topic Re: Is there a way to select a chain of lines in a sketch? in Inventor Forum

Is there a way to select a chain of lines in a sketch?

AndyUSC — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 19:48:53 GMT

I come from solidworks and in the sketch environment there's an option in the right click menu to "select loop". I often find myself needing to select a loop, but I cannot find that option in Inventor. Instead I have to manually select each line, and sometimes dimension lines are on top of a line so the dimension gets selected instead of the line I was trying to select. I then I have to unselect everything I previously selected so I can move the dimension. It's such a frustrating process.

Here's a simple example: (ignore my colors)
There are 3 closed loops here. Is it possible to select only a single closed loop without manually selecting each line?

Re: Is there a way to select a chain of lines in a sketch?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 20:57:50 GMT

" Is it possible to select only a single closed loop without manually selecting each line?"

Yes, simply move your mouse over the closed loop area and it should highlight the entire loop as long as it is closed. If it's not being highlighted, you have open loops.

If you were to have just one closed loop, Inventor would auto-select it, but when there are multiple options/closed loops, you'll need to select the one you want.

Next tip (and I understand the sketch shown is just an example but....) Keep your sketches simple. It makes editing later down the road far easier.

Re: Is there a way to select a chain of lines in a sketch?

CCarreiras — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 01:13:01 GMT

Hi!

No it's not possible.

It's only possible when you are using the 3D tool, like a extrude closed loop, a complete path for a sweep or loft, etc.

But... why you need to select loops? (just for my curiosity)

Re: Is there a way to select a chain of lines in a sketch?

AndyUSC — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 12:04:24 GMT

Thanks for the replies.

Jim, I was asking about sketches, not extrude features.

CCarreiras, I worked exclusively with solidworks for 16 years, and it was always an available option, so I used it.

Re: Is there a way to select a chain of lines in a sketch?

CCarreiras — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 12:41:25 GMT

OK I understand...

I've also been using Inventor for a long time and have only needed something like this a few times.
The concept is to constrain the geometry throughout the creation, so when I need to move something, it should be partially constrained, so I can move it easily.

If I had that option, it would be cool, another option to use... but... I truly don't miss that much.

I think it's a matter of getting used to it and you'll be fine.
I bet that in a couple of weeks, you will adjust, and you're not missing that so much.

Re: Is there a way to select a chain of lines in a sketch?

AndyUSC — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 13:21:13 GMT

Yes, I understand the fundamentals of CAD.

I've been using Inventor daily for 2 years now, and I have to rely on youtube for training. I'm also working with sketches that were created by other people in my department, who also have little to no formal Inventor training.

We're also working with large assemblies in a network environment without vault, so the constant pauses and delays make using Inventor an awful experience.

At some point in the company's history, someone said Vault would cost the company thousands and thousands of dollars, so it was never talked about again. I recently discovered that we could start using the basic version of Vault (it's all we need), but we have too many open projects right now and it's not a good time to transition. We're at least a year away from even playing around with Vault. I'm also not in a position to make that change.

I'm gonna need a little more than a couple of weeks to adjust.

Thanks again for your help.

Re: Is there a way to select a chain of lines in a sketch?

3DAli — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 16:42:20 GMT

Hi @AndyUSC ,

the only workaround I can think of is to convert those loops to Inventor Block and then you can select it as one entity

Hope it helps

Best

Ali

Re: Is there a way to select a chain of lines in a sketch?

johnsonshiue — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 20:56:39 GMT

Hi! Maybe window-select can help. Also you may want to look into Fusion, which has quite a few SWX friendly workflows.

Many thanks!

Re: Is there a way to select a chain of lines in a sketch?

lukas_kupec_CZE — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 11:49:14 GMT

I have a perfect usecase:

Create a Sketch - project surface - make an offset of the projected segments (using Loop option).

Move in the tree before the sketch and modify the "projected surface" - Projections in sketch break (and don't tell me the do not, yes they do). Now since you cannot reattach broken projections, you need to delete the complete projected surface one-by-one segment.

And as a bonus, you must either constrain each segment individually, or recreate the whole projection-offset geometry from scratch.

Anything I can do better?