Selection Bar
The Selection Bar is a toolbar that provides enhanced tools for selecting surfaces on the canvas. Use it when you need to select many faces or pockets for a toolpath operation, especially on complex models where clicking faces one at a time is slow.
You can open the Selection Bar from the Select menu on the Manufacture workspace toolbar, or from an operation dialog when you select geometry with the Face Contours or Pockets selection method. When you open it from an operation dialog, the dialog minimizes to free up the canvas.
Selection tools
The Selection Bar offers three ways to select surfaces:
Window Selection selects surfaces inside a rectangle that you drag on the canvas. The drag direction controls whether it selects only surfaces entirely inside the rectangle or every surface the rectangle touches.
Freeform Selection selects surfaces inside a shape that you draw on the canvas. The drawing direction controls whether it selects only surfaces inside the boundary or every surface the boundary crosses.
Paint Selection selects surfaces as you move the pointer across them while holding the left mouse button.
Each tool also has a keyboard shortcut, so you can switch between them without leaving the canvas.
Hiding tools
On complex models, surfaces in front can block the ones you want to select. The Selection Bar includes tools that hide surfaces, so you can work on one area at a time.
The hiding tools that appear on the Selection Bar depend on the Hide behaviour (Selection Bar) setting, on the General page in Preferences:
| Setting | Hiding tools | How hiding works |
|---|---|---|
| Immediate hide (default) | Hide Objects | Turn on Hide Objects, then click surfaces to hide them. Turn it off to return to selecting surfaces. |
| Selection-based hide | Hide Selected and Hide Unselected | Select surfaces first, then click Hide Selected or Hide Unselected to hide them. |
Selection Bar with Immediate hide
Selection Bar with Selection-based hide
With either setting, the Selection Bar also includes these tools:
Hide Unselectable hides surfaces that you can't select.
Invert Hidden switches the visibility of hidden and visible surfaces.
Show Hidden shows all hidden surfaces.
Management tools
Other tools let you invert the selection, undo and redo selection actions, and clear all selections. Selection Filters control which object types you can select and provide options that affect selection behavior. When you finish, you apply your changes to close the Selection Bar.