Plugin for making currently selected object current layer
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Hello everyone,
Hope you're well?
Just wondering if there's a plugin kicking around, which will allow me to click on an object or line, and make that objects layer 'current'? An example would be if you had a brick wall and a window, and the window layer was selected (and used when creating new objects). What I would really like is if I could click on the brick wall, and then select 'make current/active layer'.
Hope that makes sense?
Cheers!
Chris
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Yes it makes sense and suggests you need to read up on how layers work in Sketchup.
They are only visibility tags and do not separate geometry and most of all, 99.9% of the time the active layer should be Layer0. -
Thanks for that. I've been using AutoCAD for many years, during this time I've got into the habit of using layers consistently to a industry standardised convention, so certain objects can be turned off with ease. Is this a poor method to use in sketchup? Should I have Layer0 for everything and manually delete items when I don't want them shown?
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In SketchUp all 'geometry' [edges and faces] will almost always belong on Layer0.
Leaving Layer0 as the current-layer [and visible] is almost always the best option.You can make a 'container' of selected geometry [and other objects (like other containers)] - these are groups or components.
You can assign different Layers to these, and then setting those Layers' visibility on/off to show/hide the objects. Geometry on Layer0 will hide with the container's Layer [this is also a standard in CAD, with Layer 0].
You can then set up Scene tabs with different Layers set ups to allow you to show/hide things as you wish.
If you ill-advisedly assign a Layer other than Layer0 to raw geometry, it can become a recipe for madness.
For example, set Layer0 as the current-layer, make a face on that Layer0 and select just the face and assign it to Layer1, whilst leaving its edges on Layer0.
Now switch off Layer1's visibility, so it can't be seen, but now delete one of the visible edges.
Switch on Layer1.
The face as gone because it relied on an edge that was on Layer0, and is now deleted.Layers do NOT separate geometry - but 'containers' do.
BUT if you had selected the face [on its own] and made a group of it, then assigned Layer1 to that group, then when that Layer1 is 'off' the group is safe from other operations.
Deleting one or more on the edges that were left behind will do nothing to the face inside the group, because that face now has its own edges replicated inside the group.
This is a very basic SketchUp modeling technique...
As an aside...
Groups are one-off collections of objects [including raw geometry] which serve to separate those objects from other parts of the model.
Delete a Group and it is gone.
Components are similar to Groups, but they can have multiple instances.
Edit one of those instances and all other related instances change too.
This is useful when you have repeated elements - windows, columns etc.
Deleting all instances of a component will leave its residual definition in the Component Browser, so it can be retrieved, unless you then use the >Purge option, or the Model Info > Statistics > Purge Unused...You can always make a selected component instance unique, so that it is no longer linked to its siblings...
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TIG, thank you for taking the time to produce such an expansive reply, it's thoroughly appreciated. I do completely see the disadvantages to producing geometry with individual layers, it seems a good precise habit in CAD, isn't so helpful in SU! So far using the (wrong) technique I've been using, it hasn't caused any problems, but I completely appreciate it could create insanity. Herein I'll use Layer0 for geometry and layer names for components/groups and see how I get on - thank you again for clarifying this, really very much appreciated.
Going back to my original question, I guess the request for this feature is mute by using the Layer0 technique - so that, answers that!
Thank you again for your help.
All the very best,
Chris
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