DRAWORDER by layer

Not built in. Describe what you want.
If I were doing this, I would use a text file with layer names to control order, and extra or missing layers in the dwg would be put to bottom.
You have to describe what would be convenient for you, we can make that fairly easily, but it will run when you run it, not automatically.

Steve,
in the very distant past we probably have developed a utility that is of interest to you. I was actually surprised to see it survived as a command in current BricsCAD releases. The name of the command comes remarkably close to the title of this post, in fact, verbatim... DRAWORDERBYLAYER.

In short:
using a tool like e.g. Notepad, the user creates a list of layer names as a text file with extension '.lst', e.g. 'MyList.lst'
When running DRAWORDERBYLAYER, the draworder of entities residing on these layers will be set according to the order of the layer names in the list.

The command allows to choose which list to apply, so you could e.g. have 'MyPreferredOrder.lst', 'MyReversedOrder.lst', 'MyAlternativeOrder.lst', etc.

See: https://help.bricsys.com/hc/en-us/articles/360006661553-DrawOrderByLayer

I've been wanting something like that for a long time. Good to know it's been there all along.

Is there an easy way to export that list of layer names to a text file in the same folder as the dwg file?

Thanks, Steve. Yes, that's exactly what I had in mind. I changed "," to "\n" and ".llst" to ".lst" to suit the built-in DrawOrderByLayer command.

One thing I don't understand: it only works once each time I open a .dwg file. The second time it creates a nearly empty .lst file, and doesn't (princ lt) either. Until I re-open the .dwg file. Re-loading the lisp file doesn't make it work again.

It shouldn't ever be necessary to do it again, but it bothers me that I don't understand why it won't. Do you know?

That's perfect. Thanks again.

Now if I just rename a few layers so that their place in the alphabetical order corresponds to where I want them in the layering scheme, I can just add (command "DrawOrderByLayer") to the end of that and use it to set layering with a single command.

And, as you suggested, I could insert that all-in-one command in front of my Save and Print commands.

I tested, its the order they were created in.

How does one find the order geometry is created in?

Oops. I didn't look. I just assumed it would be alphabetical order, like in the Drawing Explorer and the Entity Properties bar. The first few in the .lst file were in fact like that: 0, Defpoints, Dimensions.

Yes, I was thinking I would give them names like 0-Hatch and zNotes. But this actually works out better for me. I won't have to rename any layers. I can just create a new template file, starting from scratch and creating the layers in the order in which I want them layered. I don't use many layers, so that won't take long.

@SteveDaniels said:
If you have a standard list of layer names, then why do you need a layer name export function?

Maybe I'm confused. I thought this thread was about layering -- in the English language sense (layers of paint, soil, rock, cake, etc.) -- and linking that type of layering with what Autocad calls layers, so that AC layers can be used in the same way as VectorWorks and Photoshop layers.

Certainly that's what the DrawOrderByLayer command is about. And I never knew about that command before, so for me it was a lucky mistake.

The reason I wanted a layer name export function was because the DrawOrderByLayer command requires a text file of layer names, but it doesn't provide a way to get such a file.

@SteveDaniels said:
Maybe I'm confused. I thought this thread was about layering -- in the English language sense (layers of paint, soil, rock, cake, etc.) -- and linking that type of layering with what Autocad calls layers, so that AC layers can be used in the same way as VectorWorks and Photoshop layers.

Certainly that's what the DrawOrderByLayer command is about. And I never knew about that command before, so for me it was a lucky mistake.

The reason I wanted a layer name export function was because the DrawOrderByLayer command requires a text file of layer names, but it doesn't provide a way to get such a file.

A few things to mention:
1) in the end, autocad does not order anything by layer. It orders things using a big numbered list, such that each item has a number.
In other words, every item has an item above and below, except the very top and bottom item.
2) Its fine to use acad layers to set the draworder, many have done that. Understand that the draworderbylayer is not modifying the layer itself. You cannot tell autocad "this layer is always on top".
3) you can use the layers to manipulate the draw order of individual entities, at a point in time. You must repeat after adding new stuff.
4) The tools to set draworder of entities using a layer list, requires a text file of layers, in order desired. Since you do not have that, use the util to generate the list.

HTH

@SteveDaniels said:
You would just manually create a master list one time and use that.

Ah, yes. That's a better idea. When I originally asked about exporting layer names to a file, I was thinking about doing it just once. But when working with lisp code I tend to get confused and forget the original objective.

But sometimes I add extra layers to a dwg file while working on it. If I add a lot of them, or if I forget to add them to the .LST file as I create them, your layer export function would come in handy. However, the automated thing I described above won't work, since those additional layers probably won't be in the right position in the .LST file.