|
Query Select is one of the most powerful features
of Pro/Engineer. Without it, some operations would be virtually impossible.
Query Select is needed because computer screens are
2-dimensional, and 3-dimensional models are, well, 3-dimensional. Suppose
we wanted to tell Pro/Engineer to place something on a certain plane of
a cube. This is easy if the plane we're interested in is on one of the
visible faces of the cube, but is not so easy if we want one of the hidden
faces. Of course, we could always rotate the cube, but this would involve
an extra step and may confuse the user. If we had a cube-within-a-cube,
it is easy to see that some planes would exist that would be impossible
to select without 'cutting away' parts of the cube.
Query Select allows us to perform this 'cutting away'
quickly and efficiently. By cycling through all the possible selections
that a user may want, Query Select allows us to specify exactly what we
want, rather than trying (and invariably failing!) to interpret what we
want.
Using Query Select is easy. First, we'll show you the
easy, menu-driven way. Then, we'll go through the faster, button-driven
way. You can start out using the menus, but later on you'll want to learn
the buttons, because they will be much faster when they become second
nature.
- Using Query Select via the Menus
When you are asked to select something in Pro/Engineer,
the Pick menu item is usually selected:
To select something using Pick, just
click on it. Pro/E will highlight what you picked, and continue.
To use Query Select, click the Query Select
option. The message "Hidden Geometry may be selected" appears in the
status window. Now, find something on your part/assembly/drawing that
wouldn't be visible if the view were shaded, but that you want to
select. Click once with the left mouse button. This menu should appear:
The cube we mentioned previously would look like
this if you clicked on the lower-left portion of it:
Now, to cycle through all the possible selections
for this mouse click, use the Next and Previous buttons.
Clicking on the Next button highlights the bottom face of the
cube:
Clicking on the Previous button highlights
the original (side) face of the cube.
As you can see, we don't have to be able to get
to the bottom face of the cube directly in order to select it. With
Query Select, we can go through the cube. This is what is meant when
the program says "Hidden geometry may now be selected." To accept
the current selection, click the Accept menu item.
-
Using Query Select via the Mouse Buttons
Of course, this process is slower than just clicking
on the drawings, so Pro/Engineer includes some shortcuts so that you
can use just the mouse buttons to do everything you would otherwise
do with the menus. The following table lists these shortcuts:
| Action | Mouse Button |
| Turn on Query Select |
Right |
| Initial Selection |
Left |
| Next Selection |
Right |
| Prev Selection |
Use Menu Item |
| Accept |
Middle |
| Re-Select Point |
Left |
Back to the Index
|
Return
to: U of M Home
