"Select Similar"

[Anonymous]

It would be great to have a feature like in 3ds Max, where you can select similiar objects to edit.

Right click "select similar"

[Karl Ottenstein]

That's exactly what Find&Select in ArchiCAD does... just not a single click, since it allows you to decide how similar - ranging from identical, to just similar in certain attributes. Seems more powerful than what you say 3DS Max has?

[sityu]

And with Alt+click you can fetch the desired object's properties into Find&Select.

[Anonymous]

Hello.
I am trying to select identical objects using the find and select tool, but I can't manage it. Can anybody explain it, step by step, please?
Thank you very much.

[Anonymous]

Karl wrote:
That's exactly what Find&Select in ArchiCAD does... just not a single click, since it allows you to decide how similar - ranging from identical, to just similar in certain attributes. Seems more powerful than what you say 3DS Max has?

HATEFUL way of selecting the nasty hobbitses! It's truly unfortunate that it takes MANY steps and still might not grab EXACTLY what you want. Selecting "similar" would go a long, long way toward improving this selection function. I like many things about this program BETTER than Revit (or AutoCAD--which isn't truly in the runnings), except for the (MAJOR) fact that I cannot, with a simple right-click-selection, select everything that is similar to the item I have grabbed initially. It's a productivity hinderer for the jobs in which I utilize this program. "Select Similar", in this way, is much more "powerful" than what ArchiCAD currently utilizes. Simplicity. That's all we need.

[Barry Kelly]

But how 'similar' is similar.
If you have a wall are you trying to select all walls, all walls in the same layer, walls with the same height or elevation, walls with the same composite or surface material.
This is exactly what Find & Select is for.
You set how 'similar' you want the match to be.

You don't even have to manually set the values you want.
Just choose the criteria you want to match by and then use either of the 2 buttons at the bottom right of the dialogue.
The first one allows you to ALT click on an element and all the criteria values will change to match that element.
Or the second button allows you to select an element in the model, press the button and again all the criteria values will change to match your selection.

I really can't imagine a better way to select similar items.
Except if you want ALL walls, activate the wall tool and press CTRL+A.

Barry.

[Anonymous]

I'd much rather simply right click and select similar to grab each of the same type of item. For instance all Foundation walls of that profile or all objects of that name or all windows of that type and size. It's not very simple to use the Find & Select features. Rarely does it grab truly similar items--no matter what criteria I give it--unless I want to take the time to add tons. Again, productivity is key. This Find & Select requires quite a bit of learning to even begin to figure out how best to use it. Select Similar, on the other hand, requires none. Not a bit. Similar≠everything on one level. That would better be served with an isolation tool which separates levels/layers as needed. Not something I need. That's much easier to figure out.

[Barry Kelly]

Sounds like you want to select all 'Identical' and not 'similar'.
Either way you still need to use Find & Select.
It really is pretty easy.
Choose just enough criteria for you to be able to get the selection you want.
2 or 3 criteria should be enough (wall, composite, layer).
But you can choose more criteria if you want (height or even a range of heights or < or > height)

Once you have the criteria set up you can save it for use again later.
You can also export the criteria set and then import it into any other file.

Barry.

[Anonymous]

I am trying to do this and it beggars belief that there is not something like the right click option to select similar. ArchiCAD seems to have no focus on workflow and drawing efficiency - totally gobsmacked by how clunky and unfriendly the program is. Time is money and workflow must be the priority in professional software.

[Barry Kelly]

James wrote:
I am trying to do this and it beggars belief that there is not something like the right click option to select similar. ArchiCAD seems to have no focus on workflow and drawing efficiency - totally gobsmacked by how clunky and unfriendly the program is. Time is money and workflow must be the priority in professional software.

I can see you also want a 'Select all identical' option.
The problem is if a wall is just a slightly different height or it is trimmed by a roof, does it count as identical or not - it is the same type of wall in the same layer and the same storey.

That is why Archicad has 'Find & Select' as shown in the previous posts.
You have to tell Archicad how 'similar' you want your selection to be.
Otherwise how does it know if you want walls of the same type, same height, same storey, same layer, etc.

If you just want to select all walls, then activate the wall tool and press CTRL+A.
Or you can right click on an element before you select it, choose 'Select and Activate Tool' and then press CTRL+A (one extra step to what you want).


Barry.