Add "Invert Selection" Button to the Filter Dialog

[Scott D Davis]

I would like to see an "Invert Selection" added to the filter dialog box. I like using the filter box.....a lot! But I find myself always unchecking all the boxes but one. I would like to uncheck the one I want, and hit an "invert" button to invert my selection set. Or have the dialog default to having none checked, rather than having them all checked.

[Steve_Stafford]

I must be missing something...doesn't clicking on "Check None" then checking the one you want do the "same" thing? Or is this a right brain left brain thing? :D

[Scott D Davis]

well, yeah, but....

hmmm.... really have no response, other that the fact that, yep, the "check none" and then selecting one object does exactly what I was asking for.

I think this was a "Brain Dead" thing. I retract my wish. :oops:

Okay, I wish the filter would start with nothing checked, allowing me to individually select items. Maybe a Save Filter would be nice, so I could use a filter repeatedly without checking/unchecking.

[Steve_Stafford]

Okay, got me there...I'm with you on the save filter option. A "I prefer all un-checked" option would be okay too, though it hasn't bothered me yet.

[gregcashen]

I think a LOT could be accomplished in Revit by simply expanding on the Tools>Options... dialog. There are a lot of options that could be customized per individual use. This would even satisfy my desire for the whole Right-click thing in terms of allowing the user to specify what the right-click options would be. We could specify DEFAULTS for:

selection settings - inside/crossing
line tool - pick/draw
wall joins - butt/miter
trim tool - corner/single/multiple

I know there are many more...help me out here.

AutoCAD does this to some degree; I think Revit could really take advantage of it.

[bclarch]

I would like to be able to pre-set the filter tool. You should be able to set it to a specific catagory (say doors) and then just window an area and only have the doors be selected. Generic Cadd allowed this and it is a very powerful feature.

The selection of the line type to be drawn should also be "sticky". I was using arcs and splines to do the electrical wiring for my current project and every time that I had to exit and re-enter the line command the default went back to straight lines. It's very annoying and the time spent clicking outside of the drawing area adds up.

[gregcashen]

re: the filter idea, I wonder if it makes sense to have something like that function as a right-click tool, i.e. if you right click on a door/window/wall..., two of the right-click options would be 1) select all instances 2) select all doors/windows/walls...

The first, obviously, selects only the particular instances of doors/windows/walls... and the second doing what you're asking for. This would make conceptual stuff so easy because global changes would be a nonevent. Of course, the right-click settings would be customizable in the options diolog.

[JamesVan]

We could specify DEFAULTS for:

selection settings - inside/crossing

In Settings->Options there is a setting for this.

[gregcashen]

You are right. It seems that Revit already acknowledges the need for this, they just need to increase the available configurable options. Also, I think they can remove the Invert Background Color option. Does anyone use this? I know it is better for the eyes and all and we are used to it from Autocad, but seriously, I have never seen a screen shot where someone had actually used this.

[bclarch]

Also, I think they can remove the Invert Background Color option. Does anyone use this? I know it is better for the eyes and all and we are used to it from Autocad, but seriously, I have never seen a screen shot where someone had actually used this.

It seems to be more useful when dealing with colored lines than B & W. I always use it in Autocad but never in Revit. I don't see any reason to get rid of it though. If you end up working on a drawing with multicolored lines (linked Acad drawings perhaps?) it still might be useful.

[Martin P]

[quote="gregcashen"]

selection settings - inside/crossing
line tool - pick/draw
wall joins - butt/miter
trim tool - corner/single/multiple

I know there are many more...help me out here.

quote]

Been on about this several times - apologies for bringing it up again :oops:

option to be able to switch off the "move after selection" ie - only use the "Move" command

option to select like autocad, ie you dont have to hold CTRL to add to a selection, you can just keep picking.

option for autocad style selection for windows/crossing

ALWAYS saveas Autocad r2000 (I really want that, I hate re-exporting, re-emailing when somebody doesnt have 2004 :evil: )

match propoerties depth - ie do you want it to go to the same level, phase, top offset, etc etc

- all in an autocad vein I know, but we are doing a project at the moment using both, so it is in my mind.

still more than this, basically what we are talking about here are the same as autocads system Variables - not things you REALLY have to know about to use autocad, but if you do get into them they can make your life very easy. I'm all for it, and as Revit is not going to ever have any sort of programming language I think there should be lots of options, at least that way you can achieve a level of customization without it becoming over complex - you just pick what you want or dont want.

[Scott Hopkins]

Martin,

Good Post -

I really like your idea of having an option so that you don't have to type control to add/subtract objects. When you are using the tab key to select a group of lines and then have to hold down the control key at the same time it can get a little cumbersome. I have campaigned for AutoCAD style window/crossing selection option in the past so I agree there as well.

I whole heartedly agree that more options in the Revit user interface would be a good idea. Yes, there is the danger that someone could sit down at my computer open Revit and discover that all of "the controls were set backwards from what they are used to, but hey we are not flying 747's here - nobody is going to die. If I can do things faster with a slightly different interface then I want that ability. While I understand and agree with the worries of many Revit users about the notion of unnecessarily complicating or "Autocadizing" Revit, I think the best and fastest methods should rule the day.

[gregcashen]

I think there is a reason that most car dashboards are laid out similarly. It would be silly to have to practice with a new car in order to learn how to drive it. Interfaces are HUGE problems for designers to work around in new software development. In fact, based on my experiences in software development, there is someone at Revit whose sole purpose is to maintain the GUI standards.

Autocad has a lot of good things going for it. The number one thing is that most of us know it so making a UI that mimics it would not be a hindrance to any of us.

There are certainly some tools I think we need in Revit that autocad has...that does not mean we are autocadizing revit. it simply means that someone ackowledged a need for a tool years ago, implemented it and it is useful to us.

I would like to see a stretch command for stretching multiple lines, wall ends, etc. the same amount; scale tool, for scaling something up by a certain amount without having to click on it , look at the dimension, grab my calculator, multiply it by the scale factor and reinput the new dimension. It is not copying autocad, it is improving the efficiency of revit.

[Scott D Davis]

. When you are using the tab key to select a group of lines and then have to hold down the control key at the same time it can get a little cumbersome.

You know you don't have to hold down TAB and CTRL at the same time....You can select a bunch of items, then hover over your next item to add to the selection. Now hit TAB until your preferred object highlights. Then hold the CTRL key and left click to select.

HTH!