Stop selecting elements above that are not in floor plan view

[mpukas]

WHY???!!! are some elements that are not in view in a floor plan view, that are above the view cut plane, selectable???!!! i.e. windows? For example, when I draw a fence around part of a wall to select certain items that are in view, windows above that are not in view are selected. I then have to use the Filter, or Shift-button, to deselect the elements I didn't want selected. 

This leads to the problem that Revit prioritizes selecting elements that are not in view OVER selecting elements that are in view. This behavior happens across the board, with multiple tools and features. For example - when dimensioning walls in floor plan view: if two walls are stacked on top of each other, on different levels, and there is a floor using the the wall that is cut in view as a boundary, using tab-select, Revit will first select the wall below, then the floor, then something above like a roof, and finally the wall that is cut in the view. WHY???!!! WHY does not Revit default to first selecting the wall that is cut in view? 

[Mark_Engwirda]

@mpukas  Even more annoying is when you are trying to place a hosted object in a plan view and it selects objects on the underlays by default!
It's pretty much the same issue, I thought I added this idea/bug previously but can't see it listed.

[HodBenYaakov]

@mpukas 

did you try to disable the "Select Underlay Elements" option?

 

[mpukas]

@HodBenYaakov I'm not referring to elements on an underlayment. I'm referring to elements that are pre-selectable and selectable that are above the view cut plane, but not visible in the view - windows, generic models, and some other random elements have this behavior. Such as Curtain Roof Grids (as I used for a standing seam curved roof). Also, and equally if not more annoying, is that some elements are selectable THROUGH walls and roofs, that are not visible. Such as Roof Trusses and their components - chords, braces, etc. - of the trusses, and sometimes furniture, will pre-select when moving the cursor over a wall or roof even though they are not visible. Yet the wall or roof that you want to select will not pre-select. 

[Mark_Engwirda]

@HodBenYaakov  It makes no difference to the hosting issue whether select underlay elements are turned on or off.

I appreciate your problems solving 🙂

[Mark_Engwirda]

@mpukas Apologies, not trying to confuse your post. 

Granted that the issues you describe are not underlay elements, the effect is the same.
The issue that I see is that we just want to select what is obvious on the screen, and for some reason, Revit by default is selecting objects on another level or not even visible in the view that you are working in.

Best of luck with your votes!

[treyk]

Hi Mark--

A window in plan may not be intersecting the view's cut plane and thus would not be visible in the plan view, but as long as any part of the window is in the view's View Range, it will remain selectable.  Could this be what's happening in your case?

Thanks,
Trey

[Mark_Engwirda]

@treyk in short no..

I think what is happening is that Revit always want to select the most recently created objects for object selection rather than the obviously intended object selection, that's one of the issues.

The issue which I @mpukas is alluring to is some objects even if they are on other levels seem to take priority over objects on the current level that you are  working on and that's probably because they were created later than the objects he is trying to target.

I also have issue with Revit always trying to host objects on an underlay and not the intended host.

EG if I was trying to host a basin on a vanity and the underlay for the roof was on it would try to host the basin on the roof.  Its just not logical that I have to turn the underlay off to host the basin on the target object.

[HodBenYaakov]

@Mark_Engwirda 

thank you!

about the basin problem, you can try giving the roof a transparency of 100% and see if it solves the problem.

i had the same problem with spot elevation in floor plan view and it worked for me.

[Mark_Engwirda]

@HodBenYaakov The issue with spot elevation is exactly what I am referring to. It is very easy for any user to accidentally display an incorrect spot level height due to an overlay or something else that is not clearly visible in the drawing area.

@treyk  This happens when the underlay has the orientation set to look down for objects above and vice versa for undelay objects that are below and to be clear the "select underlay elements" has  the option disabled.

Happy to send examples or video of this issue if you like.

Happy to make this a new idea to explain the issue further.

 

[mpukas]

To further expand on this issue with Revit pre-selecting and selecting elements not visible in the floor plan view, elements from the level BELOW the current floor plan view have selection preference over elements that are associated to the current floor plan view. 

i.e. I'm working on 2-level house with a basement. When working on LEVEL 2 floor plan, elements that are on LEVEL 1 take selection preference over elements on LEVEL 2. Stairs that go from LEVEL 1 to a LANDING level, half way between the floors, are selectable; walls that go from LEVEL 1 to the underside of LEVEL 2 floor framing are selectable. So, when dimensioning, these elements on LEVEL 1 is what Revit tries to dimension to first. When trying to select a wall to edit of copy, or place a door in, Revit tries to select the walls below before selecting the walls that are on LEVEL 2. 

I'm using a view template that has the view view range set to: Bottom,  associated level - 0' 0" ; View Depth Level, Associated Level - 0' 0". 

Again - WHY???!!! are elements that are not visible in the current floor plan view - both above and below - selectable? Unless you're an end user who relies on Revit daily, the development team has no idea how frustrating, annoying, time consuming, and disruptive to productivity workflow this type of behavior is. This is just one issue of many that seem to have been ignored since it's inception, and are in desperate need of attention. 

[Mark_Engwirda]

@mpukas spot on describing the issue.

For me this is a serious issue that can have untended consequences.

@treyk can you provide any feedback on this or be in the position to have the revit team look into it further as its a know issue.  

[joes28802]

make your view range offset the height of the floor you're on. or change your associated level in the view range.

Say you have a 3 story building. First floor is at a height of 10ft, the second floor is at a height of 20ft, and the third floor is at the height of 30ft. If you want to select an object on the second floor, and your view range is at 15ft, you're going to pick up objects on the third floor (if your associated level is second floor) . However, if you set it to 5ft (and your associated level is at second floor) you should only choose objects in the second floor. You can also just change Associated level to first floor, and then put your offset to 15ft. And that should also fix your problem.