Choosing this button selects all entities of the desired type. The selection mode is independent of the Add, Remove, Exclude options. The entities are always added. You will see a single entry in the list of selected entities which looks like:
+ minID,maxID,1
where minID and maxID are the minimum and maximum entity IDs respectively. Do not worry if you have gaps in your numbering, FEMAP will only choose existing entities between (and including) minID and maxID.
Previous:
Whenever you complete a selection and press OK, FEMAP remembers the list of selected entities. The next time that you need to select entities of the same type, you can choose this button to reuse your previous selections. The previous IDs are placed into the selection list depending on which mode, Add (“+”), Remove (“-”), or Exclude (“x”), is currently selected in the dialog box. A separate list is saved for each type of entity, but the appropriate list is overwritten every time the Entity Selection dialog box is displayed and you choose OK.
Reset:
If you have already made some selections, this will erase all of them and start over. The entity selection list will be blanked.
Delete:
This is a more selective version of Reset which allows you to edit the list of selected entities. First, select the entry in the list that you want to eliminate, either by using the Tab key to move to the list, then using Up or Down to make the selection, or more simply by clicking on the entry with the mouse. Then choose Delete - the selected entry will be removed from the list, and those entities will no longer be selected (or deselected if the entry you deleted was a remove/exclude entry).
Method:
The Method button will enable you to change the way entities are selected. When the dialog box first appears, you will always be selecting entities by their ID. If you press the Method button, you will see a popup menu that con-tains additional ways to select entities. For example, if you are choosing elements, you will be able to choose ele-ments by selecting them by their ID, Material, Property, the Type of Element, or even based upon the nodes used.
You may even select one method, choose the desired entities, switch methods, and add additional entities. FEMAP will automatically choose the ID of the elements which are referenced by these other entities and place them in the selection box under the ID method. All operations such as Add, Remove, and Exclude are still applicable even when mixing the Methods selection. A list of the available methods for the applicable entities are provided below.
Entity Rule / Command What You
Define What is Selected
Point ID Point IDs IDs you select.
Color Point ID All points with same color as a selected point Layer Point ID All points on same layer as a selected point
Property Property ID All points with selected property as a mesh attribute Definition CSys CSys IDs Any points defined relative to IDs you select.
on Curve Curve IDs Any point used to define a selected curve.
Curve ID Curve IDs IDs you select.
Color Curve ID All curves with same color as a selected curve Layer Curve ID All curves on same layer as a selected curve Property Property ID All curves with selected property as a mesh attribute using Point Point IDs Any curve which references a selected point.
on Surface Surface IDs Any curve used to define a selected surface.
on Solid Solid ID Any curve used to define a selected solid
Surface ID Surface IDs IDs you select.
Color Surface ID All surfaces with same color as a selected surface.
Layer Surface ID All surfaces on same layer as a selected surface Property Property ID All surfaces with selected property as a mesh attribute using Curve Curve IDs Any surface which references a selected curve.
on Volume Volume IDs Any surface used to define a selected volume.
on Solid Solid ID Any surface used to define a selected solid
Volume ID Volume IDs IDs you select.
Color Volume ID All volumes with same color as a selected volume.
Layer Surface ID All volumes on same layer as a selected volume Property Property ID All volumes with selected property as a mesh attribute using Surface Surface IDs Any volume which references a selected surface.
Connection Property
ID Connector ID IDs you select.
Color Connector ID All connection properties with same color as a selected con-nector(s)
Layer Connector ID All connection properties on same layer as a selected con-nector(s)
On Connector Connector ID All connection properties used by selected Connector(s)
Region ID Region IDs IDs you select.
Color Region ID All Regions with same color as a selected Region Layer Region ID All Regions with same layer as a selected Region on Connector Connector ID All Regions used by selected Connector(s)
referencing Node Node ID All Regions defined using selected Node(s) OR the regions which will include selected Node(s) when “expanded for export” to a solver
referencing Element Element IDs All Regions defined using selected Element(s) and/or Faces of Element(s) OR the Regions which will include selected Element(s) and/or Faces of Element(s) when “expanded for export” to a solver
using Curve Curve ID All Regions defined using selected Curve(s) using Surface Surface ID All Regions defined using selected Surface(s) using Property Property ID All Regions defined using selected Property(s)
Connector ID Connector ID IDs you select.
Color Connector ID All connectors with same color as a selected connector.
Layer Connector ID All connectors with same color as a selected connector.
Property Connector ID All connectors with same connection property as a selected connector
using Region Region IDs Any connector using the selected Region(s) Coordinate
System
ID CSys IDs User-defined Csys IDs you select.
Color CSys IDs All User-defined Csys with the same color as the selected Csys.
Layer Csys IDs All User-defined Csys on the same layer as the selected Csys.
Definition CSys CSys IDs Any User-defined CSys defined relative to IDs you select.
Type CSys Types
(0,1,2)
Any User-defined Csys of selected type.
on Point Point IDs All User-defined Csys located at a point on Node Node IDs All User-defined Csys located at a node
on Property Property IDs All User-defined Csys used by the selected property on Csys CSys IDs All User-defined Csys used by the selected Csys as
defini-tion Coordinate System
Entity Rule / Command What You
Define What is Selected
Node ID Node IDs IDs you select.
ID - Free Edge Node IDs IDs you select but only those on free edges ID - Free Face Node IDs IDs you select but only those on free faces ID - Constrained Node IDs IDs you select but only those that are constrained
ID - Constraint Equation Node IDs IDs you select but only those that are attached to constraint equations
ID - Loaded Node IDs IDs you select but only those that have loads Color Node IDs All nodes with same color as a selected node Layer Node IDs All nodes with same layer as a selected node Definition CSys CSys IDs Any node defined relative to IDs you select.
Output CSys CSys IDs Any node with output CSys equal to IDs you select.
on Element Element IDs Any node used to define a selected element.
Element Orientation
Element IDs Any node used to define a selected element’s orientation (i.e., bars and beams)
Superelement ID Node IDs Any node having the same Superelement ID as the selected nodes
on Point Point ID Any node which references a selected point on Curve Curve ID Any node which references a selected curve on Surface Surface ID Any node which references a selected surface in Solid/Volume Solid/Volume
ID
Any node which references a selected solid/volume
Element ID Element IDs IDs you select.
ID - Free Edge Element IDs IDs you select but only those with free edges ID - Free Face Element IDs IDs you select but only those with free faces ID - Loaded Element IDs IDs you select but only those that have loads Color Element IDs All elements with same color as a selected element Layer Element IDs All elements with same layer as a selected element Material Material IDs Any element which references a material (via a property)
you select.
Property Property IDs Any element which references a property you select.
Layup Layup IDs Any element using the selected layup(s)
Type Element /
Prop-erty Types
Any element of a selected type.
Shape Element Shape Any element with same shape as the selected element.
using Node Node IDs Any element which references a selected node.
All Nodes Node IDs Any element for which ALL nodes used to define that ele-ment have been selected.
on Point Point ID Any element which references a selected point on Curve Curve ID Any element which references a selected curve on Surface Surface ID Any element which references a selected surface in Solid/Volume Solid/Volume
ID
Any element which references a selected solid/volume
Material ID Material IDs IDs you select.
Color Material IDs All materials with same color as a selected material Layer Material IDs All materials with same layer as a selected material on Property Property IDs Any material which is referenced by a selected property.
on Element Element IDs Any material which is referenced (via a property) by a selected element.
Type Material Types Any material of a selected type.
Entity Rule / Command What You
Define What is Selected
The Method button appears not only in the Entity Selection dialog box, but also in most standard dialog boxes, such as defining a coordinate location, a vector, or a plane. There are currently 18 methods available to define a coordi-nate location, 13 methods to define a vector, and 11 methods to define a plane. If you need to define a point, vector, or plane, and you think there is an easier method than simply inputting the coordinates of the locations, there prob-ably is. Check the Methods button to see what options are available to you. It can save you tremendous amounts of effort by using different methods.
More, OK:
These options select the entities specified by ID, to, by or the entities in the selected group. The entities will be included in the selection list based on the setting of Add, Remove, Exclude. The only difference between More and OK is that OK finishes your selection while More lets you select additional entities or simply review the list.
4.3.1.1 Graphical Selection
One of the most powerful features of the entity selection dialog box is its ability to select entities graphically.
Before you can select entities graphically, you must make sure that the keyboard focus is set to the ID field, just as if you were going to type an ID. This is always the case when the dialog box is first displayed. You can check however by looking for the blinking vertical bar cursor. If it is in the ID field you are ready to go, otherwise click with your mouse in the ID field before selecting.