Layer Freeze vs. Layer Off

[mockdeep]

I use Freeze/Thaw for 'permament' view changes: within viewports, layer states, xref layer settings, and the like.

I use On/Off for temporary view changes, like when I'm actively editing a drawing and have a need for certain layers to be shown or not shown.

Likewise. My custom save command includes LAYON so that all of the layers turned off during editing are turned back on.

[irneb]

Official reasoning behind Freeze and OFF is:

If you Freeze a layer, then all entities on it is "removed" from memory. This means that if you placed a block / xref on that layer, none of it will show up, even if entities within that block are on other Thawed / ON layers.

If you OFF a layer, it's still kept in memory, so parts of the block / xref on this layer (those that were either drawn directly on it or on layer 0) will be turned off, while the rest on other Thawed / ON layers will still show up.

This holds true for Model Space. Since the invention of Paper Space you can have Freeze overrides per viewport. This is slightly different from the normal Freeze as discussed above. It works more like OFF, but only does this for the currently active viewport.

[Merlin]

Greetings

In the offices I've worked in, we've always ahd a protocol of ON/OFF for temporary clarity while constructing the drawing. FREEZE/THAW for the Long-term or when you made decisions on layers not to be seen in the "end-product".

Interesting thing is that the LAYER ISOLATE falls within this protocol as it turns layers OFF.

My 5 cents for what it's worth
John Mc

[sthedens]

Official reasoning behind Freeze and OFF is:

If you Freeze a layer, then all entities on it is "removed" from memory. This means that if you placed a block / xref on that layer, none of it will show up, even if entities within that block are on other Thawed / ON layers.

If you OFF a layer, it's still kept in memory, so parts of the block / xref on this layer (those that were either drawn directly on it or on layer 0) will be turned off, while the rest on other Thawed / ON layers will still show up.

This holds true for Model Space. Since the invention of Paper Space you can have Freeze overrides per viewport. This is slightly different from the normal Freeze as discussed above. It works more like OFF, but only does this for the currently active viewport.

This is a well stated difference between ON/OFF and THAW/FREEZE. It is more than just short term vs. long term display standards.

We had a consultant who used the term ON/OFF when they were actually Thawing and Freezing. To them the apparent affects were the same so they must be redundant options.
We place architectural notes on layer A-ANNO. We have room labels where the attribute definition entities are on A-ANNO-IDEN and A-ANNO-SQFT. The room label Block is inserted on A-ANNO. If the user turns the A-ANNO layer OFF, the labels still displays. If the user FREEZES layer A-ANNO the labels disappear because the layer the Block is inserted on is no longer in memory. The consultant couldn't figure out how to turn OFF our annotation while keeping the room labels ON because they didn't understand the difference between ON/OFF and THAW/FREEZE.

[jaberwok]

Why, ever, switch a layer OFF?
It's no easier than Freezing and Freezing has a known and reliable and useful effect.

[dzatto]

The only thing I use on/off for is when I need to make a change to something on a layer, I'll use layiso. It turns off the other layers. That way I have one layer to work on, all others are off. When I'm done, I'll hit layuniso and they all are turned back on. It's IL and LO for keyboard shortcuts, so it's a fast way to clean the drawing to make a change.

[jaberwok]

The only thing I use on/off for is when I need to make a change to something on a layer, I'll use layiso. It turns off the other layers. That way I have one layer to work on, all others are off. When I'm done, I'll hit layuniso and they all are turned back on. It's IL and LO for keyboard shortcuts, so it's a fast way to clean the drawing to make a change.

When you use Layiso do you care whether it is Frozen or turned Off?

[dzatto]

Do you mean frozen but dulled down? Isn't that what they started in 2008? I prefer it off so I can't see it.

Other than that, if frozen will kill it completely, then it doesn't matter. I've always just used off. ~shrug~

[irneb]

OK we're getting off subject ... but ... LAYISO has 2 options: (1 - default) turns layers on/off; (2) locks / unlocks layers - that's what you mean by "dulling", it doesn't FREEZE/THAW them at all.

As for never using on/off, sthedens gave a perfect example of when to use ON/OFF instead of FREEZE/THAW.

If you want to use it in your particular protocol as temporary ON/OF and permanent FREEZE/THAW ... nothing's stopping you to do so. But that's a self imposed reason. It's got nothing to do with what the 2 types of layer changing's about. It's what you do to make your life easier. The OP didn't ask what your protocol is, rather what the difference is between the 2.

Now:
OFF
Turns the visibility of the entities on those layers off. If a complex entity (like a block) has sub-entities on different layers, they WON'T BE AFFECTED. However, this change is drawing wide - to have it viewport specific see below.

FREEZE
This removes the entities on those layers from memory. Thus they won't appear & won't use up any scarce RAM. As a "side-effect" complex entities (like blocks) would disappear even if some of their sub-entities are on different (still thawed) layers.

FREEZE ViewPort Override
This works exactly like OFF ... I think AutoDesk made a naming inconsistency here. It only affects the currently active floating viewport while you're inside its model space. Those specific layers are hidden (but not removed from RAM) only in this viewport. Complex entities will work the same as for OFF - in this viewport only.

Then (if you wre wondering - since this is related and has come up) you get LOCK/UNLOCK - as described above with the LAYISO command. This makes a layer non-selectable for modification. And in resent versions AutoCAD will "dull" the colours of the entities thereon so you can see the difference. The "point" being you can use the entities to pick points (e.g. endpoint, intersection, etc.) or operations like extend / trim to these entities, but you're dissalowing the user from changing them. I generally do this to stuff like grids which you don't want to move by accident, but still want to see.

[jaberwok]

As
I've said elsewhere - important if you work in 3d -
objects on OFF layers will not display but, in a Hidden view, WILL obscure other objects; on a Frozen layer they don't.


Edit: oops, I should have said - "in all releases up to and including A2006 ..."