Change entity layer

[RubberDinero]

At my job, i have a very tedious job of changing layers from proposed to existing and vice versa

our layer setup is very basic

"LayerName"=existing layer

"LayerName-PR"=Proposed layer.

i have recently bought a book to to learn AutoLisp and I've gotten the basic concept.

I know that i want to ssget LayerName and setq that name to L then CHPROP LA to L-PR.

 

but i want to know if someone has anything like this already and could help me.

 

I'd like to do a mass select and have it automatically change the entities to their respective PR layer. also vice versa, to remove PR.

 

i'm not looking for a layer renaming lisp. i'm looking for a entity layer changing lisp. anything helps. thanks.

[Lee Mac]

Are you looking to change everything on "LayerName" to "LayerName-PR", including nested objects? Or only objects selected by a user?

[RubberDinero]

Are you looking to change everything on "LayerName" to "LayerName-PR", including nested objects? Or only objects selected by a user?

 

Selected items via box selection or pickbox. i would like to layiso a bunch of layers select the entities and run the lisp. or run the lisp and select the entities.

 

It would have to be different then renaming a layer, because there are going to be some items on the same layer i don't want to change to -pr or remove the pr, they have to remain.

 

thanks.

[Lee Mac]

The following is quickly written using some existing code:

(defun c:lay2pr ( / enx idx lay sel )
   (if (setq sel (ssget "_:L" '((8 . "~*-PR"))))
       (repeat (setq idx (sslength sel))
           (setq enx (entget (ssname sel (setq idx (1- idx))))
                 lay (assoc 8 enx)
           )
           (entmod (subst (cons 8 (matchlayer (cdr lay) (strcat (cdr lay) "-PR"))) lay enx))
       )
   )
   (princ)
)
(defun c:pr2lay ( / enx idx lay sel )
   (if (setq sel (ssget "_:L" '((8 . "*?-PR"))))
       (repeat (setq idx (sslength sel))
           (setq enx (entget (ssname sel (setq idx (1- idx))))
                 lay (assoc 8 enx)
           )
           (entmod (subst (cons 8 (matchlayer (cdr lay) (substr (cdr lay) 1 (- (strlen (cdr lay)) 3)))) lay enx))
       )
   )
   (princ)
)
(defun matchlayer ( src new )
   (or (tblsearch "layer" new)
       (entmake
           (subst
               (cons 2 new)
               (cons 2 src)
               (vl-remove-if '(lambda ( x ) (member (car x) '(-1 5 102 360))) (entget (tblobjname "layer" src)))
           )
       )
   )
   new
)
(princ)

The commands are LAY2PR and PR2LAY.

[RubberDinero]

The following is quickly written using some existing code:

(defun c:lay2pr ( / enx idx lay sel )
   (if (setq sel (ssget "_:L" '((8 . "~*-PR"))))
       (repeat (setq idx (sslength sel))
           (setq enx (entget (ssname sel (setq idx (1- idx))))
                 lay (assoc 8 enx)
           )
           (entmod (subst (cons 8 (matchlayer (cdr lay) (strcat (cdr lay) "-PR"))) lay enx))
       )
   )
   (princ)
)
(defun c:pr2lay ( / enx idx lay sel )
   (if (setq sel (ssget "_:L" '((8 . "*?-PR"))))
       (repeat (setq idx (sslength sel))
           (setq enx (entget (ssname sel (setq idx (1- idx))))
                 lay (assoc 8 enx)
           )
           (entmod (subst (cons 8 (matchlayer (cdr lay) (substr (cdr lay) 1 (- (strlen (cdr lay)) 3)))) lay enx))
       )
   )
   (princ)
)
(defun matchlayer ( src new )
   (or (tblsearch "layer" new)
       (entmake
           (subst
               (cons 2 new)
               (cons 2 src)
               (vl-remove-if '(lambda ( x ) (member (car x) '(-1 5 102 360))) (entget (tblobjname "layer" src)))
           )
       )
   )
   new
)
(princ)

The commands are LAY2PR and PR2LAY.

 

Wow! that was amazing and fast! i'm going to study this code.

I'm not a programmer so I'm reading "AutoLisp in Plain English" very interesting stuff! the book even came with a floppy disk.

 

thank you very much!

 

do i have to do like a solution found option and pick your response?

[Grrr]

Wow! that was amazing and fast! i'm going to study this code.

I'm not a programmer so I'm reading "AutoLisp in Plain English" very interesting stuff! the book even came with a floppy disk.

 

thank you very much!

 

do i have to do like a solution found option and pick your response?

 

I would suggest you to start with afralisp.com, and after reaching certain level to visit Lee Mac's tutorials: http://www.lee-mac.com/tutorials.html

And after reading your comments I don't think you'll "study" too much from his code at this point (no offense), since usually LM's codes are written in advanced/high level - avoiding any possible faults in them.

[RubberDinero]

Thanks. what would you suggest from afralisp? it's pretty much a book list from amazon. that's where i bought my book. since it seemed to be for noobs, i felt it was perfect for me.

 

I've already written some very basic lsp

(defun c:wa nil

(setq s (ssget "_X" '((8 . "*water*,*watr*,*wtr*,*wa-*"))))

(command "_.chprop" s "" "LA" "VU-WATR-PIPE""")

(princ)

)

I know its just an "ssx macro" turned lsp, but i was kind of proud of myself.

[RubberDinero]

afralisp.com

 

I think this website if no longer in service.

[Lee Mac]

Wow! that was amazing and fast! i'm going to study this code.

I'm not a programmer so I'm reading "AutoLisp in Plain English" very interesting stuff! the book even came with a floppy disk.

 

thank you very much!

 

You're very welcome - feel free to ask if you have questions regarding the posted code.

 

do i have to do like a solution found option and pick your response?

 

Not at all - a 'thank you' is more than sufficient.

[Lee Mac]

I think this website if no longer in service.

 

I believe 'Grrr' meant AfraLISP.net

 

Here are some resources to get you started:

 

AfraLISP

Jeffery Sanders AutoLISP Tutorial

Ron Leigh AutoLISP Lessons

Lee Mac Programming Tutorials

[Lee Mac]

When posting code to the forum, I would also suggest you read these guidlines to correctly format the code.

 

When writing your code, I would also strongly suggest using a code editor if you are not already doing so -

Personally, I find that the Visual LISP IDE provided with AutoCAD is by far the most suitable for writing AutoLISP:

 

The Visual LISP Editor - Part 1

The Visual LISP Editor - Part 2

An Introduction to the Visual LISP IDE

Retrieving Information About a Function

A Shortcut to Localising Variables

Debugging Code with the Visual LISP IDE

[crgonzo]

I am having a similar need except my layer names are a bit different.  I-EQPT-21, for instance, will change to XI-EQPT-81 representing a change from new to existing.    In other cases, the opposite is true.  The numbers represent the layer color and the X represents "existing".  I was able to modify the code above to make the change from I-EQPT-21 to XI-EQPT-81 by selection method noted but can't figure out how to go in reverse.  I can tell that the ENTMOD code removes the last 3 characters of the layer name when switching back.  Obviously, I don't need that to happen.  Is it possible to easily do what I need without completely rewriting the code?  Thanks a bunch for any tips.