How to change color of several layers at once

DanRathbun · January 19, 2020, 4:49pm

There are issues logged with regard to layers, materials and opacity …

… which led to the following API issue being logged …

github.com/SketchUp/api-issue-tracker

Layer.material instead of Layer.color

opened 10:04AM - 31 Oct 17 UTC

prachtan

enhancement Ruby API SketchUp logged

It's still not resolved :( https://forums.sketchup.com/t/layer-material-inste…ad-of-layer-color/190 The material is inaccessible from Ruby _(it can only be read by CAPI)._ It is not possible to attach an observer for a layer material change event. MaterialsObserver nor LayersObserver is not triggered in case of layer materials modifications.

… which led to the following API issue being logged …

github.com/SketchUp/api-issue-tracker

C API : Get and Set Material Color for a `SULayerRef`

opened 05:19PM - 19 Jan 20 UTC

DanRathbun

C API SketchUp documentation

### SketchUp C API ~~Feature Parity Request~~ ^Documentation Issue A. ~~Pleas…e implement `SULayerGetColor()` and `SULayerSetColor()` for the C API so as to bring it into parity with the Ruby API~~. > **EDIT**: **Not necessary**. As Thomas describes below, layer colors are accessed using [`SUMaterialGetColor()`](https://extensions.sketchup.com/developers/sketchup_c_api/sketchup/struct_s_u_material_ref.html#a8a3fd963eaf7d38c65b3e336cedf40da) and [`SUMaterialSetColor()`](https://extensions.sketchup.com/developers/sketchup_c_api/sketchup/struct_s_u_material_ref.html#ab4f59a1e090547e244cee1374632e68c) via the layer's [`SULayerGetMaterial()`](https://extensions.sketchup.com/developers/sketchup_c_api/sketchup/struct_s_u_layer_ref.html#acb1bdd418a35ee45aa165f60a34f79dd) function. B. ~~Perhaps deprecate `SULayerGetMaterial()` and/or~~ **Add** documentation notes to the effect of Thomas' comments ... > https://forums.sketchup.com/t/feature-request-sulayersetmaterial/51877/3 > _Layer materials cannot be shared in SketchUp. The layer itself owns the material. This is different from the materials applied to entities (which is owned by the Materials collection (In Ruby this is exposed as model.materials where as in the C API you ask the ModelRef directly (I wish there had been a MaterialsRef collection in the C API as well, alas.))_ > > _So you don’t want to mix layer materials and materials from DrawingElements - their ownership works differently._ > > _In the C API there is no SULayerSetMaterial, but SULayerGetMaterial gets you a reference to the MaterialRef for that layer and let you modify that._ ... and ... > https://forums.sketchup.com/t/feature-request-sulayersetmaterial/51877/7 > _Internally layers own their own materials (unrelated to the model’s material collection.) Now, for some reason the C API exposed the material. (Why is not known to me - it was before me. My guess is that the original implementer wasn’t aware of this detail and simply exposed the material instead of just the colors.) So that’s some internal implementation details that unfortunately got exposed to the API. Some extensions have actually made use of that, so we are kind of stuck with it._ ---- Publicly requested by Tim Hemmelman of Robert McNeil & Assoc., Rhino Development. Reference public forum discussion: https://forums.sketchup.com/t/feature-request-sulayersetmaterial/51877/9