One of the things I am asked a lot is the ability to filter a Select set. This sort of question generally comes from a person that has used REVIT.
So it would be nice to have a filter option assigned to the Element Selection tool , where the users can then deselect items based on what is already selected. REVIT does this very well ie element sensitive.
I know we sort of have this already, but it is not perfect ie you can see double items based on active file, reference files and cells. we should also have a clear understanding of where the elements are stored ie a plus symbol for the three types i have listed above.
At the moment it is hit ans miss
Ian
Robert Jones 3 months ago
Hi Ian,
Not sure if I understand you correctly - but you can select/deselect types of element from the selection tool setting box.
1. Use the select tool to grab many elements
2. Expand the Element Selection Tool Settings dialog and choose the Elements tab (or any of the other tabs you wan tto filter by)
3. Click on items in the list to unselect them or
4. Hold "CTRL" or "Shift" to modify the clicking behaviour or use the + - options at the top to add/remove/invert additional elements.
I guess this dialog could be made a bit more intuitive by adding check boxes next to each element type. It could also include options to include/exclude elements in references, or within cells.
I also am a fan of the using the Explorer Advanced Search tool for this kind of selection by properties approach, however the criteria dialog for this tool is quite a large (I mean complete...) dialog and maybe the method of selecting elements in the Element Selection tool settings could be made into a kind of shortcut to building search criteria. I would definitely like to see it include a "criteria from selected element" or "select similar" option but I think that has already been asked for in another post.
I would also like to see some feed back in the explorer listing the elements in the current selection. ie an extra category in the explorer that lists the selected elements. Sort of what you get at the top of the Properties dialog (but just listing the selection not each elements properties) - currently the Properties box seems to be a massive bottle neck in speed when it is open/active and reading the properties of many elements at the same time. I used to have it open all the time now I tend to keep it closed because an over zealous selection can lock up your MicroStation very easily while it computes all the properties for all the selected elements.
Regards
Robert