You can control several
aspects of selecting objects, such as whether you enter a command
first or select objects first, the size of the pickbox cursor, and
how selected objects are displayed.
For
commands that use the Select Objects prompt, you can
- Enter a command first, and then select
objects
- Select the objects first, and then enter
a command
You can also choose
- Whether objects to be selected are previewed
during selection
- Whether selected objects are highlighted
- How you define selection areas and how
you create selection sets
Select the Command First
When you use an editing command, a Select Objects
prompt is displayed and the crosshairs is replaced with a pickbox.
You can respond to the Select Objects prompt in various ways:
- Select objects one at a time.
- Click an empty area. Drag the cursor
to define a rectangular selection area.
- Enter a selection option. Enter ? to
display all selection options.
- Combine selection methods. For example,
to select most of the objects in the drawing area, select all objects
and then remove the objects that you do not want selected.
- Enter 'filter to
use a named selection filter. The apostrophe runs the command transparently.
Select Objects First
You can use one of two methods to select objects
before starting a command:
- Use the SELECT command,
and enter ? to display all selection options.
All objects selected are put into the Previous selection set. To
use the Previous selection set, enter p at the Select
Objects prompt of any subsequent command.
- When noun/verb selection is turned on,
select objects at the Command prompt before entering a command such
as MOVE, COPY, or ERASE. With this method,
you can only select objects by clicking them individually or by
using automatic selection.
- Enter qselect to filter
the selection. Then enter p at the Select
Objects prompt of any subsequent command.
Highlight Objects to Be
Selected
Objects
are highlighted when the pickbox cursor rolls over them, providing a
preview of which object will be selected when you click.
When you specify an area to select multiple
objects, the background of the area becomes transparent.
These selection previewing effects are turned
on by default. You can turn them off or change the appearance of
selection previewing (Options dialog box, Selection tab). When the PICKBOX system variable
is set to 0, selection previewing of objects is not available.
Control the Appearance
of Selected Objects
By default, selected objects are displayed with
dashed lines. You can increase program performance by setting the HIGHLIGHT system variable
to 0. Turning off selection highlighting does not affect grips
on selected objects.
Set Up Default Selection
Methods
Options
on the Selection tab of the Options dialog box control default selection
methods:
- Use selection previewing and selection
area effects to preview selection.
- Select objects before entering a command
(noun-verb selection) or after entering a command. (PICKFIRST)
- Press Shift to append objects to the
selection set. (PICKADD)
- Click and drag to create a selection
window. Otherwise you must click twice to define the corners of
a selection window. (PICKDRAG)
- Start Window or Crossing selection automatically
when you click an empty space. Otherwise, you must enter c or w to
specify window crossing selection. (PICKAUTO)
- Change the size of the pickbox. (PICKBOX)
- Select all objects in a group when you
select one object in that group.
- Include the boundary in the selection
set when you select a hatch.
To change the size of the
pickbox cursor
- In the Options dialog box, Selection
tab, under Pickbox Size, move the slider until the pickbox is the
size you want to use.
- Click OK.
To change object selection
settings
- In the Options dialog box, Selection
tab, make changes to the Selection Preview and Selection Modes areas
and the pickbox size.
- Click OK.
To turn on or turn off
selection previewing
- In the Options dialog box, Selection
tab, select or clear options as follows:
- Select the When a Command Is Active option
to display the check mark.
- Select the When No Command Is Active
option to display the check mark.
- Select both options to turn on selection
preview whenever it is available.
- Clear both options to turn off selection
preview entirely.
To change the appearance
of selection previewing
-
- In the Options dialog box, Selection
tab, click Visual Effect Settings.
- In the Visual Effect Settings dialog
box, select one of the following options:
- Dash. Displays
dashed lines.
- Thicken. Displays
thickened lines.
- Both. Displays
dashed and thickened lines.
- Click OK to exit each dialog box.
To exclude objects from
selection previewing
- In the Options dialog box, Selection
tab, click Visual Effect Settings.
- In the Visual Effect Settings dialog
box, click Advanced Options.
- In the Advanced Preview Options dialog
box, select any of the following options to exclude objects from
selection previewing:
- Exclude Objects on Locked Layers
- Xrefs
- Tables
- Groups
- Multiline Text
- Hatches
- Click OK to exit each dialog box.
To change the appearance
of the selection area
- In the Options dialog box, Selection
tab, click Visual Effect Settings.
- In the Visual Effect Settings dialog
box, change any of the following settings:
- Indicate Selection Area.
Select to display effects for selection areas.
- Window Selection Color.
Select a color, or click Select Color to display the Select Color
dialog box. (WINDOWAREACOLOR system variable)
- Crossing Selection Color.
Select a color, or click Select Color to display the Select Color
dialog box. (CROSSINGAREACOLOR system variable)
- Selection Area Opacity.
Use the slider to set transparency for selection areas. The lower
the setting, the more transparent the area. A value of 100 makes
the area opaque. (SELECTIONAREAOPACITY system variable)
- Click OK to exit each dialog box.
CommandsFILTER
Creates a list of requirements
that an object must meet to be included in a selection set.
PROPERTIES
Controls properties
of existing objects.
QSELECT
Creates a selection
set based on filtering criteria.
System VariablesCROSSINGAREACOLOR
Controls the color of
the selection area during crossing selection.
DRAGMODE
Controls the way dragged
objects are displayed.
HIGHLIGHT
Controls object highlighting;
does not affect objects selected with grips.
PICKADD
Controls whether subsequent
selections replace the current selection set or add to it.
PICKAUTO
Controls automatic windowing
at the Select Objects prompt.
PICKBOX
Sets the object selection
target height, in pixels.
PICKDRAG
Controls the method
of drawing a selection window.
PICKFIRST
Controls whether you
select objects before (noun-verb selection) or after you issue a
command.
PREVIEWEFFECT
Specifies the visual
effect used for previewing selection of objects.
PREVIEWFILTER
Excludes specified object
types from selection previewing.
SELECTIONAREA
Controls the display
of effects for selection areas.
SELECTIONAREAOPACITY
Controls the transparency
of the selection area during window and crossing selection.
SELECTIONPREVIEW
Controls the display
of selection previewing.
WINDOWAREACOLOR
Controls the color of
the transparent selection area during window selection.
