Use Named Views

You can name and save a view you want to reuse. When you no longer need the view, you can remove it.

Named views are stored in the View table, one of the named symbol tables in a drawing database. A named view is created with the Add method to add a new view to the View table. When you add the new named view to the View table, a default model space view is created.

You name the view when you create it. The name of the view can be up to 255 characters long and contain letters, digits, and the special characters dollar sign ($), hyphen (-), and underscore (_).

A named view can be removed from the View table by simply use the Erase method of the ViewTableRecord object you want to remove.

Add a named view and set it current

The following example adds a named view to the drawing and sets it current.

VB.NET

Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices

Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices

Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime

<CommandMethod("CreateNamedView")> _

Public Sub CreateNamedView()

  '' Get the current 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 View table for read

      Dim acViewTbl As ViewTable

      acViewTbl = acTrans.GetObject(acCurDb.ViewTableId, OpenMode.ForRead)

      '' Check to see if the named view 'View1' exists

      If (acViewTbl.Has("View1") = False) Then

          '' Open the View Table for write

          acViewTbl.UpgradeOpen()

          '' Create a new View table record and name the view "View1"

          Dim acViewTblRec As ViewTableRecord = New ViewTableRecord()

          acViewTblRec.Name = "View1"

          '' Add the new View table record to the View table and the transaction

          acViewTbl.Add(acViewTblRec)

          acTrans.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(acViewTblRec, True)

          '' Set 'View1' current

          acDoc.Editor.SetCurrentView(acViewTblRec)

          '' Commit the changes

          acTrans.Commit()

      End If

      '' Dispose of the transaction

  End Using

End Sub

using Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices;

using Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices;

using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime;

[CommandMethod("CreateNamedView")]

public static void CreateNamedView()

  // Get the current database

  Document acDoc = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;

  Database acCurDb = acDoc.Database;

  // Start a transaction

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

      // Open the View table for read

      ViewTable acViewTbl;

      acViewTbl = acTrans.GetObject(acCurDb.ViewTableId,

                                    OpenMode.ForRead) as ViewTable;

      // Check to see if the named view 'View1' exists

      if (acViewTbl.Has("View1") == false)

          // Open the View table for write

          acViewTbl.UpgradeOpen();

          // Create a new View table record and name the view 'View1'

          ViewTableRecord acViewTblRec = new ViewTableRecord();

          acViewTblRec.Name = "View1";

          // Add the new View table record to the View table and the transaction

          acViewTbl.Add(acViewTblRec);

          acTrans.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(acViewTblRec, true);

          // Set 'View1' current

          acDoc.Editor.SetCurrentView(acViewTblRec);

          // Commit the changes

          acTrans.Commit();

      // Dispose of the transaction

VBA/ActiveX Code Reference

Erase a named view

The following example erases a named view from the drawing.

VB.NET

Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices

Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices

Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime

<CommandMethod("EraseNamedView")> _

Public Sub EraseNamedView()

  '' Get the current 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 View table for read

      Dim acViewTbl As ViewTable

      acViewTbl = acTrans.GetObject(acCurDb.ViewTableId, OpenMode.ForRead)

      '' Check to see if the named view 'View1' exists

      If (acViewTbl.Has("View1") = True) Then

          '' Open the View table for write

          acViewTbl.UpgradeOpen()

          '' Get the named view

          Dim acViewTblRec As ViewTableRecord

          acViewTblRec = acTrans.GetObject(acViewTbl("View1"), OpenMode.ForWrite)

          '' Remove the named view from the View table

          acViewTblRec.Erase()

          '' Commit the changes

          acTrans.Commit()

      End If

      '' Dispose of the transaction

  End Using

End Sub

using Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices;

using Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices;

using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime;

[CommandMethod("EraseNamedView")]

public static void EraseNamedView()

  // Get the current database

  Document acDoc = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;

  Database acCurDb = acDoc.Database;

  // Start a transaction

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

      // Open the View table for read

      ViewTable acViewTbl;

      acViewTbl = acTrans.GetObject(acCurDb.ViewTableId,

                                    OpenMode.ForRead) as ViewTable;

      // Check to see if the named view 'View1' exists

      if (acViewTbl.Has("View1") == true)

          // Open the View table for write

          acViewTbl.UpgradeOpen();

          // Get the named view

          ViewTableRecord acViewTblRec;

          acViewTblRec = acTrans.GetObject(acViewTbl["View1"],

                                           OpenMode.ForWrite) as ViewTableRecord;

          // Remove the named view from the View table

          acViewTblRec.Erase();

          // Commit the changes

          acTrans.Commit();

      // Dispose of the transaction

VBA/ActiveX Code Reference