Advantages of data organization using layers
With large projects in particular, organizing data using layers has significant advantages:
- Associative elements - such as wall dimensions or sill elevation labels - reside in the same drawing file and yet can still be hidden from view.
- In order for the interaction between elements to function cleanly, the components in question have to reside in the same drawing file. This is also the case for certain analysis and evaluation operations. With layers, you can meet these requirements easily.
- Easier to assemble layouts thanks to print sets. Print sets are user-defined compilations of layers. These can also be used when editing and assembling layouts. When assembling a layout, you can choose to display only the elements in a specific print set - switching between 1:50 and 1:100 is thus no problem.
- Exporting drawing files to DXF/DWG layers is easier as you can assign each layer in a drawing file to a different DXF/DWG layer. When importing DXF/DWG files, the DXF/DWG layer structure can be automatically integrated in the layer hierarchy.
- The layer of an element can often be modified more quickly than the element's assignment to a drawing file.
- You can quickly create layers that are not included in your layer structure and then use these layers in all the drawing files of a project.
- As a project can contain more layers (approximately 65,000) than drawing files (9,999), layers allow you to distinguish more precisely between the individual design entities.
- You can display and edit 65000 layers at once whereas the number of drawing files that you can have open simultaneously is 128.
- Layers can be shown and hidden very quickly (using print sets, layer favorites, the Layers palette or the Objects palette - Sort by layer criterion).
- You can change the format properties of a layer later. All the elements of this layer that were drawn using the From layer, line style setting will adapt automatically. This way, you do not need to modify them separately.
- You can copy format properties including layers by double-clicking with the right mouse button. This method also works with wizards. Similarly, you can use
Copy Format (How) to quickly copy the format properties of an element and apply them to other elements.
