Selection - Essential Skill Video

Learn how to use the Modify tool to select elements in a model.

Why Understanding How to Select Elements is Important

The Modify tool enables selection. You can create selection sets by picking one element at a time or by drawing a window to select several elements. When elements are selected, a contextual tab of tools displays on the ribbon, and related options display on the Options Bar. Properties of the selected elements are displayed and can be changed on the Properties palette. The Modify tool can also be used to end the active command, for example, if the Wall tool is selected, clicking Modify ends the Wall command makes the Modify tool active.

Learning Objective

In this video, you will learn how to:

• Locate and use the Modify tool to select elements.
• Locate the Selection Options on the Modify tool drop-down.
• Use the Tab key to select elements that are in the same position on the screen.
• Select elements with crossing and containing windows.

Terms and Concepts

Term/Concept	Definition
Modify	This is the default active tool. When the cursor displays as a typical mouse pointer (arrow), the Modify tool is active. The Modify tool must be active to select elements in the model. Access the Modify tool from the first tab of every ribbon, by clicking a blank space in the drawing area, or by pressing the Esc key. You can also use the Modify tool to end the active command.
Edge/Face Selection	If the "Select elements by face" option for the Modify tool is not selected, you must place the cursor over an element edge, and click to select the element. The faces of elements are not selectable. For example, a wall cannot be selected by picking the face of the wall. The cursor must be at the top or bottom edge or one of the end edges of the wall for it to be selected. If the option "Select elements by face" is selected for the Modify tool, move the cursor over the face of an element in the project, and click to select it.
Tab Selection	When selecting elements, you can press Tab to cycle through the possible selection candidates near the cursor. If any chains of connected elements are near the cursor, they will be included as candidates, allowing you to select all of the elements in the chain at once.
Shift and Ctrl	Hold down the Ctrl key while selecting elements to add to the selection set, and hold down the shift key while selecting to remove items from the selection set.
Window Selection	When the Modify tool is active, click and drag the mouse to window-select elements. Window selection boxes drawn from left to right have solid borders and select elements completely contained in the window. Window selection boxes drawn from right to left have dashed borders, and select elements contained within the window and elements crossing the border of the window.

Video