Layer Properties - ActiveX vss Command

I am curious if it would be feasable/advantageous to control the properties
of multiple layers (via a layer name wildcard pattern) via ActiveX functions
as opposed to the
(command "_.-LAYER" ... function.

Example:
Given LayerName_str = "S-WALL-*-PATT*"

I could turn on the layers matching this filter pattern simply via:

(command
"_.-LAYER"
"_On"
LayerName_str
""
)

But I was wondering if there might be a relatively simple way to do this
type of layer name filter pattern matching with a collection of ActiveX
Layer objects?
Once I had this I could simply do:

(vlax-for Layer_obj Layer_coll
(vlax-put-property
Layer_obj
'LayerOn
:vlax-true
)
)

I am asking this since I would assume there might be advantages in speed and
efficiency (though perhaps not noticeable to the end user).

If there ARE some real advantages to doing this, what is the best way to
CREATE (and/or process) the collection using a layer name filter? (Or am I
even going about this process the wrong way?)

Best regards,
David Kozina

 

David,

Not sure about speed - but one advantage of activex over commands is that you can call them from open dcl dialogs.

As for filtering - get the layer name and use wcmatch.

Peter

 

Peter,

I appreciate the info regarding dcl issues (although it's not a problem in
this case).

I realize that I can look up the name and wcmatch it with the name filter
pattern - I guess I was mainly wondering if anyone knew (or had evidence)
that doing all this (repetitive wcmatching) was more (or less) feasable than
just using command with a name pattern string. OR if there was an even
better way (that I'm completely overlooking.)

I'm of the understanding that (command... is slow and to be avoided when
feasible - but how about in comparison to doing wcmatch tests a hundred or a
thousand times or more? (Is there a way to test a pattern across an entire
collection of objects in one shot?)

Does this make any sense to anyone?

Best regards,
David Kozina

you can call them from open dcl dialogs.

 

Another consideration is if you use command reactors you should try to use ActiveX methods instead of (command) or (vl-cmdf) calls to avoid interference.

 

From my limited tests, it looks like ActiveX is about 30 times faster
than command methods.

 

Doug,

Would it still be faster even when considering the dozens upon dozens
(perhaps hundreds) of times I'll need to use a (wcmatch... pattern test on
the layer names? This is *before* the ActiveX functions get to be
applied...

I don't doubt that the ActiveX functions are much faster, but it's the stuff
I've got to deal with ahead of time that I'm wondering about...

Or are you saying that execution times [et] would *still* relate as follows:
et(command...) = ( et(wcmatch...)*100*n + et(ActiveX function) ) * 30)

Does my question make any sense?

I've noticed that most 'layer questions' answered in this newsgroup end up
going the (command... route, perhaps for simplicity and ease of use. David
Stein brought up another salient point regarding reactor/command conflicts
(but I don't need to deal with that particular issue at the moment, either).

I'm just trying to evaluate if I should take the time to rethink my layer
control processes, or just stay with the evil yet simplistic (command...

Best regards,
David Kozina

 

David,
This is probably oversimplified test but why don't you
try it out on a few of your drawings and post your conclusions
or critique this code for its weaknesses. I didn't attempt to
optimize anything.

;;Layer toggle test programs by
;;D. C. Broad 7/13/2004
;;;command only method - turns all layers off and then
;;;back on
(defun C:LAY1 ()
(command "-layer" "off" "*" "n" "")
(command "-layer" "on" "*" ""))


;;activeX method - turns all layers off and then on
(defun C:LAY2 (/ LAYS LAY)
(vlax-for LAY (vla-get-layers
(vla-get-activedocument
(vlax-get-acad-object)))
;;following if statement is only included to test
;;performance of string matching. Not really necessary
;;if *all* layers were to be turned off.
(if (wcmatch (vla-get-name lay) "*")
(vla-put-layeron LAY :vlax-false)))
(vlax-for LAY (vla-get-layers
(vla-get-activedocument
(vlax-get-acad-object)))
(if (wcmatch (vla-get-name lay) "*")
(vla-put-layeron LAY :vlax-true))))


(load "bench") ;;By R. Robert Bell (download separately)

(bench '(c:lay1 c:lay2) nil 1000) ;;How to run the timing program