Setting the active class

To be able to remove or edit objects in a particular class, either the class must be active or the class options must be set to allow modifications to other classes (see Setting global visibility with class and design layer options). There are several ways to change the active class.

If there are only a few classes, switch among classes with the Switch Active Layer/Class shortcut key combination specified in the Vectorworks preferences (see Vectorworks preferences: Edit pane). This selects a class by moving up or down through the class list one class at a time. If you select a filter from the Classes list in the View bar, the shortcut switches among classes on the filtered list.

If the drawing has a large number of classes, use one of the following options. To quickly locate a class in a list, see Batch renaming.

Setting the active class in the Organization dialog box

To set the active class:

From the Organization dialog box, select the Classes tab in Details view.

The active class is indicated by a check mark to the left of the Class Name. The name of the class also is highlighted in bold text.

To make a different class active, click the column to the left of its name.

Setting the active class in the View bar

To set the active class:

Click the Classes list from the View bar to display a list of all of the drawing’s classes.

The active class is highlighted in bold text.

Click the class to be activated.

The classes list closes and the active class displays.

Setting the active class in the Navigation palette

To set the active class:

From the Navigation palette, select the Classes tab.

The active class is indicated by a check mark to the left of the class name. The name of the class also is highlighted in bold text.

To make a different class active, click the column to the left of its name.

Alternatively, right-click on the class to be activated and select Activate from the context menu.

Setting the active class in the document context menu

If multiple classes are set to be visible, and the class options are set to show those other classes, the drawing area may display objects that are in non-active classes. Use the Activate Class command to make the class of one of these objects active.

The Force Select command on the document context menu also changes the active class and the active layer (if necessary), and selects the clicked object.

To set the active class:

In the drawing area, right-click a visible object in a non-active class.

Select the command.

The object’s class becomes active.