Sort Layers and Linetypes

You can iterate through the Layers and Linetypes tables to find all the layers and linetypes in a drawing.

Iterate through the Layers table

The following code iterates through the Layers table to gather the names of all the layers in the drawing. The names are then displayed in a message box.

VB.NET

Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime

Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices

Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices

<CommandMethod("DisplayLayerNames")> _

Public Sub DisplayLayerNames()

  '' Get the current document and database

  Dim acDoc As Document = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument

  Dim acCurDb As Database = acDoc.Database

  '' Start a transaction

  Using acTrans As Transaction = acCurDb.TransactionManager.StartTransaction()

      '' Open the Layer table for read

      Dim acLyrTbl As LayerTable

      acLyrTbl = acTrans.GetObject(acCurDb.LayerTableId, _

                                   OpenMode.ForRead)

      Dim sLayerNames As String = ""

      For Each acObjId As ObjectId In acLyrTbl

          Dim acLyrTblRec As LayerTableRecord

          acLyrTblRec = acTrans.GetObject(acObjId, _

                                          OpenMode.ForRead)

          sLayerNames = sLayerNames & vbLf & acLyrTblRec.Name

      Next

      Application.ShowAlertDialog("The layers in this drawing are: " & _

                                  sLayerNames)

      '' Dispose of the transaction

  End Using

End Sub

using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime;

using Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices;

using Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices;

[CommandMethod("DisplayLayerNames")]

public static void DisplayLayerNames()

  // Get the current document and database

  Document acDoc = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;

  Database acCurDb = acDoc.Database;

  // Start a transaction

  using (Transaction acTrans = acCurDb.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())

      // Open the Layer table for read

      LayerTable acLyrTbl;

      acLyrTbl = acTrans.GetObject(acCurDb.LayerTableId,

                                   OpenMode.ForRead) as LayerTable;

      string sLayerNames = "";

      foreach (ObjectId acObjId in acLyrTbl)

          LayerTableRecord acLyrTblRec;

          acLyrTblRec = acTrans.GetObject(acObjId,

                                          OpenMode.ForRead) as LayerTableRecord;

          sLayerNames = sLayerNames + "\n" + acLyrTblRec.Name;

      Application.ShowAlertDialog("The layers in this drawing are: " +

                                  sLayerNames);

      // Dispose of the transaction

VBA/ActiveX Code Reference