hiding objects

[JosSmos]

Hi,
i'm trying to hide several objects (blocks, groups, lines, rectangles,..) behind another object, basically bringing 1 object to the front. i can't figure out why, when i bring it to front (e.g. a rectangle) all other stuf remains visible through this rectangle. Help anyone? TIA!

[Dean1961]

On AutoCAD 2009
Either use WIPEOUT to create your rectangle

or if you want to create a block

BEDIT - draw your rectangle. Copy it and use the copy to make a WIPEOUT.
Use DRAWORDER to set Wipeout under rectangle.
Move WIPEOUT to same location as rectangle.
Insert block.
Use DRAWORDER to hide everything under it.

[irneb]

Yep, in ACad a rectangle is nothing but the lines of its border. There's nothing inside those lines unless you create something there. Thus a rectangle is like a pen drawing of it, not filled in - if you want it filled in to cover stuff "under" the rectangle you have to fill it in with something else.

As Dean1961 described you could use a wipeout / block. You could also hatch the inside of the rectangle with a solid fill (perhaps white). Alternatively you can place a 2d solid or even offset the rectangle by 1/4 of its smallest dimension to the inside, then change the global width property of the new offset rectangle to be 1/2 the original's width.

There's various ways you could do this. But this shows you much more clearly that ACad is mostly just an electronic drawing board. There's some featured you wouldn't have expected from a pen in your hand, but the basic concepts are not much different. All of these can be analogised as filling the rectangle you drew with something like tip-ex.

Also note, there's a setting in most printer drivers which might even override such "tip-ex". In ACad's plot dialog you can click the Properties button next to the Printer/Plotter Name drop-down. Then on the Plotter Configuration Editor dialog, under the Graphics group you can change Merge Lines between Lines Overwrite / Lines Merge. If you select the later stuff like wipeouts have no effect - its as if this turns everything "transparent".

[JosSmos]

Thanks! mission accomplished!