Selecting groups and their members

Model objects can belong to one or more groups. Often the group object is automatically selected when one of its members is selected, but in some situations you might want to specifically select the group object, either with or without its members.

Select groups

In the Select Groups dialog, you can define a selection set by selecting one or more groups. The resulting set can consist of groups, subgroups, and/or model objects, as defined in the dialog. The dialog opens automatically when the user is required to make a group-based selection, but it can also be opened with the Select by… Group (G) command during any pick action.

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Do the following:

1. When the Select Groups dialog opens, the left pane lists the group definitions of the object that is currently behind the cursor. You can click a column header to arrange the list based on that column. If you need more information about the groups than is currently visible, click Columns and select which columns to show in the list panes.

2. You can use these filtering settings to find the group or groups you are looking for:

   • Group type – Select a group type from the drop-down menu to show only groups of that type in the group list or "All" to see all groups.

   • Ignore empty groups – Select this option if you want to hide groups that have no members.

     Note: If you select this option and still see groups with no members, the reason is probably that the members of those groups are not covered by your design area and therefore not visible to you.

   • Search – You can filter the group list by typing a search string. Only groups whose name contains the filter string are shown.

3. If you want to see the model objects that particular groups contain, select the groups from the left pane and click Browse. This opens a shaded 3D view that shows the model objects; press Esc or click the view to return to the selection dialog.

   Tip: You can open the view also by pressing Alt+P, Ctrl+P, or Backspace.

4. Add the groups that you want to use in the selection to the right pane:

   • Add, Remove – Use these buttons to move groups from one list pane to another.

   • Pick to Selection – You can select a group definition from a model object: activate this command, pick a model object and press Enter to see a list of groups it belongs to, and select the required group from the list.

5. Define what to include from the groups that you have added to the right pane:

   • Select:

     • Both group and members – This option selects the main group and all its members, including the subgroups of the main group. If you want also the members of the subgroups to be included, select the additional subgroup option.

     • Only groups – This option selects the main group but not its members. If you want also the subgroups (of all hierarchy levels) to be included, select the additional subgroup option.

     • Only members – This option selects all the members of the main group, including the subgroups of the main group, but not the main group itself. If you want also the members of the subgroups to be selected, select the additional subgroup option.

   • Select also content from subgroups – Select this option if you want also the members (model objects and groups) of any subgroups to be included in the set.

6. If you want to see the model objects that are now included in the set, click Preview selection. This opens a shaded 3D view that shows the model objects; press Esc or click the view to return to the selection dialog.

7. Select the option Remember filter settings if you want the current group name filters and the state of the subgroup option to be applied the next time you open this dialog.

8. Click OK to accept the selection set.

Related Topics

Groups