topic Re: Copy & Paste and objects remain selected in version in Modeling

Copy & Paste and objects remain selected in version 9 ?

Anonymous — Tue, 23 May 2023 15:25:56 GMT

I thought the documentation of version 9 stated that objects once pasted "the copies remain selected" "leaving the original unselected" . Not having the objects that I pasted not selected after I pasted them was a thorn in my side. I really thought this problem was solved with the upgrade to 9. Am I missing something that I should toggle on for this feature to work?

Re: Copy & Paste and objects remain selected in version

Djordje — Mon, 04 Oct 2004 18:32:49 GMT

Weeves wrote:
I thought the documentation of version 9 stated that objects once pasted "the copies remain selected" "leaving the original unselected" .

Not pasted. Drag a copy, drag a multiple copy, multiply, etc.

Re: Copy & Paste and objects remain selected in version

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Oct 2004 18:36:40 GMT

Got it, thanks for your reply.

Re: Copy & Paste and objects remain selected in version

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Oct 2004 14:04:31 GMT

I have this neat little trick to select pasted objects automatically(well, allmost).

ctrlZ is defined as undo.
I define ctrl shift Z as redo.

So, after I past anything into the drawing, I do undo and redo, and voila, the pated stuff is selected.

Real fast.

Re: Copy & Paste and objects remain selected in version

Steve Jepson — Thu, 07 Oct 2004 15:50:51 GMT

Krippahl wrote:
I have this neat little trick to select pasted objects automatically(well, allmost).

ctrlZ is defined as undo.
I define ctrl shift Z as redo.

So, after I past anything into the drawing, I do undo and redo, and voila, the pated stuff is selected.

Real fast.

You should win the tip of the month prize because your tip is something we didn't already know how to do, it is very clever, very useful, and profoundly simple.

I think you are a true ArchiMaster.

Thanks for the great tip.

Thanks.

Re: Copy & Paste and objects remain selected in version

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Oct 2004 15:57:08 GMT

Btw, let me tell you about the second part of the trick

I also define 'ctrl<' as a zoom window, and 'ctrl shift >' as zoom previous.

This sounds complicated, but you have to give it a try to understand the logic:

With almost the same movement, I 'undo' and 'redo' insertions, and 'do' and 'undo' zooms. Sounds complicated, but it speeds things up a lot.
Have fun

Re: Copy & Paste and objects remain selected in version

Thomas Holm — Thu, 07 Oct 2004 16:55:48 GMT

Well,

even if Krippahl's tip isn't new (it's been posted here and on the old ArchiTalk maillist several times) it IS very good and should be on the Archiguide if it isn't already. REDO already has a keyboard shortcut if you don't want to assign your own.

And it's not surprising that the menu command Edit>Paste doesn't work with the pasted copy being selected after it's been placed with that click outside of the bounding box, because the command's real function is actually PASTE THE CLIPBOARD'S CONTENT. And to make that change, you'll have to copy again.

As I'm one of the people who have been nagging about "keep copy selected" for several years, I'm happy that GS finally listened and implemented it in the drag-a-copy/multiply commands. However, I'm not completely satisfied, because they only implemented half of the wish.

The other half was "persistent commands", which means that the command should go on being active after you have placed the copy. With the previous copy selected, that would mean that you could for example go on placing chairs in a restaurant without having to select the command more than once. This is how it works in Microstation. When you're done with the command, you simply press Esc.

Now in AC9, you still have to re-select the command if you want to place several copies (multipy only works when you know how many copise you want and at what distance). This implementation is just a start. It gives you less zooming than before, and one click less, but it's not really good yet. (of course you CAN select the pet-palette Multiply option, but then you get this annoying dialog box to OK each time).

Microstation's command implementation is a little different. Most commands have icons in palettes (thanks Graphisoft, finally you can do your own toolbars/palettes. This is a HUGE THING)

But in Microstation, many commands work two ways. The copy command can work noun-verb wise like in Archicad (that is you can select the subject to be copied first). But they can also work the other verb-noun way (like i think in Autocad). If you select the command without any object selected, it allows you to select the object to copy after the command. In both cases, you can go on placing copies without ANY interruption, re-selection of command or subject or whatever. Very smooth.

And when you're finished, you Esc to abort the current operation. If you used noun-verb to start, the last copy remains selected with the Select arrow active for you to start another operation/command on it.

If you used verb-noun instead, an Esc deselects the last copy, but the command remains active and lets you select any other object to copy with one click and go on placing new copies of that one with subsequent clicks.

Microstation has some nicely polished details like this one. But remember I chose to go Archicad instead. Still, I miss some of these tricks!

Graphisoft, keep up the good work! It's not finished yet!

Re: Copy & Paste and objects remain selected in version

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Oct 2004 18:30:44 GMT

Thomas wrote:
The other half was "persistent commands", which means that the command should go on being active after you have placed the copy. With the previous copy selected, that would mean that you could for example go on placing chairs in a restaurant without having to select the command more than once. This is how it works in Microstation. When you're done with the command, you simply press Esc.

Thomas,

Are you unaware of the Option/Alt + Command/Control combination while dragging? Or is there something about it that doesn't work for you?

In case you are not using it yet, it is very cool and sounds like what you are looking for. Start to drag something and hit the option/alt key, this will switch to "Drag a Copy" and a little plus sign appears. If the command/control key is then hit (while the option/alt is still down) this becomes a command to drag multiple copies and two little plus signs appear. After placing the last copy, cancel or esc will terminate the process.

I just double checked in 9 and the multiple copies are all selected after hitting the esc key. This makes it especially easy to make multiple copies of the multiple copies. Very nice.

Re: Copy & Paste and objects remain selected in version

kevin b — Thu, 07 Oct 2004 18:45:27 GMT

Love the fact that the copy is selected, and yes the multiple copy thing is still available. My question is, can you have it so the copy is not selected? Some type of override key that keeps the original selected. There are a few cases where this is the preferred method, it would be nice if there were a choice of whether the originasl or the copy is selected.

Re: Copy & Paste and objects remain selected in version

Aussie John — Fri, 08 Oct 2004 04:32:44 GMT

If you want the element(s) to be selected after they are moved, do the following;

select the element(s), command D, press option and hit enter TWICE (or one mouse click). You now have a copy that is selected. command D or ( directly drag) to move to new location and apply what ever other transformations you need.

Re: Copy & Paste and objects remain selected in version

Thomas Holm — Fri, 08 Oct 2004 08:14:47 GMT

Matthew, I'm no expert like you. I have to admit (blushing) that I wasn't aware of this. It's of course a HUGE enhancement to AC7, in which I worked until a couple of weeks ago.

But still. This way I have to remember key combinations, I have to use both hands like in Autocad of old, and I have to remember the right order to click on things to make it work. As an example of the mistakes possible, when i was testing your suggestion, I by mistake started by command-clicking a line. The line of course disappeared, because this is the shortcut for Trim.

If you think about what I described of how Microstation works, you might see what I mean. The dual functionality (verb-noun and noun-verb) lets you click away one-handedly without thinking too much. It just works.

Microstation has many drawbacks, but there are things for Graphisoft too look at, like this detail. Also: great use of multi-threading (on 68K Macs!), several customizable simultaneously active windows/views on the model, and non-modal dialogs wherever possible. 'Nuff said. I wouldn't buy it today, but in the early nineties, they had good programmers.

Re: Copy & Paste and objects remain selected in version

Djordje — Fri, 08 Oct 2004 09:11:36 GMT

kevin wrote:
My question is, can you have it so the copy is not selected? Some type of override key that keeps the original selected. There are a few cases where this is the preferred method, it would be nice if there were a choice of whether the originasl or the copy is selected.

Yes.

Re: Copy & Paste and objects remain selected in version

kevin b — Fri, 08 Oct 2004 12:14:27 GMT

Thanks, I saw that too. But that's not what I'm looking for. I like the new method, I just want to be able to override it every once in a while. What I was looking for was something that would let you switch on the fly. A key combination or something that lets you choose whether you want the copy selected or the original each time. Or maybe not that you have to chose each time but a key combination or whatever that lets you override the default.

Re: Copy & Paste and objects remain selected in version

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Oct 2004 15:25:44 GMT

Thomas wrote,

The copy command can
work noun-verb wise like in Archicad (that is you can select the
subject to be copied first). But they can also work the other
verb-noun way (like i think in Autocad). If you select the command
without any object selected, it allows you to select the object to
copy after the command

Data CAd uses a similar "verb-noun" methodology. Having both methods available would be ideal. A classic example is that you could choose a distance and direction to copy elements, and each element selected after issuing that command will be copied that distance and direction. This can be useful when selection of the elements to copy is cumbersome to do in a single step.