Graphical Selection
Select and deselect entities to modify with other HyperWorks tools. Selected entities are outlined to indicate their selection state.
Hover over an entity to highlight it.
In idle mode, entities can be selected from either the modeling window or the browser area. Selecting an entity in the modeling window automatically selects the corresponding entity in the browser and vice versa.
When working in a tool, entities should be selected from the modeling window.
Entity Selectors
Use entity selectors to specify which type of entity you are able to select.
Entity selectors act as a filter by limiting your selection to a single entity type in the modeling window. For example, if an entity selector is set to Surfaces, only surface are available for selection. If it is set to Points, you can draw a window around the entire model and only the points will be selected. After performing a selection, the number of selected entities appears in parenthesis.
If a selector supports multiple entity types, click the arrow to view a drop-down menu of available options.
Entity selectors do not affect your selection in a browser. The entity selector in the modeling window will automatically update to match the selected entity type. You're also able to select multiple entities of different types in a browser.
- Use keyboard shortcuts to change the active entity type in an entity selector.
- In idle mode, convert your selection to a new entity type by changing the entity selector. For example, if you select elements, and then set the entity selector to nodes, all of the nodes associated with the selected elements will be selected.
Select Single Entities
Append and Remove Entities From a Selection
Select Multiple Entities Simultaneously
- For box, circle, or freehand selection, click-and-drag to draw a selection window.
- For polyline selection, click-and-drag to draw a line, then release the mouse to create an end point. Continue drawing lines, then left-click the start point, middle-mouse-click, or press Enter to close the selection window.
Window Selection Settings
Change window selection settings from the modeling window right-click context menu.
Available in HyperMesh, HyperView, and HyperGraph.
- Window Select Disabled. Disable window selection. Allows
for fast clicking without the risk of dragging a mini window.
(HyperMesh only)
- Window Shape. Change the shape of the selection window when you drag your mouse.
- Intersection. Select entities that intersect the window.
Available for elements, lines, and surfaces.
(HyperMesh only)
- Only Select Visible. Only select visible entities.
Perform Extended Entity Selection
Use extended entity selection to find, filter, and select subsets of entities. You can also save and retrieve previous selections.
Extended Entity Selection Options
The following options are available for extended entity selection.
Context Menu Options
- Displayed
- Select all entities of the specified type currently displayed in the modeling window.
- Reverse
- Allows for a Boolean "not" to be performed on the currently displayed entities; all selected entities are removed from the mark; all entities which are not on the mark and are currently active are selected.
- All
- Select all entities of the specified type. The set to be added to the user mark includes entities displayed and those not displayed.
- Adjacent
- Select entities adjacent to the entities already selected.
- Attached
- Select entities by specifying an entity among a large group of continuously connected elements. HyperWorks includes the entities currently displayed that are attached to the entities already selected. Entities that are not displayed will not be selected although they may be attached to the entity selected.
- Face
- Select entities that are located on the same surface face as the previously selected entity. HyperWorks finds entities that are attached to each other without crossing a feature line. Attached, adjacent surfaces, nodes, or elements are progressively selected when the angle between them is less than or equal to the specified feature angle.
- By Dimension
- Select entities by dimension (0D, 1D, 2D, and 3D). You can select one or more of the dimensions available.
- Similar
- Select entities that are similar to the your current selection based on config.
- Clear Selection
- Remove all entities from your active selection.
- Save Selection
- Save the currently selected entities to a holding area known as the user mark.
- Retrieve Selection
- Retrieve previously saved entities from the user mark.
HyperMesh Advanced Selection Dialog Options
- By Assembly
- Select entities by assembly.
- By Block
- Select entities associated with one or more block entities.
- By Collector
- Select elements, lines, surfaces, loads, coordinate systems, vectors, equations, and points by collector.
- By Component
- Select entities by component.
- By Config
- Select elements by configuration and type. The element type is dependent on the template file.
- By Connector Group
- Select entities associated with one or more connector groups.
- By Domains
- Select entities associated with a morph domain.
- By Edge
- Select entities (nodes, elements) by surface edge. HyperWorks finds entities that are attached to each other without crossing a feature line. The feature line can be adjusted using the Angle slider. Attached, adjacent surfaces or elements are progressively selected when the angle between them is less than or equal to the specified feature angle.
- By Face
- Select entities that are located on the same surface face as the previously selected entity. HyperWorks finds entities that are attached to each other without crossing a feature line. The feature line can be adjusted using the Angle slider. Attached, adjacent surfaces, nodes, or elements are progressively selected when the angle between them is less than or equal to the specified feature angle.
- By Group
- Select entities by group.
- By Handles
- Select entities associated with morphing handles.
- By ID
- Select entities by typing in their ID numbers.
- By Include
- Select FE entities such as elements, loads, and groups that belong to
the selected include.Note: Includes created via the Model Browser are only valid for solvers that support them.
- By Laminate
- Select entities associated with one or more laminate entities.
- By Line
- Pick lines in the modeling window. Entities associates with the lines are selected.
- By List
- Select entities from a list.
- By Material
- Select entities by material.
- By Morphing Volumes
- Select entities associated with morphing volumes.
- By Multibodies
- Select entities associated with one or more multibody entities.
- By Output Block
- Select the nodes, elements, comps, systs, groups and mats within an outputblock.
- By Part
- Select entities associated with a part.
- By Path
- Pick multiple nodes, lines, or elements and select all the nodes/lines/elements that fall in the closest connecting path. If you select two nodes on a free edge of some elements, the function tries to find the closest path along that free edge. This function uses the connectivity of the elements between the nodes, and thus requires the selected nodes to be part of a continuous shell mesh. Similarly, By Path for lines uses the connectivity of surfaces/solids and thus requires the selected lines to be surface/solid edges.
- By Ply
- Select entities associated with one or more ply entities.
- By Points
- Pick points in the modeling window. Entities associates with the points are selected.
- By Property
- Select entities by property.
- By Set
- Select the entities within a set.
- By Solid
- Pick solids in the modeling window. Entities associates with the solids are selected.
- By Surface
- Pick surfaces in the modeling window. Entities associates with the surfaces are selected.
- By Width
- Select surfaces by width, either by picking a sample surface or by specifying a range of values for the width.
HyperView Advanced Selection Dialog Options
All selection methods in the dialog include a visibility filter. This allows you to apply your settings to all entities in the model, regardless if they are displayed on the screen or not, or only the entities that are displayed.
In addition,HyperView is capable of entity binding changes between nodes, elements, and components - which provides you with easy selection. For example, when Nodes is specified on the entity selector, the By ID option allows you to select either By Node ID, By Element ID, or By Component ID.
- By ID
- Select entities by entering an ID number.
- By Type
- Select elements by configuration. You can select one or more of the various element configurations available.
- By Sets
- Select the entities within a set.
- By Contour
- Select entities by contour.
- By Sphere
- Allows you to select entities by entering location information for x, y, z and a user-defined radius.
Keyboard Shortcuts & Mouse Controls
Selection
To do this | Press |
---|---|
Window select | Left Mouse Drag |
Append selection | Ctrl + Left Mouse Click |
Deselect | Shift + Left Mouse Click |
Select displayed | Ctrl + A |
Select all | Ctrl + Shift + A |
Select adjacent | Ctrl + J |
Select similar (based on type and config if applicable) | Ctrl + M |
Reverse selection | Ctrl + R |
Open advanced selection | Spacebar |
Select elements By Face or By Edge | Alt + Left Mouse Click |
Adjust feature angle when selecting elements By Face or By Edge | Alt + Scroll |
Select nodes and lines By Path | Alt + Left Mouse Click |
Edit | Double Mouse Click |
Suspend snaps | Alt |
Clear active selector | Backspace |
Clear all guide bar selectors | Esc |
Entity Selector
To do this | Press |
---|---|
Set to components/connectors | C |
Set to elements | E |
Set to laminates/lines/loads | L |
Set to materials | M |
Set to nodes | N |
Set to plies/points/properties | P |
Set to solids/surfaces/systems | S |
Set to all | Esc + Esc |
Select Entities Using Legacy Selectors
For older contexts, selection is performed via yellow entity selectors.
An entity type in the plural form, such as "elements", indicates that you are able to select more than one entity from your model. An entity type in the singular form, such as "node", indicates that you can select only one entity from your model at a time.
When you need to define a plane by specifying a plane's normal vector, the selector allows you to select nodes one at a time by entering the node ID. Similar to other selectors, the active node is surrounded by a blue square.
Examples of this type of input collector include:
Use the Extended Entity Selection Menu
Change the Entity Type
- Click the entity type selection switch to access a pop-up menu of possible entity types.
- Select the type that you want to use.
Reset the Selector
Card Filter
Use the Card Filter to restrict the list of entities displayed when you click the entity selector.
Some panels present a list of entities when you click their Entity Selector button instead of the Extended Entity Selection options.
Assembly | Beamsection collector | Blocks |
Component | Contact surfaces | Control volume |
Curves | Ddvals | Groups |
Laminates | Load collector | Load steps |
Material | Multibodies | Plies |
Plots | Property | Sensors |
Sets | Shapes | System collector |
Tags | Titles | Vector collector |
This displays a read-only text field adjacent to the Card Filter control. Click card to open a pop-up window that lists all of the cards defined in your model for the selected type of entity, and pick the card that you wish to filter by.
Once selected, only entities with the chosen card type will display in the entity list on the panel.
To remove the filter, simply use the switch to select all, displaying all entities regardless of card association, or no card, displaying only those entities that do not have a card at all.