How to remove a rule from a layer

We've got some default layers in our config.pro that have rules to add
quilts or datum curves etc to them. (Config.pro option - "def_layer")
Sometimes I want to stop the rule. I might want to look at the surface
I've just created but it's gone to a blanked layer. I have to either
remove it from the layer or unhide the whole layer (what's wrong with
the word "show" BTW?) I usually remove it because I don't want to look
at all the other surfaces on that layer.

So I want to stop it putting new suraces (in this instance) on the
layer as I create them. How do I do that? I've tried "layer
properties" and the rules tab but it doesn't work.

 

We've got some default layers in our config.pro that have rules to add
quilts or datum curves etc to them. (Config.pro option - "def_layer")
Sometimes I want to stop the rule. I might want to look at the surface
I've just created but it's gone to a blanked layer. I have to either
remove it from the layer or unhide the whole layer (what's wrong with
the word "show" BTW?) I usually remove it because I don't want to look
at all the other surfaces on that layer.

So I want to stop it putting new suraces (in this instance) on the
layer as I create them. How do I do that? I've tried "layer
properties" and the rules tab but it doesn't work.

Two options that I use:
Create a new layer, move included feature to layer and show it (unhide), leaving others blanked (hidden, unshown).
Master the new query builder in the Find/Select/Rule builder functionality appearing everywhere in WF. Setting your criteria to Exclude, right off the bat, create a rule that will NOT select any surface past a certain Id number, i.e., the Type is Surface and, on the History tab, the Id is > [current#], save the rule and future surfaces should not be added to the layer. Of course, that leaves them for manual addition later.
There is no way to show an individual feature on a hidden layer. Enhancement request time?

David Janes

 

This is what I have been doing and it's time consuming. There comes a
point where I want every new surface I create to *not* be on the
layer.

I'm not sure of every aspect of the rule builder and will clearly have
to get the hang of it. E.g. I don't get the difference between "Look
For" and "Look By", and don't know how to "Exclude" - I didn't see
that anywhere.... but I will save that for a different time. What I
*did* find just from looking now, based on your post, was that when
you go to "Edit Rules", whatever changes you make you have to hit the
"Update" button. So I can hit the "Remove" button to take away the
rule, but unless I create a new rule the "Update" button is grayed out
(IOW it insists on having a rule, any rule) and when I hit "OK"
everything I did is cancelled and the layer rule stays the same.

So what I did was create a second rule for the layer, which adds
geometric tolerances from annotations to this layer - I picked that
because I never use geometric tolerances - then I removed the first
rule, then I could hit "Update". So no more Quilts added to this
layer. Don't know why the heck I can't just remove all rules though.
Anyway it works. So thanks again for pointing me in the right
direction Dave.

 

This is what I have been doing and it's time consuming. There comes a
point where I want every new surface I create to *not* be on the
layer.

I'm not sure of every aspect of the rule builder and will clearly have
to get the hang of it. E.g. I don't get the difference between "Look
For" and "Look By", and don't know how to "Exclude" - I didn't see
that anywhere.... but I will save that for a different time. What I
*did* find just from looking now, based on your post, was that when
you go to "Edit Rules", whatever changes you make you have to hit the
"Update" button. So I can hit the "Remove" button to take away the
rule, but unless I create a new rule the "Update" button is grayed out
(IOW it insists on having a rule, any rule) and when I hit "OK"
everything I did is cancelled and the layer rule stays the same.

So what I did was create a second rule for the layer, which adds
geometric tolerances from annotations to this layer - I picked that
because I never use geometric tolerances - then I removed the first
rule, then I could hit "Update". So no more Quilts added to this
layer. Don't know why the heck I can't just remove all rules though.
Anyway it works. So thanks again for pointing me in the right
direction Dave.

First, the Exclude button is located on the Contents page after you select Layer Properties (right under the Items list box). Try this: hide the layer so that none of the surfaces shows, then click the Exclude button and pick names of the surfaces you want to see. Click OK and you should be able to see whatever surfaces you excluded from the hide action. Actually, if you look at the layer items, the excluded surfaces have been temporarily removed from the layer items list. I don't think this is a rule change but provides a deviation from the rule's operation.

David Janes

 

Well that's something new. I guess it temporarily removes the surface
until you hit "include". Still, it's not much different from removing
the entity from the layer. I usually remove it by right-clicking in
the layer tree, without going to properties. What I'm always looking
for is a quicker way of doing things without umpteen mouse clicks. A
lot of things require more mouse clicks than they did in 2001.