SHOW SELECTION IN MULTIPLE WINDOWS

[Anonymous]

is it possible to see something selected in plan (say) also shown selected in the associated 3d window, or section etc?

[Chazz]

I have frequently wanted this. In the old days (if I'm remembering correctly) if you selected something in 3D, and then move the view, only that selected element would be visible, which is not really what you are asking for.

Sometimes there are things that are just very hard to select in 2D and it would be easier to do it in 3D. OTOH, almost anything you'd need to do to an element in 2d, you can do in 3D.

[Anonymous]

Hi, Chazz,
Well, as a recent (and still occasional) AutoCAD ADT/Architect user, something selected in one view is shown selected in all views and this is extremely useful because, as you say, accurate selection is not always possible just in plan view. This should be added to Graphisoft's list of "things to do" in the next release.

Speaking of selection, one other thing that annoys the out of me is the absence of a distinction between marquee selection and crossing selection (ACAD style), so I'm forever selecting slabs, roofs or whatever, when all I want is the wall/door/window. Bloody annoying. I am not enjoying the transition one little bit.

[Chazz]

Actually AC does have sophisticated selection methods in 2D. You can use the Tab key to run through selection elements with overlapping hotspots or edges. Also, the new selection marque in AC 15 allows nice options for edges/hotspots depending of the direction the marquee is drawn out.

I never welcomed you to the forum. Welcome! Please include a sig so folks know your setup (machine type and software version). You can do this under the Profile link. Again, welcome.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Emile wrote:
the absence of a distinction between marquee selection and crossing selection (ACAD style)

To illustrate what Chazz is talking about concerning selection options, see the attached screenshot of the Info Box when the arrow tool is active. (Whatever options are set for the tool are also what are active if you press the Shift key while another tool is active to temporarily change to selection mode.)

Being able to drag down vs up as in autocad would have been a nice feature so that one didn't have to click a button to switch modes, but, who knows, maybe Autodesk patented the concept. 😉 At least you can do it.

Besides this, and Tab, which Chazz mentioned, learn to use the Find & Select tool including using it with the Marquee tool to limit the area of selection. In case you're not aware, each tool is like a mini-Find & Select in that ctrl-A/cmd-A will only select things made with that tool - and so if you have a marquee, and have the wall tool active, ctrl-A will only select walls inside the marquee.

Lots more than this - AC has surprisingly powerful selection methods. Just have to get used to them.

Cheers,
Karl

[Chazz]

Yup, forgot to mention Find & Select, an awesome feature that I use many times a day. As Karl will tell you, I'm as big of an AC basher as they come, but this is an area where I think the program really shines.

Selecting stuff in 2D when it is stacked on top of other junk is an inherently difficult problem but I think the AC solution is quite elegant once learned. I have also been very pleased with the improvements to the visual feedback you get when selecting various element types. Please hang in there and give it a chance.

[David Maudlin]

Emile:

In addition to the other comments, ArchiCAD will prefer to select the type of element of the currently selected tool in the Toolbox, so if you have a Wall and a Slab with coincident points or edges, select the desired element type in the Toolbox to make selection of the desired element easier.

David

[Anonymous]

and to add to David's point, don't forget to press the shift key to pre-select the element as you hover over the node.

[Anonymous]

Karl wrote:
Being able to drag down vs up as in autocad would have been a nice feature so that one didn't have to click a button to switch modes, but, who knows, maybe Autodesk patented the concept. 😉

But surely that's exactly what the third of the buttons does (introduced in Rel 14) , doesn't it? Or do I miss your meaning?

My particular gripe with selection is that there is no separate 'deselection'. Sometimes when I'm in a hurry and select too many elements by mistake, I end up selecting even more elements when trying to deselect the wrong ones. Quite often I press escape, zoom in and start over.

And my other gripe is that the 'select only items within window' doesn't exclude groups if one or more elements of the group lie within the window.