I can still select object while its layer is already off.

metaclay

SketchUp Version: 8

Hi , i got problem with sketchup layering, pls check my attachment , i create a model then set the layer to 'object' layer. Then i simply turn off the visibility of the layer.
I accidentally found out that if i click-drag a rectangle (from right - to left) to create a window selection, i can still select part of it, i can see the dotted area in the viewer. Btw this is not happening when
i select (window select) by drag from left to right. Why the face is still selectable while the layer visibility has been turned off. Anyone can explain ?

Thanx.

error.skp

TIG

You are not using Layers appropriately.
Hence these issues...
You should always model all of your 'raw' geometry - lines/faces - on the special default 'Layer0' [this should always be the de facto 'active-layer'] - and never assign other layers to them.
Later on if you want to control their visibility you need to make them into a group [or component], then assign that group a layer, so then switching that layer ON/OFF affects the geometry's visibility.
Doing it your way - by giving faces, edges etc their different own layers - leads to unexpected consequences - e.g. having a face on an OFF layer hides it - but the when you erase one of its still visible edges and switch the face's layer back ON - that face is gone, because it relied on that now vanished edge...
In this very case some smoothed [non-visible] edges are left on Layer0 while their faces were moved to another layer...
You do not use Layers in Sketchup like in CAD: layers only control objects' visibility, they do not Lock or Freeze objects, so interconnected objects like faces and their edges should never straddle layers...
You can use layers to control the visibility of groups/component-instances, AND you can also 'Lock' these kinds of objects so that they can't be accidentally Selected, Moved or Erased.

So to recap - never layer 'raw' geometry like faces or edges - always group/componentize it, then layer that object as desired.

The only time you should think about using a layer other that 'Layer0 for any basic 'drawing-elements' is for things like Text, Dimensions, Guides etc, which you might want layering to control their visibility for various reasons - e.g. in certain scene-tabs or whilst doing certain kinds of modeling... because these are not dependent on other geometry etc then having them layered is 'safe'...

Dave R

TIG's covered the layer thing but your post also indicates you don't understand the Select tool as well as you could. A right to left selection selected the model because it only needs to cross part of it to select it. A left to right selection will only select those things which fall fully within the box.

metaclay

@tig said:

So to recap - never layer 'raw' geometry like faces or edges - always group/componentize it, then layer that object as desired.

The only time you should think about using a layer other that 'Layer0 for any basic 'drawing-elements' is for things like Text, Dimensions, Guides etc, which you might want layering to control their visibility for various reasons - e.g. in certain scene-tabs or whilst doing certain kinds of modeling... because these are not dependent on other geometry etc then having them layered is 'safe'...

Thanx TIG, that's a good point, i acutally didn't think the layering workflow will be like that in sketchup. So i'm actually thinking it like other app ... i use autocad and modo where i can layer anything without any rule. In fact they're different . What i want : i need to hide some of the object in my complex object , that obj in my attachment is a small part that i copy/paste just to reduce complexity, the actual model is a tunnel, with a lot of elements, so at some point when working with my model , i just want to turn on/off a specific element like , street lamp or grass or tunnel interior etc. So grouping is solving my problem.

Thanx.

metaclay

@dave r said:

TIG's covered the layer thing but your post also indicates you don't understand the Select tool as well as you could. A right to left selection selected the model because it only needs to cross part of it to select it. A left to right selection will only select those things which fall fully within the box.

Thanx Dave, i actually know the different of them both. The point is: i can use one method to pick hidden face while other method can't . if u you open the attachment , you'll see the problem. If you drag left-to -right , you will never pick up the face (while the layer is off), no matter how to try it. But let think this as imperfection or unpredictable result, since the layering without grouping tend to make something like this.

TIG

I think the issue is that if you have hidden-geometry ON the smoothed edges on 'Layer0' belonging to the surface that is otherwise on layer 'object' are visible and also they are selectable in either fence direction.
If you have hidden-geometry OFF then only a right>left fence selects anything all and then it selects the 'surface' as the edges are 'hidden' [actually they are 'smoothed']- this is because it is actually selecting the invisible edges belonging to the surface which are on an ON layer, when the surface's layer itself is OFF !
In a way this is a 'bug' as you can't select hidden objects if hidden-geometry is OFF, but since it only manifests itself when layering has be used inappropriately mixing faces and edges across different layers that are ON/OFF it is hardly a show-stopper...
Don't expect a fix any time soon...