AU File & Object Layer Eccentricities

I developed a bare bones template working file for my 2008 AU class called "Building the Perfect Template-Making All of Your Civil 3D 2009 Dreams Come True". It was loaded up with sample styles and sample content. The style components are all configured to layer 0.

The object layers were configured to layer names prefixed with $. The reason for this was so that they would easily stand out if we spent a lot of time talking about them. Object layers cannot be simply renamed. You must create the new layer names and redirect the object layer items in Drawing Settings to the new layers. These new layers can be created with layer manager or with the "New" tool in the Layer Selection dialog box that appears when you click into the layer field in the Object Layer tab.

Object layers can easily be purged out of a drawing if they are not being used. This can be bad if you've configured color and linetype to them. If objects are created in an object layer that has been purged from a drawing, the layer will be recreated using color 7 and continuous linetype. No worries if you are leaning on component layers to define color and linetype for you.