Manual AutoCAD-Ch03

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AutoCAD Display and BasicSelection Operations

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THE ZOOM COMMANDThe ability to magnify details in a drawing or demagnify the drawing to see it in itsentirety is a function of the ZOOM command. It does not take much for a drawing tobecome very busy, complicated, or dense when displayed in the drawing editor. There-fore, use the ZOOM command to work on details or view different parts of the drawing.One way to select the options of this command is from the View pull-down menu asshown in Figure 3–1. Choosing Zoom displays the various options of the ZOOM com-mand. These options include zooming in real time, zooming the previous display,using a window to define a boxed area to zoom to, dynamic zooming, zooming to auser-defined scale factor, zooming based on a center point and a scale factor, or per-forming routine operations such as zooming in or out, zooming all, or zooming theextents of the drawing. All of these modes will be discussed in the pages that follow.

Figure 3–1

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A second way to choose options of the ZOOM command is through the Standard toolbararea at the top of the display screen. Figure 3–2 shows a series of buttons that performvarious options of the ZOOM command. Four main buttons initially appear in theStandard toolbar, namely Realtime PAN, Realtime ZOOM, ZOOM-Window, andZOOM-Previous. Pressing down on the ZOOM-Window option displays a seriesof additional zoom option buttons that cascade down. See Figure 3–2 for the mean-ing of each button. Click on the button to perform the desired zoom operation.

Figure 3–2

Figure 3–3 shows a third method of performing ZOOM command options using thededicated Zoom floating toolbar. This toolbar contains the same buttons found inthe Standard toolbar; it differs in the fact that the toolbar in Figure 3–3 can be movedto different positions around the display screen. You can also activate the ZOOM commandfrom the keyboard by entering either ZOOM or the letter Z, which is its command alias.

Figure 3–3

151AutoCAD Display and Selection Operations

Figure 3–4 is a complex drawing of a part that consists of all required orthographic views.To work on details of this and other drawings, use the ZOOM command to magnify ordemagnify the display screen. The following are the options of the ZOOM command:

Command: Z (For ZOOM)Specify corner of window, enter a scale factor (nX or nXP), or[All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window] <real time>: (enter one of the

listed options)

Executing the ZOOM command and picking a blank part of the screen places you inautomatic ZOOM-Window mode. Selecting another point zooms in to the speci-fied area. Refer to the following command sequence to use this mode of the ZOOM

command on the object illustrated in Figure 3–4.

Command: Z (For ZOOM)Specify corner of window, enter a scale factor (nX or nXP), or[All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window] <real time>: (Mark a point

at “A”)Other corner: (Mark a point at “B”)

Figure 3–4

The ZOOM-Window option is automatically invoked once you select a blank partof the screen and then pick a second point. The resulting magnified portion of thescreen appears in Figure 3–5.

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Figure 3–5

ZOOMING IN REAL TIMEA powerful option of the ZOOM command is performing screen magnifications ordemagnifications in real time. This is the default option of the command. Issuing theRealtime option of the ZOOM command displays a magnifying glass icon with a posi-tive sign and a negative sign above the magnifier icon. Identify a blank part of thedrawing editor, press down the Pick button of the mouse (the left mouse button), andmove in an upward direction to zoom in to the drawing in real time. Identify a blankpart of the drawing editor, press down the Pick button of the mouse, and move in adownward direction to zoom out of the drawing in real time. Use the following com-mand sequence and see also Figure 3–6.

Command: Z (For ZOOM)Specify corner of window, enter a scale factor (nX or nXP), or[All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window] <real time>: (Press ENTER to

accept Realtime as the default)

Identify the lower portion of the drawing editor, press and hold down the Pick buttonof the mouse, and move the Realtime cursor up; notice the image zooming in.

Once you are in the Realtime mode of the ZOOM command, press the right mousebutton to activate the shortcut menu shown in Figure 3–7. Use this menu to switchbetween Realtime ZOOM and Realtime PAN, which gives you the ability to panacross the screen in real time. The ZOOM Window, Original (Previous), and Ex-tents options are also available in the cursor menu in Figure 3–7.


Figure 3–6

Figure 3–7

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USING AERIAL VIEW ZOOMINGAnother dynamic way of performing zooms is through the Aerial View option, whichis selected from the View pull-down menu in Figure 3–8. Choosing Aerial Viewactivates a dialog box in the lower right corner of the screen displaying a smallerimage of the total drawing (see Figure 3–9). You create a window inside the AerialView dialog box, which performs the zoom operation in the background of the mainAutoCAD screen.

Figure 3–8

Figure 3–9

The first time you click inside the Aerial View image, a box similar to Figure 3–10Aappears. This box represents the current zoom window. Notice that, as you move thisbox around, your drawing pans to different locations of the screen. The trick to per-


forming zooms with this box is to make it smaller— by single-clicking on the leftmouse button, your pick button. When you perform this operation, the box changesto an image of a new box as in Figure 3–10B. An arrow is present along the right edgeof the rectangular box. Single-clicking the pick button of the mouse allows you toincrease or decrease the size of the rectangle. Making the box smaller zooms in to thedrawing. Single-clicking again with the pick button of the mouse returns the rect-angle to the image illustrated in Figure 3–10C. Here the rectangle is smaller; as youmove the rectangle around the screen, you can notice the magnified image panningaround in the background. To complete the operation, right-click the mouse buttonto anchor the small rectangle to the image in the Aerial View dialog box.

Figure 3–10A Figure 3–10B Figure 3–10C

In Figure 3–11, a small rectangular box has been created in the Aerial View dialogbox. The current position of this rectangle in the drawing is displayed in the back-ground of the main AutoCAD screen. Right-clicking the mouse button makes therectangular box stationary in the Aerial View dialog box, as in Figure 3–12. This freesyou up to activate the main AutoCAD screen and work on your drawing in its zoomed-in state.

Figure 3–11

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Figure 3–12

USING ZOOM-ALLAnother option of the ZOOM command is All. Use this option to zoom to the currentlimits of the drawing as set by the LIMITS command. In fact, right after the limits of adrawing have been changed, issuing a ZOOM-All updates the drawing file to reflectthe latest screen size. To use the ZOOM-All option, refer to the following com-mand sequence.

Command: Z (For ZOOM)Specify corner of window, enter a scale factor (nX or nXP), or[All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window] <real time>: A (For All)

In Figure 3–13A, the top illustration shows a zoomed-in portion of a part. Use theZOOM-All option to zoom to the drawing’s current limits in Figure 3–13B.

Figure 3–13A Figure 3–13B


USING ZOOM-CENTERThe ZOOM-Center option allows you to specify a new display based on a selectedcenter point (see Figure 3–14). A window height controls whether the image on thedisplay screen is magnified or demagnified. If a smaller value is specified for themagnification or height, the magnification of the image is increased (you zoom in tothe object). If a larger value is specified for the magnification or height, the imagegets smaller, or a ZOOM-Out is performed (see Figure 3–14).

Try It! Open the drawing file 03_Zoom Center. Follow the illustrations and com-mand sequence below to perform a zoom based on a center point.

Command: Z (For ZOOM)Specify corner of window, enter a scale factor (nX or nXP), or[All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window] <real time>: C (For Center)Center point: (Mark a point at the center of circle “A” shown in Figure 3–14)Magnification or Height <7.776>: 2

Figure 3–14

USING ZOOM-EXTENTSThe left image of the pump in Figure 3–15 reflects a ZOOM-All operation. Use thisoption to display the entire drawing area based on the drawing limits even if the objectsthat make up the image appear small. Instead of performing a zoom based on thedrawing limits, ZOOM-Extents uses the extents of the image on the display screen toperform the zoom. The right image in Figure 3–15 shows the largest possible imagedisplayed as a result of using the ZOOM command and the Extents option.

Try It! Open the drawing file 03_Zoom Extents. Follow the illustrations and com-mand sequence below to perform a zoom based on the drawing limits (All) and theobjects in the drawing (Extents).

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Command: Z (For ZOOM)Specify corner of window, enter a scale factor (nX or nXP), or[All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window] <real time>: A (For All)

Command: Z (For ZOOM)Specify corner of window, enter a scale factor (nX or nXP), or[All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window] <real time>: E (For Extents)

Figure 3–15

USING ZOOM-WINDOWThe ZOOM-Window option allows you to specify the area to be magnified by mark-ing two points representing a rectangle, as in the top image of Figure 3–16. The centerof the rectangle becomes the center of the new image display; the image inside therectangle is either enlarged (see the lower image of Figure 3–16) or reduced.

Try It! Open the drawing file 03_Zoom Window. Follow the illustrations and com-mand sequence below to perform a zoom based on a window.

Command: Z (For ZOOM)Specify corner of window, enter a scale factor (nX or nXP), or[All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window] <real time>: W (For Window)First corner: (Mark a point at “A”)Other corner: (Mark a point at “B”)

By default, the window option of zoom is automatic; in other words, without enter-ing the Window option, the first point you pick identifies the first corner of thewindow box; the prompt “Other corner:” completes ZOOM-Window as indicatedin the following prompts:

Command: Z (For ZOOM)Specify corner of window, enter a scale factor (nX or nXP), or[All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window] <real time>: (Mark a point

at “A”)Other corner: (Mark a point at “B”)


Figure 3–16

USING ZOOM-PREVIOUSAfter magnifying a small area of the display screen, use the Previous option of theZOOM command to return to the previous display. The system automatically saves upto ten views when zooming. This means you can begin with an overall display, per-form two zooms, and use the ZOOM-Previous command twice to return to theoriginal display. Zoom-Previous is also less likely to create a drawing regeneration(see Figure 3–17).

Command: Z (For ZOOM)Specify corner of window, enter a scale factor (nX or nXP), or[All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window] <real time>: P (For Previous)

Figure 3–17

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USING ZOOM-SCALETry It! Open the drawing file 03_Zoom Scale. Follow the command sequences andillustration in Figure 3–18 for performing a zoom based on a scale factor.

If a scale factor of 0.50 is used, the zoom is performed into the drawing at a factor of0.50, based on the original limits of the drawing. Notice the image gets smaller.

Command: Z (For ZOOM)Specify corner of window, enter a scale factor (nX or nXP), or[All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window] <real time>: 0.50

If a scale factor of 0.50X is used, the zoom is performed into the drawing again at afactor of 0.50; however, the zoom is based on the current display screen. The imagegets even smaller.

Command: Z (For ZOOM)Specify corner of window, enter a scale factor (nX or nXP), or[All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window] <real time>: 0.50X

Enter a scale factor of 0.90. The zoom is again based on the original limits of thedrawing. As a result, the image displays larger.

Command: Z (For ZOOM)Specify corner of window, enter a scale factor (nX or nXP), or[All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window] <real time>: 0.90

Figure 3–18

USING ZOOM-INClicking on this button automatically performs a zoom-in operation at a scale factorof 0.5X; the “X” uses the current screen to perform the zoom-in operation.


USING ZOOM-OUTClicking on this button automatically performs a zoom-out operation at a scale factorof 2X; the “X” uses the current screen to perform the zoom-in operation.

THE PAN COMMANDAs you perform numerous ZOOM-Window and ZOOM-Previous operations, itbecomes apparent that it would be nice to zoom in to a detail of a drawing andsimply slide the drawing to a new area without changing the magnification; this isthe purpose of the PAN command. In Figure 3–19A, the Top view is magnified withZOOM-Window; the result is shown in Figure 3–19B. Now, the Bottom viewneeds to be magnified to view certain dimensions. Rather than use ZOOM-Previ-ous and then ZOOM-Window again to magnify the Bottom view, use the PAN

command.

Command: P (For PAN)Press ESC or ENTER to exit, or right-click to display shortcut menu.

Issuing the PAN command displays the Hand symbol. In the illustration in Figure3–19B, pressing the Pick button down at “A” and moving the hand symbol to theright at “B” pans the screen and displays a new area of the drawing in the currentzoom magnification.

Figure 3–19A

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Figure 3–19B

In Figure 3–20, the Bottom view is now visible after the drawing is panned from theTop view to the Bottom view, with the same display screen magnification. PAN canalso be used transparently; that is, while in a current command, you can select the PAN

command, which temporarily interrupts the current command, performs the pan,and restores the current command.

Figure 3–20


You can choose Pan from the View pull-down menu, shown in Figure 3–21, or youcan enter P at the keyboard; P is the command alias for the PAN command. Also, don’tforget about the scroll bars at the bottom and right side of the AutoCAD displayscreen. They also allow you to pan across the screen (see Figure 1-1).

Figure 3–21

SUPPORT FOR THE MICROSOFT® INTELLIMOUSE™

AutoCAD 2000 provides extra support for zooming and panning operations throughthe IntelliMouse™ by Microsoft®. It consists of the standard Microsoft two-buttonmouse with the addition of a wheel, as illustrated in Figure 3–22. Rolling the wheelforward zooms in to or magnifies the drawing. Rolling the wheel backward zoomsout or demagnifies the drawing.

Pressing and holding the wheel down, as in Figure 3–23, places you in realtime panmode. The familiar hand icon on the display screen identifies this mode.

Figure 3–22 Figure 3–23

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Pressing CTRL while the wheel is depressed places you in Joystick Pan mode (seeFigure 3–24A). This mode is identified by a pan icon similar to that shown in Figure3–24B. This icon denotes all directions in which panning may occur. Moving themouse in a direction with the wheel depressed displays the icon in Figure 3–24C,which shows the direction of the pan.

Figure 3–24A

Figure 3–24B Figure 3–24C

The wheel can also function like a mouse button. Double-clicking on the wheel, asin Figure 3–25, performs a ZOOM-Extents and is an extremely productive methodof performing this operation. As you can see, the IntelliMouse provides for realtimezooming and panning with the addition of performing a ZOOM-Extents, all atyour fingertips.

Figure 3–25

THE VIEW DIALOG BOXAn alternate method of performing numerous zooms is to create a series of views ofkey parts of a drawing. Then, instead of using the ZOOM command, restore the namedview to perform detail work. This named view is saved in the database of the drawingfor use in future editing sessions. Selecting Named Views from the View pull-down


menu as shown in Figure 3–26A activates the View dialog box, shown in Figure 3–26B. You can activate this same dialog box through the keyboard by entering thefollowing at the command prompt:

Command: V (For VIEW)


Try It! Open the drawing file 03_Views. Follow the next series of steps and illustra-tions used to create a view called “FRONT”.

Clicking the New button activates the New View dialog box shown in Figure 3–27. Usethis dialog box to guide you in creating a new view. By definition, a view is createdfrom the current display screen. This is the purpose of the Current Display radiobutton. Many views are created with the Define Window radio button, which willcreate a view based on the contents of a window that you define. Choosing the De-fine View Window button returns you to the display screen and prompts you for thefirst corner and other corner required to create a new view by window.

Figure 3–27

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In Figure 3–28, a rectangular window is defined around the Front view using points“A” and “B” as the corners.

When the window is created, the Define New View dialog box redisplays. ClickingOK saves the view name in the View dialog box in Figure 3–29.

Figure 3–28

Figure 3–29

Try It! Open the drawing file 03_Views Complete. A series of views have alreadybeen created inside of this drawing. Activate the View dialog box and experimentrestoring a number of these views.

The image in Figure 3–30 illustrates numerous views created from the drawing inFigure 3–28.


Figure 3–30

Clicking on a defined view name, as in Figure 3–31, followed by right-clicking themouse displays the shortcut menu used to set the view current. You can also rename,delete, or obtain details of the view through this shortcut menu. Clicking on SetCurrent displays the Front view, as in Figure 3–32.

Figure 3–31

Figure 3–32

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CREATING OBJECT SELECTION SETSSelection sets are used to group a number of objects together for the purpose of editing.Applications of selection sets are covered in the following pages in addition to beingillustrated in the next chapter. Once a selection set has been created, the group ofobjects may all be moved, copied, or mirrored. These operations supported by selec-tion sets will be covered in Chapter 4, “Modify Commands.” An object manipula-tion command supports the creation of selection sets if it prompts you to “Selectobjects.” Any command displaying this prompt supports the use of selection sets.Selection set options (how a selection set is made) appear in Figure 3–33. Figures 3–34through 3–41 present a few examples of how selection sets are used for manipulatinggroups of objects.

Figure 3–33

SELECTING OBJECTS BY INDIVIDUAL PICKSWhen AutoCAD prompts you with “Select objects”, a pickbox appears as the cursoris moved across the display screen. Any object enclosed by this box when picked willbe considered selected. To show the difference between a selected and unselectedobject, the selected object highlights on the display screen.

Try It! Open the drawing file 03_Select. Enter the ERASE command and at the SelectObjects prompt, pick the arc segment labeled “A” in Figure 3–34. To signify that theobject is selected the arc highlights.

Command: E (For ERASE)Select objects: (Pick the object at “A”)Select objects: (Press ENTER to execute the ERASE command)


Figure 3–34

SELECTING OBJECTS BY WINDOWThe individual pick method previously outlined works fine for small numbers of ob-jects. However, when numerous objects need to be edited, selecting each individualobject could prove time-consuming. Instead, you can select all objects that you want tobecome part of a selection set by using the Window selection mode. This mode re-quires you to create a rectangular box by picking two diagonal points. In Figure 3–35, aselection window has been created with point “A” as the first corner and “B” as theother corner. When you use this selection mode, only those objects completely en-closed by the window box are selected. The window box selected four line segments,two arcs, and two points (too small to display highlighted). Even though the windowtouches the three circles, they are not completely enclosed by the window and thereforeare not selected.

Figure 3–35

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SELECTING OBJECTS BY CROSSING WINDOWIn the previous example of producing a selection set by a window, the window se-lected only those objects completely enclosed by it. Figure 3–36 is an example ofselecting objects by a crossing window. The Crossing window option requires twopoints to define a rectangle as does the window selection option. In Figure 3–36, adashed rectangle is used to select objects using “C” and “D” as corners for the rect-angle; however, this time the crossing window was used. The highlighted objectsillustrate the results. All objects that are touched by or enclosed by the crossing rect-angle are selected. Because the crossing rectangle passes through the three circleswithout enclosing them, they are still selected by this object selection mode.

Figure 3–36

SELECTING OBJECTS BY A FENCEUse this mode to create a selection set by drawing a line or group of line segmentscalled a fence. Any object touched by the fence is selected. The fence does not have toend exactly where it was started. In Figure 3–37, all objects touched by the fence areselected, as represented by the dashed lines.

Try It! - Open the drawing file 03_Fence. Follow the command sequence below andthe illustration to select a group of objects using a fence.

Command: E (For ERASE)Select objects: F (For Fence)First fence point: (Pick a first fence point)Specify endpoint of line or [Undo]: (Pick a second fence point)Specify endpoint of line or [Undo]: (Press ENTER to exit fence mode)Select objects: (Press ENTER to execute the ERASE command)


Figure 3–37

REMOVING OBJECTS FROM A SELECTION SETAll of the previous examples of creating selection sets have shown you how to createnew selection sets. What if you select the wrong object or objects? Instead of cancel-ing out of the command and trying to select the correct objects, you can use theRemove option to remove objects from an existing selection set. In Figure 3–38, aselection set has been created and made up of all of the highlighted objects. However,the large circle was mistakenly selected as part of the selection set. The Remove op-tion allows you to remove highlighted objects from a selection set. To activate Re-move, press SHIFT and pick the object you want removed; this only works if the “Selectobjects” prompt is present. When a highlighted object is removed from the selectionset, as shown in circle “A” in Figure 3–39, it deselects and regains its original displayintensity.

Figure 3–38 Figure 3–39

SELECTING THE PREVIOUS SELECTION SETWhen you create a selection set of objects, this grouping is remembered until anotherselection set is made. The new selection set replaces the original set of objects. Let’ssay you moved a group of objects to a new location on the display screen. Now you

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want to rotate these same objects at a certain angle. Rather than select the same set ofobjects to rotate, you would pick the Previous option or type “P” at the “Select ob-jects” prompt. This selects the previous selection set. The buffer holding the selectionset is cleared whenever you use the U command to undo the previous command.

SELECTING OBJECTS BY A CROSSING POLYGONWhen you use the Window or Crossing Window mode to create selection sets, twopoints specify a rectangular box for selecting objects. At times, it is difficult to selectobjects by the rectangular window or crossing box because in more cases than not,extra objects are selected and have to be removed from the selection set.

Try It! - Open the drawing file 03_Select CP. Figure 3–40 shows a mechanical partwith a “C”-shaped slot. Rather than use Window or Crossing Window modes, youcan pick the Crossing Polygon mode (CPolygon) or type “CP” at the “Select objects”prompt. You simply pick points representing a polygon. Any object that touches or isinside the polygon is added to a selection set of objects. In Figure 3–40, the crossingpolygon is constructed using points “1” through “5” A similar but different selectionset mode is the Window Polygon (WPolygon). Objects are selected using this modewhen they lie completely inside the Window Polygon, which is similar to the regularWindow mode.

Figure 3–40

APPLICATIONS OF SELECTING OBJECTS WITH THEERASE COMMANDFigures 3–41 and 3–42 illustrate the use of the Window and Crossing options ofdeleting the circle and center marker with the ERASE command.


ERASE—WINDOWWhen erasing objects by Window, be sure the objects to be erased are completelyenclosed by the window, as in Figure 3–41.

Command: E (For ERASE)Select objects: (Pick a point at “A” and move the cursor to the right; this automatically

invokes the window option)Other corner: (Mark a point at “B” and notice the objects that highlight)Select objects: (Press ENTER to execute the ERASE command)

Figure 3–41

ERASE—CROSSINGErasing objects by a crossing box is similar to the Window Box mode; however, anyobject that touches the crossing box or is completely enclosed by the crossing box isselected. See Figure 3–42.

Command: E (For ERASE)Select objects: (Pick a point at “A” and move the cursor to the left; this automatically

invokes the crossing option)Other corner: (Mark a point at “B” and notice the objects that highlight)Select objects: (Press ENTER to execute the ERASE command)

Figure 3–42

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Figure 3–43 displays the objects that were selected by the Window option. However,the group of objects on the far right and left have mistakenly been selected and shouldnot be erased. These objects need to be removed or deselected from the current selec-tion set of objects with the Remove option of “Select objects.”

Command: E (For ERASE)Select objects: (Pick a point at “A” in Figure 3–148 and move the cursor to the right; this

automatically invokes the window option)Other corner: (Mark a point at “B” in Figure 3–148 and notice the objects that highlight)

Figure 3–43

Before performing the ERASE command on the objects in Figure 3–43, issue the Re-move option to deselect the group of objects shown in Figure 3–44. You can accom-plish this easily by holding down SHIFT and picking the objects you do not want to erase.

Select objects: (While pressing the ��key, begin picking all objects in Figures at “A” and“B” in Figure 3–44. Notice the objects deselecting)

Select objects: (Press ENTER to execute the ERASE command)

Figure 3–44

By deselecting objects through Shift-Pick, you remain in the command instead ofhaving to cancel the command for picking the wrong objects and starting over. SeeFigure 3–45.


Figure 3–45

CYCLING THROUGH OBJECTSAt times, the process of selecting objects can become quite tedious. Often, objects liedirectly on top of each other. As you select the object to delete, the other objectselects instead. To remedy this, press CTRL when prompted to “Select objects.” Thisactivates Object Selection Cycling and enables you to scroll through all objects in thevicinity of the pickbox. A message appears in the prompt area alerting you that cy-cling is on; you can now pick objects until the desired object is highlighted. PressingENTER not only accepts the highlighted object but toggles cycling off. In Figure 3–46and with selection cycling on, the first pick selects the line segment; the second pickselects the circle. Keep picking until the desired object highlights.

Figure 3–46

PRE-SELECTING OBJECTSYou can bypass the “Select Objects:” prompt by pre-selecting objects at the Com-mand: prompt. Notice that when you pick an object, not only does it highlight but aseries of blue square boxes also appear. These objects are called grips and will bediscussed in greater detail in Chapter 7. To cancel or de-select the object, press theESC key and notice even the grips disappear. You could also pick a blank part of yourscreen at the Command: prompt. Moving your cursor to the right and picking a pointhas the same effect as using the Window option of Select Objects. Only objects com-

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pletely inside of the window will be selected. If you pick a blank part of your screen atthe Command: prompt and move your cursor to the left, this has the same effect asusing the Crossing option of Select Objects where any items touched by or com-pletely enclosed by the box are selected.

Tip: Pressing CTRL + A at the Command: prompt selects all objects in the entire drawingand displays the blue grip boxes. This will even select objects that are on a layer that hasbeen turned off, but will not select those on a layer that is frozen or locked.

THE QSELECT COMMANDYet another way of creating a selection set is by matching the object type and propertywith objects currently in use in a drawing. This is the purpose of the QSELECT com-mand (Quick Select). This command can be chosen from the Tools pull-down menu,as in Figure 3–47A. Choosing Quick Select displays the dialog box in Figure 3–47B.


This command works only if objects are defined in a drawing; the Quick Selectdialog box does not display in a drawing file without any objects drawn. Clicking inthe Object type edit box displays all object types currently used in the drawing.This enables you to create a selection set by the object type. For instance, to selectall line segments in the drawing file, click on Line in the Object type edit box inFigure 3–48. Clicking the OK button at the bottom of the dialog box returns youto the drawing and applies the object properties to objects in the drawing.


Figure 3–48

Notice, in Figure 3–49, that all line segments are highlighted. (The square boxespositioned around the drawing are called grips and will be discussed later in Chapter7.) Other controls of Quick Select include the ability to select the object type fromthe entire drawing or from just a segment of the drawing. You can narrow the selec-tion criteria by adding various properties to the selection mode such as Color, Layer,and Linetype, to name a few. You can also create a reverse selection set. Clicking onthe radio button to exclude from the new selection set, shown in Figure 3–47B, wouldcreate a selection set of all objects not counting those identified in the Object typeedit box. The Quick Select dialog box lives up to its name—it enables you to create aquick selection set.

Figure 3–49

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Manual AutoCAD-Ch03