To use Tekla Structures effectively, you need to know how to select objects and use select switches. Selection filter settings also affect which objects you can select. See Selection filter (p. 153).
How to select objects
You need to select objects to carry out many Tekla Structures commands. You can select objects as a sequence of single selections and/or area selections. Tekla Structures highlights the selected objects.
You can use the following techniques to modify the current selection:
Grid plane
Technique Description
Single objects When you select objects using the mouse button, without pressing any other keys, every pick or drag selects objects. All previously selected objects are dese-lected.
Enclosing window selection
Drag the mouse from left to right to select all objects totally within that rectangular area.
Crossing window selection
Drag the mouse from right to left to select all objects totally or partly within that rectangular area.
Right-click To select an object and open its pop-up menu, click the object with the right mouse button.
This feature is active if you have a check mark next to Select on Right-Click in Tools > Options.
Nested compo-nents
To examine and work with nested components, hold down the Shift key and scroll with the mouse wheel.
See also Main select switches (p. 38).
Nested assemblies To examine and work on different assembly levels, hold down the Shift key and scroll with the mouse wheel. An orange box indicates the assembly which you can
select.
See also Main select switches (p. 38).
Controlling the selection
Main select switches
The main select switches shown in the following table set whether you can select objects in component or assembly hierarchy. These switches have the highest priority.
Handles When you want to select only the handles of a part, select the part, press the Alt key and select the part again with enclosing window selection.
See also Handles (p. 82).
Adding Press the Shift key and select objects, to add to the current selection.
Modifying To toggle the current selection on and off, press the Ctrl key during selection. Tekla Structures deselects the objects, which are already selected and selects those, which are not previously selected.
Technique Description
Icon
Selectable
objects Description
Components When you click any object belonging to a component, Tekla Structures selects the component symbol and highlights (does not select) all component objects.
Component objects Objects created automatically by a compo-nent can be selected.
Assemblies and cast units
When you click any object in an assembly or a cast unit, Tekla Structures selects the assembly or cast unit and highlights all objects in the same assembly or cast unit.
Objects in assem-blies and cast units
You can select single objects in assemblies and cast units.
You can use the Select components switch to select reference models, and the Select objects in components switch to select reference model objects. For more information, see Selecting reference models and reference model objects.
Shift + scroll To define the level on which to select objects in nested components or assemblies, hold down the Shift key and scroll with the mouse wheel. See also How to select objects (p. 36).
The active select switch defines on which level you start and toward which direction you move in the component or assembly hierarchy. The status bar shows the steps you take in the hierarchy. See Status bar (p. 22).
Example If the Select assemblies switch is active, you can select objects in assembly hierarchy, starting from the assemblies on the highest level, move to their sub-assemblies, and finally select single parts, bolts, and so on.
If the Select objects in assemblies switch is active, you start selecting from single objects and move to bigger and bigger nested assemblies.
Other select switches
The following table lists the remaining select switches. Use these switches to set which object types you want to select. For example, you can decide to select only welds and bolts, but no parts.
Icon
Selectable
objects Description
Any objects Turns all switches on. You can select all object types, except for single bolts.
Selection filter In addition to the select switches, selection filter settings control which objects can be selected.
To set the selection filter, click the Selection Filter icon on the Selecting toolbar. There are also predefined filters available in the Available selection filters list box:
For more information, see Selection filter (p. 153).
Parts You can select parts, i.e. columns, beams, plates, etc.
Surface treatments You can select surface treatments.
Points You can select points.
Grids You can select entire grids by selecting one line in the grid.
Grid lines You can select single grid lines.
Welds You can select welds.
Cuts and fitting You can select line, part, and polygon cuts, and fittings.
Views You can select model views.
Bolt group You can select entire bolt groups by selecting one bolt in the group.
Single bolts You can select single bolts.
Reinforcing bars You can select reinforcing bars and bar groups.
Loads You can select point, line, area, and uniform loads.
Planes You can select planes.
Distances You can select distances.
Icon
Selectable
objects Description
Canceling object selection
You can cancel the object selection process if the selection takes over a defined period of time.
For example, if you are working on a large model and you accidentally select all or part of the model, you can cancel the selection if it takes over 5000 milliseconds to complete.
Usage 1. Click Tools > Options > Advanced Options > Modeling Properties.
2. Set the cancellation value for the variable XS_OBJECT_SELECTION_CONFIRMATION. The default value is 5000 milliseconds.