Access Methods
CAD Standards
In the Layer Translator, you specify the layers in the current drawing that you want to translate, and the layers to translate them to. The translation maps the layers in the current drawing to different layer names and layer properties in a specified drawing or standards file, and then converts them using those mappings.
List of Options
The following options are displayed.
Translate From
Specifies the layers to be translated in the current drawing. You can specify layers by selecting layers in the Translate From list or by supplying a selection filter.
The color of the icon preceding the layer name indicates whether or not the layer is referenced in the drawing. A dark icon indicates that the layer is referenced; a white icon indicates the layer is unreferenced. Unreferenced layers can be deleted from the drawing by right-clicking in the Translate From list and choosing Purge Layers.
- Selection Filter
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Specifies layers to be selected in the Translate From list, using a naming pattern that can include wild-cards. For a list of valid wild-cards, see the table in Filter and Sort the List of Layers in the User's Guide. The layers identified by the selection filter are selected in addition to any layers previously selected.
- Select
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Selects the layers specified in Selection Filter.
Map
Maps the layers selected in Translate From to the layer selected in Translate To.
Map Same
Maps all layers that have the same name in both lists.
Translate To
Lists the layers you can translate the current drawing's layers to.
- Load
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Loads layers in the Translate To list using a drawing, drawing template, or standards file that you specify. If the specified file contains saved layer mappings, those mappings are applied to the layers in the Translate From list and are displayed in Layer Translation Mappings.
You can load layers from more than one file. If you load a file that contains layers of the same name as layers already loaded, the original layers are retained and the duplicate layers are ignored. Similarly, if you load a file containing mappings that duplicate mappings already loaded, the original mappings are retained and the duplicates are ignored.
- New
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Defines a new layer to be shown in the Translate To list for translation. If you select a Translate To layer before choosing New, the selected layer's properties are used as defaults for the new layer. You cannot create a new layer with the same name as an existing layer.
Layer Translation Mappings
Lists each layer to be translated and the properties to which the layer will be converted. You can select layers in this list and edit their properties using Edit.
- Edit
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Opens the Edit Layer dialog box, where you can edit the selected translation mapping. You can change the layer's color, linetype, lineweight, and transparency. If all drawings involved in translation use plot styles, you can also change the plot style for the mapping.
- Remove
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Removes the selected translation mapping from the Layer Translation Mappings list.
- Save
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Saves the current layer translation mappings to a file for later use.
Layer mappings are saved in the DWG or DWS file format. You can replace an existing file or create a new file. The Layer Translator creates the referenced layers in the file and stores the layer mappings in each layer. All linetypes used by those layers are also copied into the file.
Settings
Opens the Settings dialog box, where you can customize the process of layer translation.
Translate
Starts layer translation of the layers you have mapped.
If you have not saved the current layer translation mappings, you are prompted to save the mappings before translation begins.