Fills take a back seat

[Anonymous]

Does anyone else thinks that fills should not be the priority element selected.
When trying to select the endpoint of a line, that also happens to be the corner of the fill a dimension will attach itself to the fill.
Also if i want to extend an unselected line with the apple + click shortcut AC will beep at me because its selecting the fill, not the line.
I think this is backwards, and i should have to purposely select a fill, not purposely select lines etc.

[Barry Kelly]

Fine for you but others may well want the fill to be chosen first.
Can't please everyone.

Don't forget you can "TAB" on multiple elements when selecting or dimensioning so you get exactly what you want.
You should see the element you want highlight (you don't say what version you use - this highlighting didn't happen some versions ago but has since at least version 10).

Also when selecting if you only want the lines then activate the line tool and press "Shift" while selecting (I am sure that is the same on a Mac as on a PC).
That way you will only get lines.
And you can still use TAB if there are multiple lines.

Same applies for fills or any other type of element.

Barry.

[Anonymous]

i think you missed my point, which is easy to do.
does anyone draw with fills? or are they a latter addition? so why should they be the first thing selected why clicking on a line/fill edge?

I think the dimension example highlights it best. Wouldn't it be easier if AC picked up lines etc before fills, so we don't have to press tab for every dimension point that shares a fill.

You're right though, if it was different then i'd be saying 'select the fill', but at the same time its easy to select the fill with the magnet.

I guess i see this as a speed issue/having to work on my selections as a distraction.

[Barry Kelly]

There is a hierarchy for the display order of the elements regardless of the layers they are in.

Quote from the help file .....

Display Order
When drawing a Project with ArchiCAD, overlapping elements will be drawn according to a specified stacking order. By default, elements are stacked in an order typically used in architectural drawings.
By default, stacking order is determined by element classes, of which there are six. Regardless of the sequence in which elements are placed, those in the first class will be placed in the foreground, second class in the level behind it, and so on.

The element classes are in descending order of class:
1) Annotation (Text, Labels, all Dimension types, Zone Stamps)

2) 2D artwork (Lines, Circles, Splines, Hotspots)

3) Library Parts (Objects, Lamps, Stairs)

4) 3D structures (Walls, Beams, Slabs, Doors, Windows, Columns, Roofs, Meshes)

5) 2D polygons (Fills, Zone Polygons)

6) Figures

It seems the selecting and dimensioning of these elements is in reverse order - from the lowest level up.

If you change the display order of an element then the order in which it is selected/dimensioned is also changed.

But it would be a pain to select all of you lines and bring them to the front just to dimension them first.
Using the TAB feature would be easier than this.

But even easier still is by isolating layers.
If you happen to draw your fills in one layer and the lines in another then turn off the layers you don't need so you dimension exactly what you want first go.
I do this when dimensioning walls all the time.

But maybe an easier solution would be if as a user you could specify the dislay order you want the elements to go in by default.
Maybe you could make a wish for this and you never know what could happen in five years or so.

Barry.

[Anonymous]

When you first select the tool that you want to select elements from it is easier to select. So in your case, select the Line Tool and than start selecting. AC will give preferences to selecting lines first.

[Laszlo Nagy]

Master wrote:
When you first select the tool that you want to select elements from it is easier to select. So in your case, select the Line Tool and than start selecting. AC will give preferences to selecting lines first.

He is talking about Dimensioning and which element type is highlighted with the preselection highlight when inputting points to dimension. So if a given node is the node of both a Line and a Fill, the Dimension Tool should first offer to dimension the Line not the Fill.

I agree that in this case Linear Elements should take precedence over Fills.
Using TAB to change that is a way to go for now but this is a subtlety that would add to the intuitiveness of the application.

Scott, you could make a wish for this.
Just explain it very well and attach a screenshot.