Sometimes I receive a question which makes me think “I must have posted something that shows that by now, surely?” and yet I can’t find it. So please accept my apologies if this post is redundant and I’m just repeating myself. :-)
Here’s the question that had me thinking:
I don't know how may I create a new layer in drawing.
And here’s some code I threw together to show this. It defines a simple command called CL which creates a layer with the name proposed by the user, after validating the name using the SymbolUtilityServices namespace (which I admit not to having used before, at least not via the .NET layer). It also sets the colour-index of the layer to an auto-incremented value, and sets the current layer to the newly-created one (so it shows up nicely in AutoCAD’s user interface).
Here’s the C# code:
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.EditorInput;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Colors;
namespace LayerCreation
{
public class Commands
{
// For fun let's assign each new layer with a new colour
static short _colorIndex = 0;
[CommandMethod("CL")]
public void CreateLayer()
{
Document doc =
Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;
Database db = doc.Database;
Editor ed = doc.Editor;
Transaction tr =
db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction();
using (tr)
{
// Get the layer table from the drawing
LayerTable lt =
(LayerTable)tr.GetObject(
db.LayerTableId,
OpenMode.ForRead
);
// Check the layer name, to see whether it's
// already in use
PromptStringOptions pso =
new PromptStringOptions(
"\nEnter new layer name: "
);
pso.AllowSpaces = true;
// A variable for the layer name
string layName = "";
do
{
PromptResult pr = ed.GetString(pso);
// Just return if the user cancelled
// (will abort the transaction as we drop out of the using
// statement's scope)
if (pr.Status != PromptStatus.OK)
return;
try
{
// Validate the provided symbol table name
SymbolUtilityServices.ValidateSymbolName(
pr.StringResult,
false
);
// Only set the layer name if it isn't in use
if (lt.Has(pr.StringResult))
ed.WriteMessage(
"\nA layer with this name already exists."
);
else
layName = pr.StringResult;
}
catch
{
// An exception has been thrown, indicating the
// name is invalid
ed.WriteMessage(
"\nInvalid layer name."
);
}
} while (layName == "");
// Create our new layer table record...
LayerTableRecord ltr = new LayerTableRecord();
// ... and set its properties
ltr.Name = layName;
ltr.Color =
Color.FromColorIndex(ColorMethod.ByAci, _colorIndex);
// Add the new layer to the layer table
lt.UpgradeOpen();
ObjectId ltId = lt.Add(ltr);
tr.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(ltr, true);
// Set the layer to be current for this drawing
db.Clayer = ltId;
// Commit the transaction
tr.Commit();
// Report what we've done
ed.WriteMessage(
"\nCreated layer named \"{0}\" with " +
"a color index of {1}.",
layName, _colorIndex++
);
}
}
}
}
When we run the CL command, the user will be asked for a layer name which – assuming it’s valid and isn’t already used in the current drawing – will be used to name the newly created layer. If the name is invalid or already in use, the code will loop until valid and usable name is provided (or the user cancels).
Command: CL
Enter new layer name: 1
Created layer named "1" with a color index of 0.
Command: CL
Enter new layer name: 1
A layer with this name already exists.
Enter new layer name: 0
A layer with this name already exists.
Enter new layer name: *
Invalid layer name.
Enter new layer name: 2
Created layer named "2" with a color index of 1.
Command: CL
Enter new layer name: 3
Created layer named "3" with a color index of 2.
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