Description
Pointwise supports continuous selection of any entities subject to the selection Mask (discussed
below), Layers status, and Show/Hide
status. Entities can be selected simply by placing the mouse cursor over the entity in the Display window or List panel and clicking the
left mouse button. The entity currently under the mouse is highlighted simultaneously in both the Display window and the List panel. Note
that specific information for the highlighted entity is shown in the probe area of the Status
Bar for reference. Refer to the Preferences section for information on customizing selection using the
mouse.
A standard pointer cursor (left) appears over a single selectable object or a multi-pointer cursor (right)
appears over multiple selectable objects.
When selecting entities in the Display window a standard pointer cursor is displayed when only one selectable object lies below the cursor. A
multi-pointer cursor is displayed when multiple selectable objects lie below the cursor. In this case use the space bar on the keyboard to cycle through the
selectable entities.
Use the Ctrl meta key for multiple non-contiguous selection in the Display window or in the List panel. Use the Shift
meta key for contiguous selection in the List panel. See the List section for more information
about selection using the List panel. Additionally, a selection box can always be used in the Display window by left clicking and dragging
out a box. By default anything touching or within the box is selected. See the Preferences section for information
on setting the selection box style preference. Use the Ctrl+A shortcut to select all entities currently available for
selection. Use Ctrl+D to deselect all entities. See the Shortcuts section
for more on shortcuts.
Entity selection using a box.
All selection is subject to the current state of the Mask. The Mask toolbar is shown by
default. A check in the checkbox overlaying an entity type icon indicates all entities of that type can
currently be selected. Clicking the Mask icon at the left of the toolbar unchecks all boxes
for any types currently checked. If all types are currently unchecked, clicking the Mask icon
checks all boxes for all types.
Tip: Use the Ctrl meta key while clicking on one of the
Mask toolbar icons to quickly isolate that mask.
All selection is subject to the Mask.
The Mask command provides finer-grain masking.
More fine-grain masking control is available via the
Select, Mask command. Here you can mask separately Dimensioned
and Undimensioned connectors, Structured and Unstructured domains and blocks, and various families of database entities.
When only a subset of an entity type is masked using the Mask command panel, a filled checkbox
is overlaid on that entity type icon in the Mask
toolbar.
A filled overlay checkbox appears for subset masking.