Use Layers for Increased Efficiency

PolyWorks Inspector™ Tip

When working with CAD assemblies, you may want to select or display just those measurement objects that are related to a particular CAD model, but they may not be easy to identify in the Tree View unless you rename the objects accordingly. The Layers tool is the ideal solution – simply assign each set of objects to its own layer and then, with just a click, you can display or select the objects that belong to any layer. Using layers saves you precious time and allows you to associate the different types of objects within a layer by colour, in the Tree View, instead of using an in-house naming convention.

Step by step: To use layers to quickly select and display sets of objects of different types:

1. To open the Layers dialog box, choose Edit > Layers > Manage Layers or click the Active Layer button on the status bar. By default, all objects that can be displayed in the 3D Scene are assigned to layer 1.
2. Click the Create Layers button to create additional layers.Optional: To overlay objects in the Tree View with their layer colour for quick identification, expand the Options section and select the Display layer colours in the object tree view check box.
3. Change the layer of existing objects:
   1. Select the objects to regroup in the same layer.
   2. Right-click over the object selection and choose Edit > Change Layer on the shortcut menu that displays. The Change Object Layer dialog box opens.
   3. Choose the desired layer in the Layer list.
   4. Click the Apply button.
   5. Repeat the steps above for the remaining objects. When finished, click the Close button.
4. To display a layer’s objects in the 3D Scene, or to select a layer’s objects, simply select the corresponding check box under the Object Visibility column or the Object Selection column in the Layers dialog box.
5. When finished, press the Close button.

Newly created objects are automatically added to the active layer. To change the active layer, just specify a different name in the Active Layer list on the status bar.

NOTE: Layers are offered in both PolyWorks Inspector™ and PolyWorks Modeler™.