Selecting Elements

For operations on existing elements in your DGN file, you have to be able to select them. You can do this manually, by placing the screen pointer over the element and entering a data point. Alternatively, you can place the screen pointer over the element and enter a tentative point first, to check the selection prior to accepting with a data point. Entering a tentative point can be performed automatically with AccuSnap or by pressing the tentative button to enter it manually.

With AccuSnap's Identify Elements Automatically setting, this process is streamlined, dramatically reducing the number of button presses required. Normally, to identify an element manually requires at least one button press, or two if you enter a tentative point first. With AccuSnap and the Identify Elements Automatically setting, you only have to position the pointer over an element for MicroStation to identify and highlight it — without a button press. For example, to delete an element with the Delete Element tool, you need only place the pointer over the element so that it highlights and then accept with a data point to complete the deletion. Without AccuSnap, this would require at least two data points, or a tentative point followed by two data points.

For operations on several elements, simultaneously, you can use the Element Selection tool or PowerSelector tool in the Element Selection tool box (in the Main tool frame, Element Selection is the default “representative” of the Element Selection tool box). These tools let you select multiple elements to be worked on as a temporary group. Using this method, for example, you can move, copy, rotate, or scale multiple elements together.

When you use the PowerSelector tool, you can select, or group, the elements by a variety of means, including by level, color, style, weight, type, or class. By default, selected elements are bracketed with squares called handles. If any elements are selected, an arrowhead icon is displayed in the status bar. The number to the right of the icon is the number of selected elements.