Obtain the PickFirst Selection Set (.NET)

The PickFirst selection set is created when you select objects prior to starting a command. Several conditions must be present in order to obtain the objects of a PickFirst selection set, these conditions are:

• PICKFIRST system variable must be set to 1
• UsePickSet command flag must be defined with the command that should use the PickFirst selection set
• Call the SelectImplied method to obtain the PickFirst selection set

The SetImpliedSelection method is used to clear the current PickFirst selection set.

Get the Pickfirst selection set

This example displays the number of objects in the PickFirst selection set and then requests the user to select additional objects. Before requesting the user to select objects, the current PickFirst selection set is cleared with the SetImpliedSelection method.

VB.NET

Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime
Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices
Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices
Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.EditorInput
 
<CommandMethod("CheckForPickfirstSelection", CommandFlags.UsePickSet)> _
Public Sub CheckForPickfirstSelection()
    '' Get the current document
    Dim acDocEd As Editor = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor

    '' Get the PickFirst selection set
    Dim acSSPrompt As PromptSelectionResult
    acSSPrompt = acDocEd.SelectImplied()

    Dim acSSet As SelectionSet

    '' If the prompt status is OK, objects were selected before 
    '' the command was started
    If acSSPrompt.Status = PromptStatus.OK Then
        acSSet = acSSPrompt.Value

        Application.ShowAlertDialog("Number of objects in Pickfirst selection: " & _
                                    acSSet.Count.ToString())
    Else
        Application.ShowAlertDialog("Number of objects in Pickfirst selection: 0")
    End If

    '' Clear the PickFirst selection set
    Dim idarrayEmpty() As ObjectId
    acDocEd.SetImpliedSelection(idarrayEmpty)

    '' Request for objects to be selected in the drawing area
    acSSPrompt = acDocEd.GetSelection()

    '' If the prompt status is OK, objects were selected
    If acSSPrompt.Status = PromptStatus.OK Then
        acSSet = acSSPrompt.Value

        Application.ShowAlertDialog("Number of objects selected: " & _
                                    acSSet.Count.ToString())
    Else
        Application.ShowAlertDialog("Number of objects selected: 0")
    End If
End Sub

C#

using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.EditorInput;
 
[CommandMethod("CheckForPickfirstSelection", CommandFlags.UsePickSet)]
public static void CheckForPickfirstSelection()
{
    // Get the current document
    Editor acDocEd = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor;

    // Get the PickFirst selection set
    PromptSelectionResult acSSPrompt;
    acSSPrompt = acDocEd.SelectImplied();

    SelectionSet acSSet;

    // If the prompt status is OK, objects were selected before
    // the command was started
    if (acSSPrompt.Status == PromptStatus.OK)
    {
        acSSet = acSSPrompt.Value;

        Application.ShowAlertDialog("Number of objects in Pickfirst selection: " +
                                    acSSet.Count.ToString());
    }
    else
    {
        Application.ShowAlertDialog("Number of objects in Pickfirst selection: 0");
    }

    // Clear the PickFirst selection set
    ObjectId[] idarrayEmpty = new ObjectId[0];
    acDocEd.SetImpliedSelection(idarrayEmpty);

    // Request for objects to be selected in the drawing area
    acSSPrompt = acDocEd.GetSelection();

    // If the prompt status is OK, objects were selected
    if (acSSPrompt.Status == PromptStatus.OK)
    {
        acSSet = acSSPrompt.Value;

        Application.ShowAlertDialog("Number of objects selected: " +
                                    acSSet.Count.ToString());
    }
    else
    {
        Application.ShowAlertDialog("Number of objects selected: 0");
    }
}

VBA/ActiveX Code Reference

Sub CheckForPickfirstSelection()
    ' Get the Pickfirst selection set
    Dim acSSet As AcadSelectionSet
    Set acSSet = ThisDrawing.PickfirstSelectionSet
 
    ' Display the number of selected objects
    MsgBox "Number of objects in Pickfirst selection set: " & acSSet.Count
 
    ' Create a new selection set
    Dim acSSetUser As AcadSelectionSet
    Set acSSetUser = ThisDrawing.SelectionSets.Add("User")
 
    ' Select objects in the drawing
    acSSetUser.SelectOnScreen
 
    ' Display the number of selected objects
    MsgBox "Number of objects selected: " & acSSetUser.Count
    ' Remove the new named selection set
    acSSetUser.Delete
End Sub