Controlling the purging of layers
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If you would like to order your layers better by using section dividers (SECTION_1, SECTION_2, ETC), then here is a simple trick.
Make a small wheel of short lines (see below), and assign each line to a section divider. Then make a group of all the line segments. Create a new layer called LAYER PURGE CONTROL and assign this group to that layer, then lock the group. Finally, deselect the LAYER PURGE CONTROL layer so that the group disappears. Create a few layers as a test and then run purge from Model Info>Statistics. your section dividers are not deleted. If you want the dividers to remain in order then you will have to use a numbering scheme, such as: 000.00, 001.00, 002.00, 003.00 etc. New layers under section 001.00 could then be numbered 001.01 to 001.99, and these would stay in order.
This small tip might be useful to someone.
Regards,
Bob
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Dear Bob,
This is interesting. Does this wheel of small lines have any significance? Does the angle of the lines have any relationship to the sections? Or is this just a symbol? Presumably, if one made a component of the lines, it could be saved to be used in future models?
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Dear David,
The wheel of lines has no significance. The number of lines can be easily increased/decreased according to need, and making the angular spacing regular just helps with construction. The ensemble makes a compact symbol, and one could even label the lines if one wanted the extra clarity. This is done by double clicking on the end of each line with the Text tool. The lines are each 5 mm long, so the whole thing is quite small. It doesn't get in the way if it is locked and hidden.
Saving it as a component for reuse might have benefits if one uses the same layer structure, although when I tried to import it into one model it complained and said that it couldn't import an empty component.
Both the Layers and the Outliner tools need serious work. For example, there should be an update button so that one can make changes, and then hit update. Currently, changes are made as soon as one hits the return key. This can be quite irritating with big models (lots of groups and components) where one might want to edit contiguous entries in Outliner. The Entities dialogue box needs hitting with a hammer. Its tendency to autofill with script from a previous edit is enough to drive one mad. Rant over!
Regards,
Bob
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