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Select entities

Tekla Structural Designer
2021
Tekla Structural Designer

Select entities

Many Tekla Structural Designer commands require you to make selections. You can make single and area selections from any 2D or 3D view. You can also make selections from the Project Workspace.

Tip:
  • If planar objects, such as slabs, roofs and area loads, obscure what you want to select, you can hide them using the Scene Content window.
  • Use Ghost Unselected to display everything not in the selection as ghosted, this makes it easier to focus on the selection.

Use the different methods listed below to select the entities.

Select single entities

  1. In a 2D or 3D view, move the mouse pointer over the desired entity.

    If the entity is the only one at the location, it becomes highlighted and its name is shown in the Select Entity tooltip.

    If several entities are located at the same location, their names are all listed in the Select Entity tooltip.
    Use the up and down keys to scroll through the list to reach the desired entity.
  2. When the desired entity is highlighted in the Select Entity tooltip, press Enter to select it.
    The selected entity is then displayed in the active selection color, the nodes for positioning it are exposed, and the entity properties are displayed in the Properties window.

Select multiple entities using area selection

  1. You can select multiple objects using area selection. The dragging direction affects the selection of objects.
    1. To select all entities that are completely within a rectangular area, hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse from left to right.
    2. To select all entities that are at least partly within a rectangular area, hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse from right to left.
    3. To select all objects that are at least partly crossed by a straight line, hold down the shift key, then hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse to draw the line.
    After selection, one entity type is displayed in the active selection color and has its properties shown in the Properties window.

    Any other entity types in the selection are displayed in the local selection color.
    Note: You can change the active and local selection colors by clicking Home > Settings > Scene > Colors > Selection.
  2. To display the properties of another entity type in the selection, choose it from the droplist at the top of the Properties window.
    Note: If there is only a single item in the active selection, all its properties are shown; if there are multiple items in the active selection, only common properties are shown.

Select using Find

  1. Click Find on either the Home tab, or the Quick Access toolbar.

    The Find dialog opens.

  2. In the Find box type any of the following, in whole, or in part:
    1. An object 'Type'
    2. An object 'Name'
    3. An object 'Index'

    As you type, any objects that match the criteria are listed in the table below.

  3. When the object(s) that you require are shown, click to highlight them as follows:
    1. Single click to highlight a single object
    2. Ctrl+click to select multiple non-sequential rows
    3. Shift+click to select multiple sequential rows
      Once the object(s) are highlighted, Select becomes available.
  4. Click Select to locate the object in the active view, zoom in, and display its properties in the Properties window.
    Note: If the object doesn't exist in the active view a new view containing the object will become active.
    Tip: Sometimes when clicking Select the object being located is obscured from view by other objects. By leaving Ghost Unselected checked this is avoided, as all objects other than those being found are made semi-transparent.
    Note: If not using Ghost Unselected, you can change the color used to highlight the found entity by clicking Home > Settings > Scene > Colors > Selection and changing the Global - User color.

Select from the Project Workspace

Do one of the following:
To Do this
Select individual members from the Structure tree
  1. Expand the Members branch and any appropriate sub branches until you can click the required member.
  2. Right-click the member name.
  3. In the context menu, select Select in visible views.

The member's properties are viewed in the Properties window.

To Do this
Select member groups or individual members from the Groups tree
  1. Expand the appropriate branches until you can click the required group or member name.
  2. Right-click the member or group name.
  3. In the context menu, select Select in visible views.

The member's or group's properties are viewed in the Properties window.

Select nodes

Sometimes you need to select only the nodes of an entity, for example when moving a beam.
  1. In a 2D or 3D view, select the entity.

    The entity is selected and any nodes associated with the entity are displayed.

  2. Move the mouse pointer over the desired node.

    The node becomes highlighted and appears in the Select Entity tooltip.

  3. Press Enter.

    You will now be prompted to pick a point to move the node to.
  4. Click at a new location to reposition the node.

    The entity is updated accordingly.

See also: Re-position entities by moving nodes or edges

Modify the selection

You can add or remove entities from the current selection.

Do one of the following:
To Do this
Add an entity to the current selection

  1. Hold down the Ctrl key.

  2. Click the entity that you want to add to the selection.

    The properties of the newly selected entity are added to the Properties window.

To Do this
Remove an entity from the current selection

  • Click the entity you want to de-select.

    The entity's properties are removed from the Properties window.

To Do this
Remove multiple entities

  1. Do one of the following:

    • To de-select only the entities that are encompassed by the box, move the mouse pointer to the left corner of the imaginary box that will encompass the entities.

    • To de-select the entities that are encompassed by the box and that it crosses, move the mouse pointer to the right corner of the imaginary box that will encompass the entities.

  2. Hold down the Ctrl key and drag the mouse pointer to the opposite corner of the box.

    A rectangle on the screen shows the area that you are selecting.

  3. Release the mouse button and the Ctrl key.

    The entities are removed from the Properties window.

To Do this
Remove a beam/column/wall and simultaneously remove its constituent spans/stacks/panels

If a continuous beam and its constituent spans are selected, they can all be deselected with a single mouse-click while holding down the Ctrl key.

The same method can be applied to a continuous column and its constituent stacks, or a wall and its constituent panels.
To Do this
Remove all entities

  • Press Esc.

    The information displayed in the Properties window is cleared.

Use Ghost Unselected to focus on the selection

You can toggle Ghost Unselected on and off using the button in the bottom corner of the view.

  • Ghost Unselected off: selected entities are displayed in the active selection color, this can make it hard to distinguish between individual entities in the selection.
  • Ghost Unselected on: selected entities are displayed in their nomal colors (appropriate to the Scene View that is active), unselected objects are semi-transparent. If nothing is selected, everything is displayed in its normal color.
    • In a Structure View, the selection would be displayed as:
    • In a Review View showing Design Status, the selection would be displayed as:
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