<-- this guy needs some help

[pBe]

yes the Linetype and the color will match. No, I will be replacing the entire name.

I don't get it. Say for instance on the layer collection you have two or three that have the same LINETYPE and COLOR , what will happen then?

[btraemoore]

yes the Linetype and the color will match. No, I will be replacing the entire name. Once I have the list narrowed down to the LT and color that match the existing layer, im thinking of having it compare the first character in both name variables and choose the correct layer name to save based off that or having it evaluate the total matching characters in the applicable layer names via strcat ascii, maybe...

(vl-load-com)
	(setq acadDocument (vla-get-activedocument (vlax-get-acad-object)))
	(setq layertable (vla-get-layers acadDocument))
	(repeat
		(setq Lay (tblnext "LAYER" 1))
		(while
			(setq layLT (cdr (assoc 6 lay)) 
				  layCOLOR (cdr (assoc 62 lay))
				  layNM (cdr (assoc 2 lay))
			);setq
				(open C:\\Documents and Settings\\moorerb\\Desktop\\scripting-lisp\\standardlayers.txt "r")

this is the coding that i have so far. I haven't figured a way to end the loop yet, and still reading on how to evaluate each line in the delimited file, TSV as delimiter

[btraemoore]

say i have 20 layers with the same LT and color, it will evaluate the name of the matching layer properties and if the first character of the layer in question matches the first character of one of the possible matches then it will save that name as the variable to change it to and if there are multiple matches then it will go down the line and compare the second character of the possible matches... so on and so forth, to get the most accurate name for the layer.

[pBe]

 
(while (setq a (tblnext "LAYER" (null a)))
      (setq coll  (list (cdr (assoc 6 a))
                                   (cdr (assoc 62 a))
                                   (cdr (assoc 2 a))))
      (print coll);<<<<--- Do your thing here
    )

Can yu post here a part of that "standardlayers.txt" file

[btraemoore]

0 7 CONTINUOUS
2 3 CONTINUOUS
BLDG 2 CONTINUOUS
BLDG 7 CONTINUOUS
BORDER 5 CONTINUOUS
BORDER 7 CONTINUOUS
CENTER 2 CENTER
CENTER 7 CENTER
CLINE 7 CENTER
CLINES 7 CENTER2
COL 1 CONTINUOUS
CONC 1 CONTINUOUS
CONDUIT-HIDDEN 1 HIDDEN
CONDUIT-HIDDEN 7 HIDDEN
CONDUIT 1 CONTINUOUS
CONDUIT 7 CONTINUOUS
CONN 6 CONTINUOUS
CONST 5 CONTINUOUS
CONST 7 CONTINUOUS
CONTROL 6 CONTINUOUS
CONTROL 7 CONTINUOUS
CPLPOVR 7 CONTINUOUS
CPRT 4 CONTINUOUS
CPRT 7 CONTINUOUS
CUTLINE 5 HIDDEN
CUTLINE 7 HIDDEN
DASHED 2 DASHED
DASHED 2 PHANTOM
DASHED 7 PHANTOM
DEFPOINTS 7 CONTINUOUS
DEPT 3 CONTINUOUS
DEPT 7 CONTINUOUS
DIM 2 CONTINUOUS
DIM 7 CONTINUOUS
DIMN 1 CONTINUOUS
DIMN 7 CONTINUOUS
ELEC 1 HIDDEN
ELEC 7 HIDDEN

this is part of standardlayers.txt. the spaces are actually tab delimitation's

[pBe]

Okay. Demonstrate for us thiese two lines here:
ELEC 1 HIDDEN
ELEC 7 HIDDEN

If it finds a match. what then? what will be the new name?

Anyhoo.. if the only problem is the loop. see previous post

[btraemoore]

OLD layer name: ELECTRICAL
layer color: 1
layer LT: HIDDEN

(comparison to standardlayers.txt)

NEW layer name: ELEC
(command "-rename" "la" OLD NEW) <- IN LOOP


its only comparing the color and linetype and if needed the characters in the name. More than likely it will need to compare the characters in the name

[pBe]

See if i get this right. ELECTRICAL/1/HIDDEN will be ELEC, and ELECTRICAL/7/HIDDEN will also be ELEC, is that right?
Use wcmatch for name comparison or a predicate function that reduces the list for comparison using the frist character on the Layer name

[btraemoore]

keep in mind that i am very new to lisp and do not know a lot of functions. my thought is that i will step though each existing layer checking the name against the list and if the name is not in my list, then run the function for changing the name. IE: all the crap with the color and lt checks. when i consider of the functionality of wcmatch with this routine, and correct me if im wrong, it would have to be its own function filtering the existing layer list prior to running my main routine??

[pBe]

all the crap with the color and lt checks. when i consider of the functionality of wcmatch with this routine, and correct me if im wrong, it would have to be its own function filtering the existing layer list prior to running my main routine??

Yup, sort of... i can write a snippet for you.... you didnt answer my question though,

ELECTRICAL/1/HIDDEN will be ELEC, and ELECTRICAL/7/HIDDEN will also be ELEC, is that right?