Preselection highlighting allows you to preview which object Abaqus/CAE will select if you click at the current cursor location. In addition, preselection in the Sketcher uses a secondary cursor to indicate the exact position and type of entity that will be selected. (For more information on Sketcher preselection, see The Sketcher cursors and preselection.)
You will use the following three selection operations most frequently:
- Click to select an object
To select a single object from the current viewport, move the cursor to the object and click mouse button 1.
To select a point, click the corresponding point marker. The point marker changes color when selected. Vertices that you can select are marked by small, filled circles; and datum points are marked by small, unfilled circles. (See Understanding the role of datum geometry, for information on datum points.) Edge midpoints and arc centers that you can select are marked by small diamonds.
Note:
Some of the selection markers that appear when you are using the Sketch module are different from those described here. For information on selecting objects while using the Sketch module, see The Sketcher cursors and preselection.
To select an edge, click the edge while positioning the cursor away from any vertex. Selected edges are highlighted.
To select a face, click the face while positioning the cursor away from any edge or vertex. Selected faces are highlighted with a grid pattern. (The grid pattern is unrelated to mesh element location.)
To select a cell, click any of its faces. All edges of selected cells are highlighted.
If you are unable to select the desired objects, you can use the Selection toolbar to change the selection behavior. For more information, see Using the selection options.
Once you select an object, any objects previously selected in the current viewport are unselected automatically.
If your current procedure, options, and cursor position do not clearly specify one object for preselection, Abaqus/CAE highlights all of the potential selections and adds ellipsis marks (...) next to the cursor arrow to indicate an ambiguous preselection. If you accept an ambiguous preselection or otherwise make an ambiguous selection, use the buttons in the prompt area to make your final selection. For more information, see Cycling through valid selections.
- ShiftClick to select additional objects
To select an additional object, move the cursor to the object and ShiftClick. Your original selection remains highlighted, and the newly selected object becomes highlighted.
An alternative method for selecting multiple objects is to drag a rectangle around the objects. For more information, see Drag-selecting multiple objects.
- CtrlClick to unselect objects
To unselect an object, move the cursor to the object and CtrlClick. To unselect all objects, click an unused region of the current viewport.
When you have finished selecting and unselecting items in the viewport, click mouse button 2 to confirm your selection. You can use the selection option tools to adjust the shape of the drag-select region. You can also choose which objects are selected by the drag-select region. The selection option tools are located in the Selection toolbar. For more information, see Modifying the shape of the drag-select region, and Choosing which objects are selected by the drag-select region.