Select by layer?

[mbloswick]

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.

[dmfrazier]

Have you tried FILTER?

[user181 · Accepted solution]

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

[mbloswick]

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?

[mbloswick]

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!

[dmfrazier]

"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.

[mbloswick]

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.

[ВeekeeCZ]

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

[mbloswick]

Thank you!

I'll give that a whirl.

[Kent1Cooper]

---

@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.

[AVCPlugins]

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.