Search Sets
Search sets help you find and reuse groups of model objects based on property criteria in Autodesk Forma, for use in repeatable workflows such as object selection and model filtering.
- What are Search Sets
- Building Search Set Queries
- Open the Search Sets Panel
- Search Sets Permissions
- Limitations
What are Search Sets
Search sets are saved queries that scan model data and return objects matching your criteria. You can define the queries using basic or advanced filters in the viewer. These include model properties such as category, type, system, and length, dependent on the object-level data in your models and views.
Search sets are accessible in a dedicated panel in the viewer, and are available at the project level. From the panel, you can select and highlight model objects that match one or more search sets, edit and manage existing search sets, import search sets from other projects, and create new search sets. In addition, search sets can be accessed in the Model Browser panel in the viewer for use as filters.
Building Search Set Queries
Search sets use the basic and advanced filter functionality that is also available in the Model Browser panel in the viewer. They can be created based on basic model object properties such as:
- Disciplines
- Categories
- Family
- Type
- Model name
- System or assembly
- Numeric values such as diameter, length, or thickness
In addition, the advanced filters let you create more customized rules based on properties, operators, and values, which can be combined using the logical conditions AND or OR. See Model Browser for more information.
When building advanced queries, you can also:
- Group rules together to build more complex queries.
- Reorder rules by dragging them.
Open the Search Sets Panel
- In Autodesk Forma, open a model in the viewer.
- Click the Search sets icon
at the bottom left of the navigation toolbar. This opens the Search sets panel.
Use the panel to work with and manage search sets:
Search - Click the search icon and then type in the search field to find search sets by name.
Import - Click the import icon to open the Import search sets dialog. From here you can import search sets from other projects.
Sort - Click the sort icon to access options to sort the search sets list alphanumerically or by date created.- Search sets list - A list of all the available search sets in the project. Use the
more menu next to a search set to access options to edit, rename, and delete it, and the information icon to see its details. - Create search set - Click the Create search set button to switch the Search sets panel to creation mode.
See Create, Import, and Use Search Sets and Edit and Delete Search Sets for more information.
Search Sets Permissions
Project members must have at least View permission for the folder to work with search sets.
| Capability | Creator | Non-creator | Project Admin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Create and save | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Import | No | No | Yes |
| Save as new | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| View criteria | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Apply (filter/select) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Delete | Yes | No | Yes |
Limitations
- You can only use a maximum of 100 rules per search set.
- Search set names can only contain up to 64 characters.
- Search sets are currently public, available to all project members with the required permissions.
- Multiple search sets can't be combined into a single search set.
- You can't edit the query criteria of an existing search set. Instead, use the Save as new option to create a new search set.