Civil Engineering Tools

Home > 🏷️ CAD Production

LayerFilterFreezeThawOnPlotVPFreeze

Short description

❄️ LayerFilterFreezeThawOnPlotVPFreeze is an advanced AutoCAD DCL layer filter manager for Freeze, Thaw, On, Off, Lock, Unlock, Plot, No Plot, VP Freeze, and VP Thaw.
πŸ–ΌοΈ It reads AutoCAD layer filter xrecords, supports inverted filter logic, remembers last settings, and applies viewport freeze or thaw through ACAD XDATA.

Command:

πŸš€ Main command: LayerFilterFreezeThawOnPlotVPFreeze
🧰 Dialog workflow label: Layer Filters
πŸ–ΌοΈ Viewport actions: VP Freeze and VP Thaw require selecting a paper-space floating viewport.

Description:

❄️ LayerFilterFreezeThawOnPlotVPFreeze is an SEO-friendly AutoCAD layer filter manager for applying multiple layer-state, plot-state, and viewport-state actions from one DCL dialog.
🧱 The tool reads layer filter definitions from AutoCAD’s layer filter dictionaries and resolves useful layer-name patterns into actual drawing layers.
πŸŽ›οΈ Standard actions include Freeze, Thaw, On, Off, Lock, Unlock, Plot, and No Plot, with paired exclusive toggles to prevent contradictory settings.
πŸ–ΌοΈ Viewport actions support VP Freeze and VP Thaw by selecting a paper-space viewport, temporarily unlocking it if necessary, editing ACAD XDATA layer entries, and refreshing the viewport.
πŸ“Œ This is useful for Civil 3D sheet preparation, viewport-specific layer visibility, xref plotting control, layer filter execution, and CAD production layout management.

Helper function: (if any)​

🧩 lfm:DclText creates the DCL interface with standard action groups, plot controls, viewport controls, invert, Select All, and Select None.
🧩 lf:filterNames reads available AutoCAD layer filters.
🧩 lf:layersFromXrecord extracts layer-name rules from filter xrecords.
🧩 lfm:chooseXrecForFilterIndex resolves the selected filter to a usable xrecord rule set.
🧩 lf:applyActions applies standard, plot, and viewport actions to the resolved layer list.
🧩 lf:plottable-activex changes the layer plottable flag using ActiveX, with command fallback.
🧩 lf:vpFreezeThaw handles viewport-specific freeze and thaw via ACAD XDATA.
🧩 lfm:saveLastSettings and lfm:restoreLastSettings preserve the last selected filter, invert flag, and toggles.

Functionalities:

βœ… Select an existing AutoCAD layer filter from a DCL list.
βœ… Apply multiple non-conflicting layer actions in one run.
βœ… Freeze or thaw layers globally.
βœ… Turn layers on or off.
βœ… Lock or unlock layers.
βœ… Enable or disable plotting for matching layers.
βœ… VP Freeze or VP Thaw matching layers in a selected layout viewport.
βœ… Invert the filter to apply actions to all layers except the filtered set.
βœ… Remember the last dialog settings during the session.
βœ… Regenerate the drawing after applying actions.

Result:

🎯 The result is a fast, repeatable layer-filter execution workflow for both model-wide and viewport-specific layer management.
🟒 The tool reduces manual work in the Layer Properties Manager and improves consistency for plotting and layout viewport setup.

Images, animations etc.

Pixel

XAML code:

ο»Ώ<ResourceDictionary
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:src="clr-namespace:Autodesk.Windows;assembly=AdWindows">
    
<src:RibbonToolTip x:Key="LayerFilterFreezeThawOnPlotVPFreeze">
<src:RibbonToolTip.ExpandedContent>
<StackPanel>
<TextBlock Background="AntiqueWhite" TextAlignment="Left">
<Bold>Function Syntax: LayerFilterFreezeThawOnPlotVPFreeze</Bold>
<LineBreak/>
<Bold>Version: 1.1 Date: 20.06.2026 6:38:54PM</Bold>
<LineBreak/>
<Hyperlink>N/A</Hyperlink>
<LineBreak/>
<Bold>Program name and command</Bold><LineBreak/>
This LISP loads a DCL dialog named <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>LFM</Bold></Foreground> for managing layer filters and applying layer actions in bulk.<LineBreak/>
Primary command entry point is <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>LFM</Bold></Foreground> style workflow implemented by the function <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>c:LayerFilterFreezeThawOnPlotVPFreeze</Bold></Foreground>.<LineBreak/>

<Bold>What the user must do</Bold><LineBreak/>
User runs the command, then:<LineBreak/>
β€’ Selects a layer filter from the dropdown list.<LineBreak/>
β€’ Chooses one or more actions via checkboxes.<LineBreak/>
β€’ Optionally enables <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>Invert filter</Bold></Foreground> to apply actions to all layers except those in the selected filter.<LineBreak/>
β€’ Clicks <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>Apply</Bold></Foreground> to execute, or <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>Cancel</Bold></Foreground> to exit.<LineBreak/>
Special case for viewport actions:<LineBreak/>
β€’ If <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>VP Freeze</Bold></Foreground> or <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>VP Thaw</Bold></Foreground> is selected, the program will prompt the user to <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>select a floating paper space viewport</Bold></Foreground> before applying viewport-specific layer changes.<LineBreak/>

<Bold>Dialog layout and controls</Bold><LineBreak/>
Dialog title is Layer Filters and includes:<LineBreak/>
β€’ Filter dropdown list: key <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>flt</Bold></Foreground>.<LineBreak/>
β€’ Action toggles grouped in Standard Actions:<LineBreak/>
  β€’ Freeze group: <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>FRZ</Bold></Foreground> Freeze, <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>THW</Bold></Foreground> Thaw.<LineBreak/>
  β€’ On Off group: <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>ON</Bold></Foreground> On, <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>OFF</Bold></Foreground> Off.<LineBreak/>
  β€’ Lock group: <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>LCK</Bold></Foreground> Lock, <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>ULK</Bold></Foreground> Unlock.<LineBreak/>
  β€’ Plot group: <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>PLT</Bold></Foreground> Plot, <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>NPL</Bold></Foreground> No Plot.<LineBreak/>
  β€’ Viewport group: <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>VPF</Bold></Foreground> VP Freeze, <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>VPT</Bold></Foreground> VP Thaw.<LineBreak/>
β€’ Invert toggle: key <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>invert</Bold></Foreground> with label Invert filter apply to all except selected.<LineBreak/>
β€’ Info text: key <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>info</Bold></Foreground> shows selected filter name and estimated layer count.<LineBreak/>
β€’ Buttons: <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>Check All</Bold></Foreground>, <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>Check None</Bold></Foreground>, <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>Apply</Bold></Foreground>, <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>Cancel</Bold></Foreground>.<LineBreak/>

<Bold>Functionalities</Bold><LineBreak/>
β€’ <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>Reads AutoCAD layer filters</Bold></Foreground> from the layers extension dictionary entry <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>ACAD_LAYERFILTERS</Bold></Foreground> and lists available filter names in the dialog.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>Resolves the selected filter to an XRECORD</Bold></Foreground> and extracts layer membership by parsing stored strings and wildcard patterns.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>Supports wildcard based layer matching</Bold></Foreground> using patterns containing star, question mark, or bracket expressions and expands them against all drawing layers.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>Supports invert mode</Bold></Foreground> to target all layers not included in the selected filter.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>Applies bulk layer actions</Bold></Foreground> to the computed layer list.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>Remembers last settings</Bold></Foreground> including last chosen filter index, invert flag, and all toggle states for the next run.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>Enforces mutual exclusivity</Bold></Foreground> in each action pair so contradictory options cannot be checked together, for example Freeze versus Thaw, On versus Off, Lock versus Unlock, Plot versus No Plot, VP Freeze versus VP Thaw.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>Provides quick presets</Bold></Foreground> via Check All and Check None.<LineBreak/>

<Bold>Actions applied to layers</Bold><LineBreak/>
The program issues AutoCAD layer operations primarily through the command line interface <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>_.-LAYER</Bold></Foreground> and through ActiveX where available.<LineBreak/>
β€’ Freeze: <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>FRZ</Bold></Foreground> uses <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>_.-LAYER _F</Bold></Foreground> for each target layer.<LineBreak/>
  β€’ Safety behavior: the current layer from <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>CLAYER</Bold></Foreground> is skipped for Freeze to avoid freezing the active layer.<LineBreak/>
β€’ Thaw: <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>THW</Bold></Foreground> uses <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>_.-LAYER _T</Bold></Foreground> for each target layer.<LineBreak/>
β€’ On: <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>ON</Bold></Foreground> uses <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>_.-LAYER _ON</Bold></Foreground> for each target layer.<LineBreak/>
β€’ Off: <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>OFF</Bold></Foreground> uses <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>_.-LAYER _OFF</Bold></Foreground> for each target layer.<LineBreak/>
β€’ Lock: <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>LCK</Bold></Foreground> uses <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>_.-LAYER _LO</Bold></Foreground> for each target layer.<LineBreak/>
β€’ Unlock: <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>ULK</Bold></Foreground> uses <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>_.-LAYER _UN</Bold></Foreground> for each target layer.<LineBreak/>
β€’ Plot or No Plot:<LineBreak/>
  β€’ Primary method uses ActiveX property update: <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>vla-put-Plottable</Bold></Foreground>.<LineBreak/>
  β€’ Fallback method uses layer command: <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>_.-LAYER _P _Y</Bold></Foreground> or <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>_.-LAYER _P _N</Bold></Foreground> if ActiveX fails.<LineBreak/>

<Bold>Viewport Freeze and Thaw behavior</Bold><LineBreak/>
Viewport actions are implemented using an <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>ACAD XDATA</Bold></Foreground> method and apply only after the user selects a valid viewport entity.<LineBreak/>
Viewport selection rules:<LineBreak/>
β€’ The selected entity must be a <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>VIEWPORT</Bold></Foreground> and must be a floating viewport, identified by viewport number greater than 1.<LineBreak/>
If the selection is invalid:<LineBreak/>
β€’ The routine prints an error indicating no viewport was selected or it was not a floating viewport, and counts those operations as skipped.<LineBreak/>
Viewport lock handling:<LineBreak/>
β€’ If the viewport is locked, the routine temporarily unlocks it using <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>vla-put-DisplayLocked</Bold></Foreground>, performs the XDATA operations, then restores the original lock state.<LineBreak/>
VP Freeze operation:<LineBreak/>
β€’ For each target layer, it writes a <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>1003</Bold></Foreground> string entry into the viewport ACAD XDATA list, effectively registering the layer as frozen for that viewport.<LineBreak/>
VP Thaw operation:<LineBreak/>
β€’ For each target layer, it scans the viewport ACAD XDATA and removes any matching <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>1003</Bold></Foreground> layer name entries.<LineBreak/>
Viewport refresh:<LineBreak/>
β€’ After VP operations, it forces a viewport display refresh by toggling display off then on via <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>vla-display</Bold></Foreground> calls.<LineBreak/>

<Bold>Filter parsing and layer resolution logic</Bold><LineBreak/>
β€’ The routine extracts filter definitions from XRECORD content by collecting all string values and tokenizing them into candidate layer names, then matching those tokens against existing layers.<LineBreak/>
β€’ It also extracts wildcard patterns from XRECORD strings and expands them using <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>wcmatch</Bold></Foreground> against all layer names.<LineBreak/>
β€’ When a filter root resolves to a dictionary, it may contain multiple XRECORDs; the routine selects an XRECORD using the chosen filter index, and if that yields zero layers it automatically picks the XRECORD with the highest resolved layer count.<LineBreak/>

<Bold>Execution flow and outputs</Bold><LineBreak/>
β€’ After Apply, the routine prints a summary to the command line showing filter name, number of layers in the filter, whether invert is enabled, how many layers are processed, and the action codes selected.<LineBreak/>
β€’ It then applies the chosen actions and prints totals: issued actions count and skipped count.<LineBreak/>
β€’ At the end it triggers <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>REGENALL</Bold></Foreground> to refresh the drawing display after changes.<LineBreak/>

<Bold>Cancel and cleanup behavior</Bold><LineBreak/>
β€’ The dialog Cancel button ends the dialog and prints Cancelled.<LineBreak/>
β€’ Temporary DCL is written to a temp file and is deleted after dialog use.<LineBreak/>
β€’ The routine includes a hard cancel helper <Foreground="DarkRed"><Bold>lf:hardCancel</Bold></Foreground> which sends ENTER and ESC sequences to terminate active commands because the build does not support the AutoCAD CANCEL command.<LineBreak/>

<Bold><Run Foreground="DodgerBlue">Description</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">❄️ LayerFilterFreezeThaw is an AutoCAD DCL layer filter manager for applying Freeze, Thaw, On, Off, Lock, and Unlock actions to predefined layer sets.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">πŸš† It includes a dedicated Kable filter with 30 exact railway or utility layer names plus quick commands for normal and inverted actions.</Run><LineBreak/>
<LineBreak/>
<Bold><Run Foreground="DodgerBlue">Function Syntax</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">πŸš€ Main dialog command: </Run><Bold><Run Foreground="Orange">LFM</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">⚑ Quick Kable commands: </Run><Bold><Run Foreground="Orange">FKABLE, TKABLE, OKABLE, XFABLE, FKABLEI, TKABLEI</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">πŸ§ͺ Verification command: </Run><Bold><Run Foreground="Orange">VERIFYKABLE</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🧰 Helper command: </Run><Bold><Run Foreground="Orange">LFM-Kable</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<LineBreak/>
<Bold><Run Foreground="DodgerBlue">SEO Optimized Overview</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">❄️ LayerFilterFreezeThaw is an SEO-friendly AutoCAD layer filter action tool for applying layer state changes to predefined layer groups.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🧱 The DCL dialog presents a filter list and radio-button action set, allowing the user to freeze, thaw, turn on, turn off, lock, or unlock matching layers.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">πŸš† The Kable filter contains 30 exact layer names for Hartingstecker, 30 kV K1 and K2, OSE, Ortsnetz, and 750 V layer groups, making the routine highly targeted for repeated project standards.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">πŸ” The invert option applies the chosen action to all layers except the selected filter, supporting quick isolation workflows.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">πŸ“Œ This is useful for Civil 3D production drawings, railway electrical layers, project layer visibility control, quick cable-layer isolation, and CAD layer cleanup.</Run><LineBreak/>
<LineBreak/>
<Bold><Run Foreground="LimeGreen">Primary Workflow</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">1️⃣ Load the AutoLISP file in AutoCAD or Civil 3D with APPLOAD or your menu loader.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">2️⃣ Run the command shown above from the AutoCAD command line.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">3️⃣ Follow the dialog, selection prompts, or file prompts used by LayerFilterFreezeThaw.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">4️⃣ Review the command-line report and drawing result before continuing production work.</Run><LineBreak/>
<LineBreak/>
<Bold><Run Foreground="LimeGreen">Functionalities</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">βœ… Select a predefined layer filter from a DCL popup.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">βœ… Apply Freeze, Thaw, On, Off, Lock, or Unlock.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">βœ… Invert the selected filter to process all layers except the chosen group.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">βœ… Use quick commands for Kable freeze, thaw, on, off, and inverted variants.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">βœ… Verify whether the expected Kable layer list exists in the drawing.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">βœ… Print action-by-action feedback and final changed/skipped counts.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">βœ… Regenerate the drawing after successful layer state changes.</Run><LineBreak/>
<LineBreak/>
<Bold><Run Foreground="DodgerBlue">Important Functions and AutoCAD API</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🧩 _lf:DclText builds the Layer Filters dialog as embedded DCL text.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🧩 _lf:GetAllFilterNames returns the available standard filter names.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🧩 _lf:GetLayersByFilter resolves filter names to actual layer names or hardcoded project layer sets.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🧩 _lf:SetLayerState applies Freeze, Thaw, On, Off, Lock, or Unlock to one layer object.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🧩 _lf:ApplyToLayerNames processes the layer list and reports changed versus skipped layers.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🧩 LFM-Kable provides command-line shortcut execution for the Kable group.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🧩 VERIFYKABLE checks whether all 30 Kable layers exist in the current drawing.</Run><LineBreak/>
<LineBreak/>
<Bold><Run Foreground="LimeGreen">Result</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🎯 The result is a controlled layer-state update for a chosen filter group or its inverse.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🟒 The tool saves time when repeatedly isolating, hiding, thawing, or locking known project layer groups.</Run><LineBreak/>
<LineBreak/>
<Bold><Run Foreground="DarkOrange">Operational Notes and Limitations</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">⚠️ The Kable filter is hardcoded to exact layer names; missing layers are skipped and can be checked with VERIFYKABLE.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">⚠️ The command changes layer state properties in the active drawing.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🧠 Use the inverted mode carefully because it affects all layers outside the selected filter.</Run><LineBreak/>
<LineBreak/>
<Bold><Run Foreground="Yellow">Tags</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="Yellow">🏷️ AutoCAD, 🏷️ AutoLISP, 🏷️ Civil 3D, 🏷️ Layer Filters, 🏷️ Freeze Thaw, 🏷️ Kable Layers, 🏷️ Railway CAD, 🏷️ DCL Dialog, 🏷️ Layer Visibility</Run><LineBreak/>

</TextBlock>
            
<Grid>
<Image Source="PNG" Stretch="Uniform"/>
</Grid>

<Grid>
<MediaElement
 Source="GIF"
 Stretch="Uniform"
 Visibility="Visible"/>
 </Grid>

</StackPanel>
</src:RibbonToolTip.ExpandedContent>
</src:RibbonToolTip>
</ResourceDictionary>
LayerFilterFreezeThawOnPlotVPFreeze.xamlDownload XAML file

Additional info:

Based on / Source code: Comming soon …

Share this page:

    Page Tag: 🏷️ CAD Production

    • LayerFilterFreezeThawOnPlotVPFreeze

      β€”

      by

      Admin

      Short description❄️ LayerFilterFreezeThawOnPlotVPFreeze is an advanced AutoCAD DCL layer filter manager for Freeze, Thaw, On, Off, Lock, Unlock, Plot, No Plot, VP Freeze, and VP Thaw. πŸ–ΌοΈ It reads AutoCAD layer filter xrecords, supports inverted filter logic, remembers last settings, and applies viewport freeze or thaw through ACAD XDATA. Command:πŸš€ Main command: LayerFilterFreezeThawOnPlotVPFreeze 🧰 Dialog…