Engineering Solutions

Entity Selectors

Entity Selectors

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Entity Selectors

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Entity selectors allow you to indicate which entities are to be modified when a function is performed. An entity selector contains a switch or toggle, a data type button and a reset (|<) button. An entity selector is active when the data type button is enclosed in a blue rectangle.      

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Entity selector

To change the data type, click the entity selector switch to access the pop-up menu of possible data types and select the type you want to use.

In addition to selecting one entity at a time on the screen, you can select multiple entities via quick window selection (hold down the SHIFT key and drag your mouse to create a window. See The Mouse for more details).

The extended entity selection window allows you to choose various methods of selecting entities of a specified data type. To access the options:

1.Click the data type button. The extended entity selection window opens, displaying a list of available selection methods.

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Extended entity selection window

These selection options display for all of the entity types in Engineering Solutions. Selections that are not valid for the current entity type are grayed out.

Note:For more information about the extended entity options, see Using the Extended Entity Selection Menu.

If you want to reset the entity selections, click the reset to deselect all selected entities.

Note:

If the data type is a line list, click the data type of the entity selector to see the selected entities in the order in which they were selected.


If the data type is a node list, you can click the collector to access a pop-up with the selections by list, by path, show node order, or by window.


by list

Allows you to pick the nodes individually from the node list.


by path

Allows you to select a few nodes that form a path and Engineering Solutions selects all the displayed nodes that lie in the shortest path of the nodes selected. If you select nodes on the edges of a part, the function tries to find the closest path along the edges of that part. by path follows the connectivity of the elements between the nodes selected. Therefore, if the nodes selected are not connected by elements, this function does not apply.


show node order

Allows you to view the nodes currently stored in the nodelist collector by numbering the nodes in the sequence of their selection.


by window

Allows you to select nodes by window and internally the order of the nodes selected is determined based on its spatial location and element connectivity (if connecting elements exist).


The line list collector provides the following extended selection options:


by list

Allows you to select lines or surface edges individually in the desired sequence.


by path

Allows you to pick surface edges (two or more) and selects all the surface edges that fall in the closest path connecting the selected edges. If you select two free (red) edges, the function tries to find the closest path along the free surface edges. Since this function uses the connectivity of the surfaces, it only works with surface edges and not with free unconnected geometric lines.

 

See Also:

Menu Buttons

Toggles and Switches

Plane and Vector selectors

Input Fields

Pop-up Menus

Input Controls