Keeping Track of Layers and Blocks - Mastering AutoCAD for Mac - page 163

Once the log-file feature is closed, you can use any text editor to open the AutoCAD log. To find
the location of the log file, enter LOGFILENAME ↵. The name and location of the log file appears
in the Command Line palette. Typically, the location would look similar to the following:
/Users/user name/Library/Application Support/
Autodesk/local/AutoCAD Mac/R18.1/English/
The log file may be in a hidden folder, but you can get to it using the Go To Folder command.
While in Finder, press A-F-G. In the Go To Folder dialog box, enter the location of the log file,
and click Go.
With the log-file feature, you can record virtually anything that appears at the Command
prompt. You can even record an entire AutoCAD session. The log file can also be helpful in con-
structing script iles to automate tasks. (See Bonus Chapter 1 on the topic's companion website
for more information on scripts.) If you want a hard copy of the log file, print it from an applica-
tion such as TextEdit or your favorite word processor.
ASSIGNING COLORS, LINETYPES, AND LINETYPE SCALES TO INDIVIDUAL OBJECTS
If you prefer, you can set up AutoCAD to assign specific colors and linetypes to objects instead of
having objects take on the color and linetype settings of the layer on which they reside. Normally,
objects are given a default color and linetype called ByLayer, which means each object takes on the
color or linetype of its assigned layer. (You've probably noticed the word ByLayer in the Properties
Inspector palette and in various dialog boxes.)
Use the Properties Inspector palette to change the color or linetype of existing objects. For new
objects, choose Format  Color or enter COLOR ↵ to open the Color Palette dialog box. T This enables
you to set the current default color to red (for example) instead of ByLayer. Then everything you
draw will be red regardless of the current layer color.
For linetypes, you can use the Linetype Manager (Format  Linetype) to select a default linetype for
all new objects. To set the default linetype in the Linetype Manager, double-click on the linetype name
so that the “current” triangle to the far left points to the linetype. The list in the Linetype Manager
shows only linetypes that have already been loaded into the drawing, so if a desired linetype does not
appear in the list, you must use the Load icon (plus sign) to load additional linetypes.
Another possible color and linetype assignment is ByBlock, which you also set with the Properties
Inspector palette. ByBlock color makes everything you draw white until you turn your drawing into
a block and then insert the block on a layer with an assigned color. The objects then take on the color
of that layer. This behavior is similar to that of objects drawn on layer 0. The ByBlock linetype and
the ByBlock color work similarly.
Finally, if you want to set the linetype scale for each individual object instead of relying on the global
linetype scale (the Ltscale system variable), you can use the Properties Inspector palette to modify
the linetype scale of individual objects. In place of using the Properties Inspector palette, you can
set the Celtscale system variable to the linetype scale you want for new objects.
As mentioned earlier, stay away from assigning colors and linetypes to individual objects until
you're comfortable with AutoCAD; even then, use color and linetype assignments carefully. Other
users who work on your drawing may have difficulty understanding your drawing's organization
if you assign color and linetype properties indiscriminately.