Keeping Track of Layers and Blocks - Mastering AutoCAD for Mac - page 145

C O N T R O L L I N G L A Y E R S T H R O U G H T H E L A Y E R C O M M A N D
You've seen how the Layers palette makes it easy to view and edit layer information and how
you can easily select layer colors from the Color Palette dialog box. But you can also control
layers through the Command prompt.
Use these steps to control layers through the Command prompt:
1. Press the Esc key to make sure any current command is canceled.
2. At the Command prompt, enter -Layer ↵. Make sure you include the minus sign in front
of the word Layer . The following prompt appears:
Enter an option
[?/Make/Set/New/Rename/ON/OFF/Color/Ltype/LWeight/TRansparency/MATerial/
Plot/Freeze/Thaw/LOck/Unlock/stAte/
Description/rEconcile]:
If the Dynamic Input display is on, you'll see these options appear at the cursor as a list.
You'll learn about many of the options in this prompt as you work through this chapter.
3. Enter N ↵ to select the New option.
4. At the Enter name list for new layer(s): prompt, enter Wall2 ↵. The [?/Make/Set/
New/Rename/ON/OFF/Color/Ltype/LWeight/TRansparency/MATerial/Plot/Freeze/
Thaw/LOck/Unlock/stAte/rEconcile]: prompt appears again.
5. Enter C ↵.
6. At the New color [Truecolor/COlorbook]: prompt, enter Yellow ↵. Or, you can enter
2 ↵, the numeric equivalent of the color yellow in AutoCAD.
7. At the Enter name list of layer(s) for color 2 (yellow) <0>: prompt,
enter Wall2 ↵. The [?/Make/Set/New/Rename/ON/OFF/Color/Ltype/LWeight/
TRansparency/MATerial/Plot/Freeze/Thaw/LOck/Unlock/stAte/rEconcile]:
prompt appears again.
8. Press ↵ to exit the Layer command.
Each method of controlling layers has its own advantages. The Layers palette offers more
information about your layers at a glance. On the other hand, the Layer command offers a quick
way to control and create layers if you're in a hurry. Also, if you intend to write custom macros
and scripts, you'll want to know how to use the Layer command as opposed to using the Layers
palette because palettes can't be controlled through custom macros or scripts.
A S S I G N I N G L A Y E R S T O O B J E C T S
When you create an object, that object is assigned to the current layer. Until now, only one layer
has existed—layer 0—and it contains all the objects you've drawn so far. Now that you've created
some new layers, you can reassign objects to them by using the Properties Inspector palette:
1. Select the four lines that represent the bathroom walls. If you have trouble singling out
the wall to the left, use a window (click and drag from left to right) to select the wall line.