topic Select by layer? in AutoCAD Forum

Select by layer?

mbloswick — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 15:41:21 GMT

I'm looking for a tool or LISP that works like a cross between SELECTSIMILAR and QSELECT.

I really would like to select elements by layer.
Qselect is bulky, and requires me to scroll through my list of layers to find the one I want. There is no way to "match" an element to use as a filter with Qselect.

SelectSimilar is a one-click filter, but it will only select the same element TYPE, so if I select a polyline, but other elements of interest are lines and arcs, those won't be selected.

I want to be able to click on an element, and then select all other elements on that level regardless of type.

Is there a Qselect setting that will allow for an existing element to be chosen to set the properties? Is there a SelectSimilar setting that will disregard element type? Is there a LISP out there that will do this one thing?

Thank you.

Re: Select by layer?

dmfrazier — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 15:58:59 GMT

Have you tried FILTER?

Re: Select by layer?

user181 — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 16:21:50 GMT

Maybe the GETSEL command will work for you? First select object on the layer you want then select object type or * for all.

Re: Select by layer?

mbloswick — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 16:32:52 GMT

Interesting, but not exactly a quick solution for a one-off. I can see setting that sort of thing up in a template file for repetitive tasks/choices. Is there a way to copy Filters from one drawing to another?

Re: Select by layer?

mbloswick — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 16:34:28 GMT

GETSEL is what I'm looking for - thank you!
It took me a minute to figure it out, because it drops the selection set after selecting the elements. I had to look it up to find out that I then need to Select -> Previous. But so much easier than Qselect!

Thanks again!

Re: Select by layer?

dmfrazier — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 16:41:38 GMT

"Interesting, but not exactly a quick solution for a one-off."

I agree.

I can see setting that sort of thing up in a template file for repetitive tasks/choices. Is there a way to copy Filters from one drawing to another?

Saved filters are not stored in DWGs. They are stored in a file (filter.nfl), in your AppData...Roaming...Support folder.

Re: Select by layer?

mbloswick — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 17:44:46 GMT

Nice!

So I could set up some filters, and use them across projects. I'll have to look deeper into this one. GETSEL gives me what I need now, but FILTERS has promise.

Re: Select by layer?

ВeekeeCZ — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 20:16:28 GMT

You can try this lisp of mine. I usually just pre-select some object/s... but it offers some more options...

Re: Select by layer?

mbloswick — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 20:39:26 GMT

Thank you!

I'll give that a whirl.

Re: Select by layer?

Kent1Cooper — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 21:03:11 GMT

@mbloswick wrote:

....

I want to be able to click on an element, and then select all other elements on that level [layer --KC] regardless of type.

....

How about something like this?

(defun C:SAL (/ ent ss); = Select All on Layer [of selected object] (defun getobj () (while (not ent) (setq ent (car (entsel "\nSelect one object to get all objects on its Layer: "))) ); while ); defun (cond ; OBJECT SELECTION ( (and (setq ss (ssget "_I")); something pre-selected (= (sslength ss) 1); only one object ); and (setq ent (ssname ss 0)) ); first condition [single pre-selected object] ( (ssget "_I"); more than one object selected (sssetfirst nil); un-select multiple objects (getobj); User select ); second condition ((getobj)); User select [nothing pre-selected] ); cond (sssetfirst nil (setq SALSS (ssget "_X" (list (assoc 8 (entget ent)))))) (prin1) ); defun

If you have a single object selected when you call the command, it uses that. If you have either more than one or no pre-selection, it asks you to select one object.

It leaves all objects on the Layer selected/highlighted/gripped, so you can call a command directly to apply to them, and it puts them into a non-localized variable called SALSS that you can use as you like afterwards.

Re: Select by layer?

AVCPlugins — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 06:10:33 GMT

You can use the AVC Properties Palette plugin. If you click on the layer property of any object, then a button with a magnifying glass appears next to the field - this is a search for all objects with the same property value (in this case, the same layer). In this case, all objects of the layer will be selected regardless of their type.