How to Use Selection Methods in BricsCAD

Quick answer: With PICKFIRST on, you can build a selection set before launching a modification command; with it off, you’re prompted to select entities after launching the command instead, the same pre-pick/post-pick distinction covered on this hub’s entity selection page. SELECTIONCYCLING, SELECTIONPREVIEW, and PREVIEWEFFECT all facilitate the selection process, while SELECTIONPREVIEWFILTER excludes certain entities from being selected at all: those on locked layers, in Xrefs, tables, MTexts, hatches, or groups.

Composing a Selection Before a Command (Pre-Pick)

• Click entities directly; selected entities highlight and show grips.
• Area selection: click to define the first corner, then drag left for a Crossing area (green dashed by default; selects anything overlapping or fully inside), or drag right for a Window area (blue solid by default; selects only entities fully inside).
• On 3D solids and surfaces, hold Ctrl during window selection to select faces or edges instead of the whole entity. The cursor icon shows the current mode: Solids (default), Faces, Edges, or Edges Sheet Metal side (available in the Hotkey Assistant widget only within a sheet metal context, letting you select several flanges’ edges on a particular side of the model at once). With HOTKEYASSISTANT on, the widget indicates the current mode.
• Hold Shift and use any of the above methods to remove entities from the selection instead of adding them.

A few more things worth knowing: the Selection Area system variables control how the area selection effect displays. With PICKADD off, you can’t add entities to a selection set at all. Press and hold the left mouse button to start a window selection once the entity under the cursor highlights, especially useful for window selection in rendered 3D models. You can only select vertices of 3D solids if bitcode 8 of SELECTIONMODES is set, the same requirement covered on the entity selection page. And lasso selections work if bitcode 4 or higher of PICKAUTO is set.

Composing a Selection After a Command (Post-Pick)

Launch a modification command with no active selection, and you’re prompted to select entities using any of these methods:

• Add to set / Subtract from set: adds or removes entities from the selection.
• Picking: place the pick-box over part of an entity and click.
• Select all entities: selects everything in the drawing, including entities on hidden layers, but not entities on frozen layers.
• Previous selection: reuses the previous selection set.
• Last entity in drawing: selects the most recently created entity.
• Window: selects entities inside, overlapping, or entirely outside a window, using a rectangle, polygon, or circle shape.
• Fence: selects every entity crossed by a multi-segment line.
• Point: click inside a closed entity to select whatever encloses that point.
• Select by Properties: opens a context menu to select by Color, Layer, Linetype, Name, Thickness, Type, Value, Width, or Handle.
• Undo: undoes the last selection action.
• Location: opens the Select Location context menu.

Selecting Overlapping and Obscured Entities

When entities sit on top of or are obscured by others, cycling through them one by one makes selection easier. Vertices of 3D solids only join this cycling process if bitcode 8 of SELECTIONMODES is set.

Selection dialog box method (SELECTIONCYCLING set to 2, with the Quad cursor menu active via QUADDISPLAY):

1. Hover over the overlapping entities; a badge appears, and the topmost entity highlights.
2. Click; a dialog lists the entities from front to back (clicking away without selecting defaults to the top entity).
3. Optionally hold Ctrl to also list subentities in the dialog.
4. Click the entity or subentity you want, then click Close or move the cursor away (Ctrl-click and Shift-click both work for multiple selections; QUADHIDEDELAY controls how long the dialog stays visible).
5. Repeat to select more.

SELECTIONPREVIEW method (set to 1 or 3, with ROLLOVERTIPS on, the same behaviour covered on this hub’s Rollover Tips page):

1. Hover over the overlapping entities; one highlights.
2. Press Tab repeatedly to cycle through them one by one (don’t move the mouse while doing this, or the cycling order restarts; hold Shift to cycle in reverse).
3. Click when the one you want highlights.
4. Repeat to select more.

Selecting Visible Subentities

This applies when SELECTIONCYCLING isn’t set to 2 (toggle it with Ctrl+W), and lets you select subentities of compound entities like polylines, 3D polylines, regions, and 3D solids.

1. Hover over the entity; the whole thing highlights.
2. Hold Ctrl; the specific subentity under the cursor highlights instead.
3. Click it; its properties display in the Properties panel.
4. Optionally repeat to select more subentities.

Selectable subentities include polyline segments, 3D polyline vertices and segments, and vertices, edges, and faces of regions, surfaces, meshes, and 3D solids.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I build a selection before running a command, or do I always have to select afterward? Depends on PICKFIRST. With it on, you can pre-pick; with it off, you’re prompted to select after launching the command.

Does Select all entities pick up everything, even hidden layers? Yes, including entities on hidden layers, but not entities on frozen layers.

How do I select just a face or an edge of a 3D solid instead of the whole thing? Hold Ctrl during window selection; the cursor icon shows whether you’re in Solids, Faces, or Edges mode.

What’s the difference between the two methods for selecting overlapping entities? The selection dialog box method (SELECTIONCYCLING = 2) lists every overlapping entity in a dialog you click through. The SELECTIONPREVIEW method instead has you press Tab to cycle highlighting between them directly in the drawing.