I'm currently working on a very large map, and I've made a system using the Objects Dialog to organize all the features I'm adding. However, this requires that I have numerous sublayers, but sometimes a sublayer will jump out of the layer I placed it in with seemingly no trigger. The only consistent way I can trigger it is by working on an object in a sublayer or by placing a layer into another while the layer in which I'm placing the other is maximized. Objects will also jump out of layers with similar triggers. It's really infuriating to have 50+ objects just jump out of a layer any time I even dare touch it. Am I just doing something wrong, or is this potentially a bug?
I'm not sure what might be happening, but I need to understand better what you're doing.
You say that using the Objects dialog, you move a sublayer from one layer to another "while the layer....is maximized". I don't understand what you mean by maximizing a layer. Do you mean that you click the plus sign to expand the layer? Or do you mean that you click on the layer so that it's the active layer on the canvas?
Why do you move a sublayer to another layer in the first place?
Also, what do you mean that the objects jump out of the layer? Where do they go to? A new layer or a previously existing layer?
We would need to identify the specific steps which trigger this problem, so we can test it independantly, before we could call it a bug.
It sounds like this might be a very large file. If the file gets to be so large that it's challenging your computer's available resources, weird things could happen. But I can't say that's definitely what's happening until I understand everything else. It could be just a misunderstanding of something. But if you can clarify my questions, we can go from there.
If you could make some screenshots to help explain, that might help too.
Please describe your Inkscape version and system info.
The Objects dialog has been know to effect performance and reliability. If it's only being used for layers and sub-layers, I'd use the Layers dialog, not the Objects dialog.
By maximized, I meant I (or rather the computer automatically) expanded the layer.
Because I'm dealing with many of basically the same object, each with 2-4 components (a basic shield and a number), I have each in its own layer to make labeling as easy as possible for me. In the screenshot I provided, the "029-01" and "029-02" layers (the latter of which is highlighted). These two layers were in the layer "029 Zolaja" until I moved the 2 shield highlighted in the actual image, at which point, they jumped out of the "029 Zolaja" sublayer and into the "County and Local Road Markers" Layer. Whenever something jumps out like that, it's always drops directly below and in the same left to right position as the layer it jumped from. The two objects, "Čalis County" and "Zolaja County" at the bottom of the objects dialog do the same thing as the sublayers that I described. Both were in the "County Highlights" Layer before I accidentally moved them in the image.
The current file size is 251 KB, and the program hasn't had too much trouble handling the file, although I'm only about 1-2% done with the image.
TD could be right, that using the Layers dialog would solve the problem. He knows Inkscape very well. I know Inkscape pretty well too, but I don't have much experience with Objects dialog, so I'm not sure.
But I'd be glad to investigate further, if you could share the SVG file. I'm trying to follow your description, but I can barely see the text in the Objects dialog, in your screenshot. If I had your SVG file, maybe I can see the problem happen myself. That would give me much more info, and possibly enough to file a bug report (if it turns out to be a bug).
If you decide to share your SVG file, tell me what you mean when you say you moved the object with the 2 in it. Did you just move it on the canvas? Or do you mean that you moved it to another layer?
I think what you're saying is that the objects come out of the sublayers they are in, and now they are in the parent layer. Right?
Hi, I just may be able to add clarification, First:
Inkscape v1.0.2 (e86c870879, 2021-01-15) on Linux Arch With KDE on an Intell i5 quad core with 32Gib RAM (no performance issues).
I have had the same problem going back to v0.92 and earlier, and it is in the layers panel, not the objects panel (never use that one). I too work on large files with many layers, with sub-layers of repeated objects: Imagine a base plate, with many of the same sub assemblies (electrical switches) in a row. I have many svg file for things like electrical components, and import them into project svg's as needed. Let's say I import an svg of a Switch into a project file with a a base plate, circuit board... make as many copies of the Switch as needed, and as soon as I try to work on any of the switches Inkscape flips out all over the place, popping sub layers out of a layer group, losing the layer group they were in. If I ungroup an object of Switch 01, to change something, then try to do the same to Switch 03, objects don't select separately, but rather in random groups when they were not grouped to begin with, sometimes objects act like they are no longer in the sub layer they were in and the parent layer is highlighted when I select the object, not the layer its on, but if I hide the sub layer the object does hide, it just won't select the right layer when I select an object, and often the layer highlight doesn't work at all. If I go back to work on Switch 01, I may find its objects messed up again!
Inkscape seems incapable of telling things apart that have the same name, even if grouped in layers with different names.
If I have 3 layers, each with the very same content, like switches of the same model in a row each having 3 or more layers, like so:
Switch 01---Spring
Screw
Latch
Switch 02---Spring
Screw
Latch
Switch 03---Spring
Screw
Latch
(often way more with sub groups too) If I try to work on Latch of Switch 03 even just changing it's color, I could end up with:
Switch 01---Spring
Screw
Latch
Switch 02---Spring
Screw
Latch
Spring
Screw
Latch
The layer order also gets messed up sometimes, even with whole layers and even groups thereof just disappearing altogether!
Even when I rename 20, 30, 50 or 100ds of layers like so:
Switch 01---TSW 01 spring
TSW 01 Screw
TSW 01 Latch
Switch 02---TSW 02 Spring
TSW 02 Screw
TSW 02 Latch
It still falls back to confusing them, as if it doesn't care that I renamed them.
To make it worse: Now the XML editor no longer highlights lines in the XML based on what I click on anymore either, so I have no easy way of checking what the problem may be without going on a massive search through XML gibberish, not that it can tell me why Inkscape is messing up in the first place, but I do highly suspect it cannot deal with anything having the same name anywhere, and is getting things that are similar, mixed up with each other, and losing it's place in the XML.
I tried FreeCAD a few times over the years, but it's an unwieldy mess too! 🙁
Beginners' Questions Layers and Sublayers being uncooperative
Inkscape.org
I'm currently working on a very large map, and I've made a system using the Objects Dialog to organize all the features I'm adding. However, this requires that I have numerous sublayers, but sometimes a sublayer will jump out of the layer I placed it in with seemingly no trigger. The only consistent way I can trigger it is by working on an object in a sublayer or by placing a layer into another while the layer in which I'm placing the other is maximized. Objects will also jump out of layers with similar triggers. It's really infuriating to have 50+ objects just jump out of a layer any time I even dare touch it. Am I just doing something wrong, or is this potentially a bug?
Welcome to the forum!
I'm not sure what might be happening, but I need to understand better what you're doing.
You say that using the Objects dialog, you move a sublayer from one layer to another "while the layer....is maximized". I don't understand what you mean by maximizing a layer. Do you mean that you click the plus sign to expand the layer? Or do you mean that you click on the layer so that it's the active layer on the canvas?
Why do you move a sublayer to another layer in the first place?
Also, what do you mean that the objects jump out of the layer? Where do they go to? A new layer or a previously existing layer?
We would need to identify the specific steps which trigger this problem, so we can test it independantly, before we could call it a bug.
It sounds like this might be a very large file. If the file gets to be so large that it's challenging your computer's available resources, weird things could happen. But I can't say that's definitely what's happening until I understand everything else. It could be just a misunderstanding of something. But if you can clarify my questions, we can go from there.
If you could make some screenshots to help explain, that might help too.
Please describe your Inkscape version and system info.
The Objects dialog has been know to effect performance and reliability. If it's only being used for layers and sub-layers, I'd use the Layers dialog, not the Objects dialog.
TD
By maximized, I meant I (or rather the computer automatically) expanded the layer.
Because I'm dealing with many of basically the same object, each with 2-4 components (a basic shield and a number), I have each in its own layer to make labeling as easy as possible for me. In the screenshot I provided, the "029-01" and "029-02" layers (the latter of which is highlighted). These two layers were in the layer "029 Zolaja" until I moved the 2 shield highlighted in the actual image, at which point, they jumped out of the "029 Zolaja" sublayer and into the "County and Local Road Markers" Layer. Whenever something jumps out like that, it's always drops directly below and in the same left to right position as the layer it jumped from. The two objects, "Čalis County" and "Zolaja County" at the bottom of the objects dialog do the same thing as the sublayers that I described. Both were in the "County Highlights" Layer before I accidentally moved them in the image.
The current file size is 251 KB, and the program hasn't had too much trouble handling the file, although I'm only about 1-2% done with the image.
I'm currently using version 0.92.3 on Windows 10.
Again, I would just use the Layers dialog (panel) and avoid the Objects dialog. The Objects dialog is too unreliable.
TD
TD could be right, that using the Layers dialog would solve the problem. He knows Inkscape very well. I know Inkscape pretty well too, but I don't have much experience with Objects dialog, so I'm not sure.
But I'd be glad to investigate further, if you could share the SVG file. I'm trying to follow your description, but I can barely see the text in the Objects dialog, in your screenshot. If I had your SVG file, maybe I can see the problem happen myself. That would give me much more info, and possibly enough to file a bug report (if it turns out to be a bug).
If you decide to share your SVG file, tell me what you mean when you say you moved the object with the 2 in it. Did you just move it on the canvas? Or do you mean that you moved it to another layer?
I think what you're saying is that the objects come out of the sublayers they are in, and now they are in the parent layer. Right?
Hi, I just may be able to add clarification, First:
Inkscape v1.0.2 (e86c870879, 2021-01-15) on Linux Arch With KDE on an Intell i5 quad core with 32Gib RAM (no performance issues).
I have had the same problem going back to v0.92 and earlier, and it is in the layers panel, not the objects panel (never use that one). I too work on large files with many layers, with sub-layers of repeated objects: Imagine a base plate, with many of the same sub assemblies (electrical switches) in a row. I have many svg file for things like electrical components, and import them into project svg's as needed. Let's say I import an svg of a Switch into a project file with a a base plate, circuit board... make as many copies of the Switch as needed, and as soon as I try to work on any of the switches Inkscape flips out all over the place, popping sub layers out of a layer group, losing the layer group they were in. If I ungroup an object of Switch 01, to change something, then try to do the same to Switch 03, objects don't select separately, but rather in random groups when they were not grouped to begin with, sometimes objects act like they are no longer in the sub layer they were in and the parent layer is highlighted when I select the object, not the layer its on, but if I hide the sub layer the object does hide, it just won't select the right layer when I select an object, and often the layer highlight doesn't work at all. If I go back to work on Switch 01, I may find its objects messed up again!
Inkscape seems incapable of telling things apart that have the same name, even if grouped in layers with different names.
If I have 3 layers, each with the very same content, like switches of the same model in a row each having 3 or more layers, like so:
Switch 01---Spring
Screw
Latch
Switch 02---Spring
Screw
Latch
Switch 03---Spring
Screw
Latch
(often way more with sub groups too) If I try to work on Latch of Switch 03 even just changing it's color, I could end up with:
Switch 01---Spring
Screw
Latch
Switch 02---Spring
Screw
Latch
Spring
Screw
Latch
The layer order also gets messed up sometimes, even with whole layers and even groups thereof just disappearing altogether!
Even when I rename 20, 30, 50 or 100ds of layers like so:
Switch 01---TSW 01 spring
TSW 01 Screw
TSW 01 Latch
Switch 02---TSW 02 Spring
TSW 02 Screw
TSW 02 Latch
It still falls back to confusing them, as if it doesn't care that I renamed them.
To make it worse: Now the XML editor no longer highlights lines in the XML based on what I click on anymore either, so I have no easy way of checking what the problem may be without going on a massive search through XML gibberish, not that it can tell me why Inkscape is messing up in the first place, but I do highly suspect it cannot deal with anything having the same name anywhere, and is getting things that are similar, mixed up with each other, and losing it's place in the XML.
I tried FreeCAD a few times over the years, but it's an unwieldy mess too! 🙁
@Graphmozoid, the import svg management has been reworked extensively, it's possible new issues are introduced as well as old ones.
An example Inscape svg file would be helpful.