Select features interactively

Interactive feature selection involves clicking a single feature in the view or digitizing a shape to select a set of features. Selecting features allows you to highlight and choose a subset of features on your globe to use in subsequent exploration or analysis of your data.

As you interactively select features by clicking or digitizing a shape on the globe, the number of features selected is displayed at the bottom of the view. Zoom to the extent of the selected features by clicking the selected features count.

Note:

Some features are related together and you will see twice the number of selected features than expected. For example, selecting a frustum also selects its corresponding footprint.

Select features

You can select features interactively using any of the following selection tools listed in the Selection group on the Globe tab. Click the globe, and draw the prescribed shape across the feature or features. For points and line layers, you can select a feature by clicking anywhere on its symbology. Features blocked by terrain or other features will not be selected.

1. In the Selection group, on the Globe tab, click the selection drop-down menu and choose a tool.
2. Draw the respective shape across the feature or features using the chosen selection tool.
   • Rectangle —Click a point feature or segment, or click and drag the rectangle across the feature.
   • Polygon —Click the globe to create the vertices of the polygon. Double-click to close the polygon and select the feature.
   • Lasso —Click and draw with the pointer to create the freehand shape.
   • Circle —Click and draw with the pointer to create the circle.
   • Line —Click the globe to create the vertices of the line. Double-click to end the line and make the selection.
   • Box —Click to set the first corner of the box. Move the pointer and click to add the vertices for the next two corners creating the front and side edges of a rectangular plane. Move the pointer again and click to set the box height. Optionally, press the R keyboard shortcut to enter precise reach distances for each dimension of the box. When using the R key for the first edge of the box, you must click after entering the reach distance value to define the box orientation.
   • Sphere —Click once to set the center of the sphere. Set the size of the sphere by either moving the pointer and clicking a second time, or pressing R and entering a radius value.
   • Cylinder —Click to set the center of one end of the cylinder. Move the pointer and click again to set the other end of the cylinder. Move the pointer and click to set the radius of the cylinder. Optionally press the R keyboard shortcut to enter precise reach and radius distances for the cylinder shape. When using the R key for the length of the cylinder, you must click after entering the reach distance value to define the cylinder's 3D orientation.

     Note:

     The 3D volumetric selection tools only select features that are visible in the view.

3. Work with the selected features or clear the selection by clicking Deselect all currently selected features at the bottom of the view. You can also deselect all selected features at once by clicking somewhere in the view where there are no features or clicking a feature of a layer that is not selectable.

Large selections that need more time will provide progress feedback using a graphic overlaid on the view. Press Esc to cancel a selection process.

Selection keyboard shortcuts

The following keyboard shortcuts can make the selection process more efficient:

• Shift—Press and hold to add features to an existing selection. You can click individual features or digitize around a collection.
• Ctrl—Press and hold to remove one or more features from the existing selection.
• Ctrl+Shift—Press and hold to select from the current selection and deselect all others.
• C—Press and hold to navigate the view. This is useful to select features that are blocked by the current view. The tool's pointer temporarily switches to navigation so you can use the left, middle, and right mouse buttons to navigate. Releasing the C key returns you to selection mode so you can complete your task without leaving the view to change tools.
• Esc—Press to cancel a selection process.
• R—Specific to 3D volumetric selection to enter the reach distance value.
• Y—Press and hold to select features that are completely within the selected boundary.

Selection row count in stand-alone tables

Selection count in the globe view corresponds to spatial features selected interactively in the view or from tables. Tables are not spatial but also report a selection count. The selection count in the status bar of the globe view displays values for both feature selection and table row selection to distinguish them. The row count only appears when there is a table row selection. Indicating row count is important as some actions act on all the selected database rows.