Color from Layer?

[Bernd]

Is it possible to set the color of a polyline to "from Layer"?
I could only find specifications to set a certain color.
Any help would be great.

[GuthCAD Software Support]

Hello Bernd,

Is it possible to set the color of a polyline to "from Layer"?
Arcv2CAD automatically outputs colors BYLAYER whenever Layers contain only entities of a single color.

The software's logic is basically:

- all entities for 'Layer A' are 'Red'
- therefore set the default color for 'Layer A' = 'Red'
- instead of outputting entities on Layer A with the hard color Red, give them the 'BYLAYER' color. (In AutoCAD 'BYLAYER' resolves to the default color for the Layer.)

The advantage which you are obviously aware of is that in AutoCAD the whole set of entities can then be changed to a different color just by changing the default color for that Layer.

In Arcv2CAD the color of a polyline (or any entity type) will automatically be BYLAYER in these 2 situations:

(1) There is a single Layer and a single Color.

(2) There are multiple Layers and multiple Colors where the selection to derive Layers and Colors from the same feature attributes has been chosen.

A simple example:

A 'roads' shapefile contains 3 types of road: "dirt track", "sealed", "highway".

In the Arcv2CAD 'Colors' dialog select to derive Colors from 'Road Type' on the unique values setting: e.g.

E.g. dirt track = brown
sealed = gray
highway = blue

Similarly in the Arcv2CAD 'Layers' dialog select Layers from 'Road Type' on the unique values setting.

The output file will contain the 3 Layers:

Dirt track default color = brown
Sealed default color = gray
Highway default color = blue

All entities will have the 'BYLAYER' color, which will resolve to the default color for the Layer that they are on.

In summary, because the software automatically outputs BYLAYER when circumstances suggest it there is generally no need to separately specify BYLAYER. (However we are of course open to suggestions if you have a need for it that is not met by the software's existing logic.)

best regards,
Software Support