Selecting map items

Select items on the map by clicking the individual items while pressing CTRL or SHIFT in Inspect mode (), or by encircling them with a polygon (, , ).

Selected items can be added as a unique map layer or passed to either Query Editor or an Output window. When passed to another window, the pass includes items that are either individually selected, surrounded by a polygon, or within the visible extents of the current map (in that order of preference). In order to appear in the window, the layer that contains the selected items must be set to Inspect () in the map Layer Legend.

Items are sorted in the Output window in the same order in which you CTRL-CLICK them. This order is also maintained when you pass the items from one Output window to another. Even though the order in which you CTRL-CLICK items is maintained as the order in which to display them within their data type, the data types themselves are sorted alphabetically in the receiving Output windows.

When at least one item is selected by CTRL or SHIFT-CLICK, the Deselect button ( ) in the map toolbar becomes active. Click it to clear all selected items, or simply CTRL or SHIFT-CLICK a single selected item to clear.

Selected map items can be added as a separate map layer. For details, see Related topics below.

To select items by clicking on the map

1. Ensure that in the Layer Legend, inspectability is active and that there's a check mark in the visibility column of the layer(s) in which to select items.

2. From the Map menu, click Inspect .

3. CTRL+CLICK or SHIFT+CLICK a map item.

To select items by drawing a polygon

1. Ensure that in the Layer Legend, inspectability is active and that there's a check mark in the visibility column of the layer(s) in which to select items.

2. From the Map menu, point to Polygon, and then click either Standard, Rectangle, or Radius.

3. On the map, drag a rectangle or radius
OR
Click vertices to draw a standard polygon, and then double-click to complete the polygon.

Since it's possible to have multiple selection methods on the map, results from the inspectable layers are retrieved first by items selected by clicking on the map while pressing the CTRL or SHIFT key, then by items within a polygon drawn on the map, and finally by items within the current map extents.

Related topics