing UI to figure out which entities these might be.
LISTDWG might be helpful to get an entity tag number (copy to clipboard, paste into Notepad, search for "RELIEF / CONTOURS"), but I don't know if ERA will be able to select a non-drawing entity by tag number to remove it.
@DaltonSpence Yes, I've already tried that too. Unfortunately without success :(
@Monsen Oh dear! Ok, then it's going to be really difficult. Maybe it really is better to start all over again ...
If you can't get rid of the layer is it really worth scrapping everything to start all over again?
Layers aren't anywhere near as important as sheets. Most of the time I completely ignore them.
@jslayton With LISTDWG I got some information:
Drawing palette: colour 231 () layer 25 (RELIEF/CONTOURS)
line style 0 (Solid) fill style 1 (Solid)
line width 0.00000 tag # 15366 pen 0.000 mm 2nd colour 231
It looks like an invisible line to me ... or something like that. Hmm ... I have tried to delete the entity via the TagID, but this also fails.
@Loopysue Yes, that's a good question. It's about my template. I would like to set it up properly. And I don't think there's that much work involved in the end. I've probably spent most of my time "just" trying things out and learning. It's actually just a few settings. I can still use the catalogues, for example.
If I had built a complete map now, it would be a different story.
Post your fcw. Maybe someone can fix it.
This entity is the color palette the drawing is using. A custom color palette is one of the hidden entities that are possible in a map. You could detach it from the drawing presets dialog, but this will have your map revert to using the default palette.
Try using the MPEDIT command, right-click, select More and Entity Tag #. Enter the tag # for the palette entity (15366 in this case from your LISTDWG operation) and then right-click again and Do It. You should then get a dialog that lets you select a different layer.
I recommend the MERGE layer or one you know that you won't delete.
It's sort of a misfeature that hidden items like the palette entity pick up the current layer and other elements. They probably ought to force a particular set of properties to be consistent from drawing to drawing.
Oops. I wasn't even close to the problem. Things I don't understand about cc3+.
I tend to rename the layer to something I want and use it. I have never had a problem doing that.
So, finally I have some time again for CC3+ and my maps :)
Yes, indeed! That was it. I was able to delete the palette. That went really well. And then I was finally able to delete the layer. Yay!
What kind of palette is that? Is this a separate colour palette? I couldn't see any difference now ...
On this occasion: what do you need the MERGE layer for?
CC3+ supports two kinds of drawing palettes: a system palette that works across all drawings and a per-drawing palette that gets loaded automatically every time the drawing gets loaded. When you attach a palette to the drawing, the current system palette is attached to the current drawing and saves with it. This behavior has the advantage that a drawing will look the same every time it's loaded, especially if you have made a special palette. For example, if you make a special palette and use it only as a system palette on your machine, then your drawing may look different on another CC3+ installation. Keeping your special palette as a per-drawing one will ensure that your drawing looks the same on everyone's machine.
The MERGE layer is a special layer that the underlying CAD engine uses for various purposes and that has special properties (it is layer ID zero, which makes it easy to test for when doing things like merging together drawings). You can't delete the MERGE layer, so it's a safe place for the system to place special entities that users shouldn't be deleting like the special CC3+ drawing descriptor. However, things on the MERGE layer don't play well with other parts of the system like symbol definitions, so general drawing entities shouldn't go there. All special-purpose items (like the palette) ought to go on the MERGE layer, but there seems to have been an oversight in the original programming of the palette so that it goes on the currently-selected layer instead.
So when we attach a palette to a map we should have the MERGE layer active?
In theory, yes. In practice, it usually doesn't matter except for rare cases like this one.
@jslayton Many, many thanks for this great explanation :) I have now understood the MERGE layer. I also understand the difference between the system palette and the per-drawing palette. But what is still a bit unclear to me: the palette is a colour palette, right? ... and not a palette of Drawing Styles or Drawing Tools or similar ...?
Correct. CC3+ operates with a set of 256 colors in the color palettes.
@jslayton Okay, then it's not bad if I delete the pallet. In colour, nothing seems to change when I delete them. Thank you so much for your help!