Layers Elements

LAYE elements are owned by VIEW elements and are administrative elements used to group together annotation elements. LAYE elements can own Dimension elements, Label elements and View Note elements.

LAYE elements should not be concerned with Visual Layers, which along with Visual Styles are the primary mechanism for controlling the representation of annotations in DRAW. LAYE control of annotation representation is present largely for backwards compatibility.

Sometimes different LAYE elements are used for different functions, and the function of a LAYE can be defined by the PURP (Purpose) attribute. The PURP attribute can be used to control the types of element that the Layer can own.

The PURP attribute of a Layer can be set using a (four character) word, for example, DIMA for dimensions.

If a LAYE's PURP attribute is set with a valid value, as dictated from the template setting, the respective new Annotation is placed in the first relevant LAYE for which the PURP dictates.

If the PURP is invalid or unset, the respective new Annotation is placed in the first available LAYE irrelevant of the PURP setting.

If the CE in the explorer is a LAYE, the respective new Annotation is placed in that LAYE only if the PURP is unset or of the correct value.

DRAW does not create LAYErs with an appropriate PURP set, it is the user's responsibility to set these up, normally through use of an appropriate drawing template.

Note:
The application works differently in version 3.1 onwards, compared to version 2.1, in the sense that an element can go into any LAYE. It is not dependent on a determined LAYE as the annotation style is now controlled through visual layers and styles. Attribute cascade from the LAYE has been maintained for backwards compatibility and ADP to recognize a user requirement for hierarchal groups within explorer.

The LVIS attribute controls the visibility of a LAYE element. The LVIS attribute can be set to TRUE or FALSE and affects all annotations under the LAYE element.

Note:
Where LAYE elements and LAYE members have common attributes, the values of those attributes are cascaded down from the LAYE when creating annotations from the command line.