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Michael BeallFrom: AutoCAD Productivity Articles #125
Originally published: May 2013

Selection Options & A2014 Improvements

by Michael Beall

By default…

If you pick air and go right, you create a Window (a solid blue box). It will select only those objects completely within the window.

Selection window

If you pick air and go left, you create a Crossing window (a dashed green box). It will select anything the dashed box crosses, as well as anything inside the resulting window.

Crossing window

Significant AutoCAD 2014 Improvement

Notice in the figures that the objects which will be selected are highlighted BEFORE committing to the second corner! I love this!

Additional Selection Options

The following options hold true for any editing command requiring object selection. Any of these options may be entered at the "Select objects:" prompt…

  • Fence is a crossing line which selects objects crossed by the fence after you press <Enter>.

  • WPolygon selects all entities within the boundaries of a polygon created by points you input.

  • CPolygon selects all entities within or touching the boundaries of an irregular polygon.

  • Last selects the "youngest" object (singular) displayed.

  • Previous selection set.

  • Use Shift + Pick to deselect object(s).

  • ALL selects all entities within your drawing whether or not they are visible on your display.

Note Regarding Selecting Wide Polylines and TrueType Fonts

When selecting a wide polyline or text using a TrueType font such as Arial, pick the edge of the object, not the middle.

Wide polylines

As shown in the figure, the ‘E’ is highlighted when you're on the edge of the character. The angled, red shape is the outline of a wide polyline with the variable FILL set to <OFF>.

Bottom line, the colorful middle of these objects is fluff; not tangible.

See all the articles published in May 2013

See this article in the May 2013 Corner

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