Entity selection: Circumstances and selection modes

Introduction

The most part of actions for handling the entities require the selection of entities .

Indeed:

  • to modify the coordinates of a point, you should select the corresponding point
  • to add a line (segment), you should define extremity points and then select starting point and ending point

The different selection circumstances and selection modes are presented in this paragraph.

Selection circumstances: overview

Selection of entities could be done before or after the activation of a command; it could also be done, during an operation of creation.

These various circumstances of selection are presented through examples in the table below.

Selection before activation of a command

… Activation of a command:

  • Edit
  • Edit array
  • Delete
  • Force delete
Selection after activation of a command (via selection box)

Activation of a command:

  • Edit
  • Edit array
  • Delete
  • Force delete
Selection during an operation of creation

Activation of a command:

  • New

Selection modes: overview

Selection of entities could be done with the following different selection modes:

  • graphic selection (directly with the mouse)
  • in the data tree for all entities
  • in the graphic area for graphic entities
  • identifier selection (by name / by number )
  • criterion selection* (by relation / by … identical characteristics )

* the advanced selection is detailed in § Entity selection: Selection by criterion

Summary

The different selection modes proposed function of selection circumstances are gathered in the table below.

Selection circumstances Selection modes

Selection before

activation of a command

  graphic

Selection after

activation of a command

Selection box

graphic

by identifier (name/number)

by criterion

Selection during

an operation of creation

Specialized box

graphic

by identifier (name/number)