Introduction to AutoCAD 2009: 4 – Layer Management and XREF Clipping

One of the most remarkable innovations of Autocad 2009 is the layer management window. It can be docked at the sides like the properties palette and kept open. That means you can use any command when it is open.

The modifications are updated instantly when you change anything in the new layer management window. Property columns can be freezed or turned on which is similar with the split option of EXCEL (Figure 1).
Figure 1

By doing this, the column is kept open without any change. You can open filter panel to provide more space. There is an advanced right-click menu. Almost whole processes (including layer isolate) can be done when you right-click on any layer (Figure 2).
Figure 2

These innovations seems like a retouch firstly but you are going to get used to them shortly. You can check this by using previous versions, for instance version 2008, after using Autocad 2009 for some time.

Let me mention about XREF Clipping now which is the second topic of this article. If the variable XCLIPFRAME is set to ‘1’ (i.e. turned on), the clipping border should be seen like a window. Once you select the window, GRIP boxes will appear at the corners. You can arrange the clipping area easily with this special feature of Autocad 2009 (Figure 3)
Figure 3

Also the clipping view can be inverted by the arrow located at the lower side. The clipping option in Autocad needed to be improved and finally, with the new version 2009, this issue is now solved.