Rockpile Custom Controls - Layer List Selector
The Layer list selector is an important component of many RPS Command dialogs. The list pull down allows you to select a target layer for the objects that you are creating. The challenge with the layer list is that as projects evolve and as you import data from e.g. CAD files, the list of layers can get extremely long.
The new layer list control now has a filter control that allows you to reduce the list of layers by entering some characters into the filter control, the list reduces automatically to show just the layers in the list that include those characters. The characters can be anywhere within the layer name. You can also apply case sensitivity to tighten the matching criteria as required.
When the filter is applied to the layer list, the expectation is that you will be selecting the layer from the pull down list versus selecting an object graphically to grab its layer information. If you wish to select an object graphically then disable the layer list filter.
Add a layer:
To add a layer click the 
button. This will open the RPS New Layer Control (for more information on the New Layer Control Click Here
Filter Layer List:
To filter the layer list click the 
button. The filter and case sensitivity controls will then open as shown below
Enter some text characters into the layer filter to reduce the layer list to those layers that contain the entered text characters only. For example enter CADXS to show only those layers that include CADXS in the name of the layer.
Note in the example above, the text cadxs has been entered and because case sensitivity is disabled all CADXS layers only are shown. If you enable the case sensitivity button by clicking it then the following filtered list will be shown.
Because the layers containing CADXS are all in upper case, when case sensitivity is applied there are no matches to the filter defined by the characters cadxs.
The case sensitivity button will glow orange when it is enabled.
To disable the Layer List filter, click the Layer Filter button a second time
Support for Takeoff Layer Categorization:
If you have used the Categorize Takeoff Layers to categorize project layers for takeoff purposes (Original, Design, Utilities, Unused etc.) then when you right click the layer filter icon to select a previously defined filter you will see the takeoff layer categories in the middle section. Selecting e.g. Original will reduce the layer list down to just those layers categorized as Original in the Categorize Takeoff Layers function.
Previously Defined Filters:
The top section of the layer filters available is reserved for the last 5 filters that you have defined and actually used to select a layer. These will appear first in the list of filters available. The Takeoff Categories will follow in a group separated by a line divider.
Filters Defined by a File Definition:
If you wish a selection of filters that you have previously defined that link directly to your layer naming conventions used in your TBC Project Template(s) to also be available, you can create a simple comma separated file using notepad that has the name LayerFilters.rps in your RPS Settings folder. Any filter that is defined here will be added to the Layer Filter selector as a third group after the recently used filters and layer category filters. Below is an example that is defined to work with the RPS Project Templates
Reuse Last Selected Filter:
When you are working with a group of layers that are defined using a filter that you have applied and used, you can display just those filtered layers by left clicking on the layer filter button vs the pull down list arrow in the layer selector.