acad-layers

AutoCAD Layers

Use this skill when creating, reading, or modifying layers — accessing the layer table, setting layer properties (color, linetype, frozen, locked, off), managing layer states, and filtering layers.

Layer Table Access

Database db = doc.Database;
using (Transaction tr = db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())
{
    LayerTable lt = (LayerTable)tr.GetObject(db.LayerTableId, OpenMode.ForRead);

    // Check if a layer exists (case-insensitive)
    bool exists = lt.Has("MyLayer");

    // Get layer by name
    ObjectId layerId = lt["MyLayer"];
    LayerTableRecord layer = (LayerTableRecord)tr.GetObject(layerId, OpenMode.ForRead);

    // Get current layer
    LayerTableRecord current = (LayerTableRecord)tr.GetObject(db.Clayer, OpenMode.ForRead);

    tr.Commit();
}

Enumerating All Layers

LayerTable lt = (LayerTable)tr.GetObject(db.LayerTableId, OpenMode.ForRead);
List<string> names = new List<string>();

foreach (ObjectId id in lt)
{
    LayerTableRecord layer = (LayerTableRecord)tr.GetObject(id, OpenMode.ForRead);
    if (layer.IsDependent) continue;  // skip xref layers
    if (layer.IsLocked) continue;     // skip locked layers
    names.Add(layer.Name);
}

names.Sort(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase);

Creating Layers

Basic Layer Creation

private static void EnsureLayerExists(LayerTable lt, Transaction tr, string layerName)
{
    if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(layerName) || layerName == "0")
        return;

    if (!lt.Has(layerName))
    {
        lt.UpgradeOpen();  // must upgrade the TABLE, not the record
        LayerTableRecord newLayer = new LayerTableRecord
        {
            Name = layerName
        };
        lt.Add(newLayer);
        tr.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(newLayer, true);
    }
}

Layer with Full Properties

lt.UpgradeOpen();
LayerTableRecord layer = new LayerTableRecord
{
    Name = "C-ROAD-CURB",
    Color = Color.FromColorIndex(ColorMethod.ByAci, 3),  // green
    LinetypeObjectId = GetLinetypeId(tr, db, "CONTINUOUS"),
    LineWeight = LineWeight.LineWeight030,
    IsPlottable = true,
    Description = "Road curb lines"
};
lt.Add(layer);
tr.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(layer, true);

Looking Up a Linetype

private static ObjectId GetLinetypeId(Transaction tr, Database db, string name)
{
    LinetypeTable ltt = (LinetypeTable)tr.GetObject(db.LinetypeTableId, OpenMode.ForRead);
    if (ltt.Has(name))
        return ltt[name];
    return db.ContinuousLinetype;  // fallback
}

Color Assignment

ACI (AutoCAD Color Index)

// Standard ACI color (1-255)
layer.Color = Color.FromColorIndex(ColorMethod.ByAci, 1);  // red

// ByLayer (index 256) and ByBlock (index 0)
entity.ColorIndex = 256;  // ByLayer
entity.ColorIndex = 0;    // ByBlock

True Color (RGB)

layer.Color = Color.FromRgb(128, 64, 0);

// Read back
byte r = layer.Color.Red;
byte g = layer.Color.Green;
byte b = layer.Color.Blue;

Color Book

layer.Color = Color.FromNames("PANTONE+ Solid Coated", "PANTONE 185 C");

LineWeight Values

Common LineWeight enum values:

• LineWeight.ByLayer (-1), LineWeight.ByBlock (-2), LineWeight.ByLineWeightDefault (-3)
• LineWeight.LineWeight000 (0.00mm), LineWeight.LineWeight013 (0.13mm)
• LineWeight.LineWeight025 (0.25mm), LineWeight.LineWeight030 (0.30mm)
• LineWeight.LineWeight050 (0.50mm), LineWeight.LineWeight100 (1.00mm)

Transparency

// Set transparency (0 = opaque, 90 = maximum transparency)
// AutoCAD limits transparency to 0–90, not 0–100
layer.Transparency = new Transparency(50);  // 50% transparent

// Read back
int percent = (int)(layer.Transparency.Alpha / 255.0 * 100.0);

Reading Layer Properties

private static bool IsLayerUsable(string layerName, Transaction tr, Database db, out string message)
{
    message = string.Empty;
    LayerTable lt = (LayerTable)tr.GetObject(db.LayerTableId, OpenMode.ForRead);

    if (!lt.Has(layerName))
    {
        message = $"Layer '{layerName}' was not found.";
        return false;
    }

    LayerTableRecord layer = (LayerTableRecord)tr.GetObject(lt[layerName], OpenMode.ForRead);

    if (layer.IsDependent)
    {
        message = $"Layer '{layerName}' is xref-dependent.";
        return false;
    }
    if (layer.IsLocked)
    {
        message = $"Layer '{layerName}' is locked.";
        return false;
    }

    return true;
}

Modifying Layer Properties

LayerTableRecord layer = (LayerTableRecord)tr.GetObject(lt[layerName], OpenMode.ForRead);
layer.UpgradeOpen();  // switch to ForWrite

layer.IsLocked = false;
layer.IsFrozen = false;
layer.IsOff = false;
layer.Color = Color.FromColorIndex(ColorMethod.ByAci, 7);

Setting the Current Layer

// Set by ObjectId
db.Clayer = lt["MyLayer"];

// Verify
string currentName = ((LayerTableRecord)tr.GetObject(db.Clayer, OpenMode.ForRead)).Name;

Deleting and Purging Layers

// Erase a layer (fails if layer has entities or is current/0/xref)
LayerTableRecord layer = (LayerTableRecord)tr.GetObject(lt[layerName], OpenMode.ForWrite);
layer.Erase(true);

// Check purgeable layers
ObjectIdCollection layerIds = new ObjectIdCollection();
foreach (ObjectId id in lt)
    layerIds.Add(id);

db.Purge(layerIds);  // removes non-purgeable IDs from the collection

foreach (ObjectId id in layerIds)
{
    LayerTableRecord purgeableLayer = (LayerTableRecord)tr.GetObject(id, OpenMode.ForWrite);
    purgeableLayer.Erase(true);
}

Layer Filters

// Access the layer filter tree
LayerFilterTree filterTree = db.LayerFilters;
LayerFilterCollection filters = filterTree.Root.NestedFilters;

foreach (LayerFilter filter in filters)
{
    ed.WriteMessage($"\nFilter: {filter.Name}, Expression: {filter.FilterExpression}");
}

// Create a new filter
LayerFilter newFilter = new LayerFilter();
newFilter.Name = "Road Layers";
newFilter.FilterExpression = "NAME==\"C-ROAD-*\"";
filterTree.Root.NestedFilters.Add(newFilter);
db.LayerFilters = filterTree;  // save back

Layer States

LayerStateManager lsm = db.LayerStateManager;

// Save current layer states
lsm.SaveLayerState("DesignFreeze", LayerStateMasks.Color | LayerStateMasks.On | LayerStateMasks.Frozen);

// Restore
lsm.RestoreLayerState("DesignFreeze", ObjectId.Null,
    0,  // no viewport
    LayerStateMasks.Color | LayerStateMasks.On | LayerStateMasks.Frozen);

// Check existence
bool exists = lsm.HasLayerState("DesignFreeze");

// Delete
lsm.DeleteLayerState("DesignFreeze");

// Export/import .las files
lsm.ExportLayerState("DesignFreeze", @"C:\Temp\DesignFreeze.las");
lsm.ImportLayerState(@"C:\Temp\DesignFreeze.las");

LayerStateMasks Flags

• LayerStateMasks.On, Frozen, Locked, Color, Linetype, LineWeight
• LayerStateMasks.PlotStyle, Plot, NewViewport, Transparency
• Combine with | operator

Gotchas

• Layer "0" cannot be deleted, renamed, or frozen — it is always present
• Must call UpgradeOpen() on the LayerTable before Add(), not on individual records
• IsDependent = true means xref-dependent layer — cannot modify properties
• Setting IsFrozen = true on the current layer throws an exception
• Color.FromColorIndex uses ColorMethod.ByAci; ByLayer = index 256, ByBlock = index 0
• LayerTable.Has() is case-insensitive
• db.Clayer requires an ObjectId, not a name string — use lt["name"] to convert
• Layer names cannot contain: < > / \ " : ; ? * | = '
• Transparency range is 0–90 (AutoCAD limitation), not 0–100
• Viewport-specific overrides (VP Freeze, VP Color) require the viewport override API, not direct layer properties
• Erasing a layer that has entities on it throws — move or erase the entities first

Related Skills

• acad-blocks — entities within blocks inherit layer properties
• acad-polylines — polylines and other entities reference layers via the Layer property
• acad-editor-input — selection filters can filter entities by DxfCode.LayerName (8)