Choosing a Selection Mode    

Depending on the workbench from which you are accessing these commands, there are up to three different selection modes available to V5 users:
Feature Selection mode
Product Selection mode
Device Selection mode
The initial mode available is usually Product Selection mode unless the user has changed it previously. Some workbenches also have different default values for the selection mode (e.g., Feature Selection for the Inspect product, Device Selection in Workcell Sequencing and Device Task Definition).  Clicking on the black arrow at the bottom of the icon reveals the Selection Mode toolbar, which has the three modes listed above. Selecting one of the other modes makes that mode the default setting for all subsequent V5 sessions, unless a new mode is selected or the CATSettings folder is deleted.
The selection mode determines how you select objects in the geometry both before and after you have selected a command.  Some general considerations for most commands appear below, as well as considerations unique to the Save Initial State and Restore Initial State commands. In addition, information regarding the use of the selection mode along with trap commands also appears below.

Feature Selection Mode
The Feature Selection mode allows users to select specific features on the geometry, e.g., a single hole.
In some cases, the particular feature you want to select can be so close to another feature that you can have trouble selecting the particular feature you want.  V5 provides a preview option that enables you to select from among all the features near your mouse.

To use this preview option, preselect any  feature in the area where the feature you truly want is located.  Then press the up arrow key; you get a preview of the feature in relation to the geometry.

In the example below,  the up arrow has a one above it, and the down arrow has a three below it.  Thus, there are three features near the selected feature, and the first of the three is selected.  The large black circle shows what is selected; the smaller black circle shows the feature in relation to the remaining geometry.

Using the up or down arrows provide previews of the remaining two possible features.  Once the correct feature is previewed, press Enter.  The preview window goes away and the correct feature is selected.
The manipulation box will not be displayed because there is no manipulation box for the features. You will get the manipulation box when selecting products from the PPR tree, even if the Feature Selection mode was used (assuming Toggle Manipulation Handle Mode was not turned off).
While this selection mode is active, users can select features from the geometry. Consequently, users cannot use "drag and drop" to assign items to different activities while selecting from the geometry. They can still select parts from the PPR tree and use "drag and drop" to assign them to different activities.
Other commands may work on the selected feature or on the part containing the selected feature. For example, the Hide/Show and Properties commands use the part containing the selected feature, while the Reframe On command uses the selected feature (for some data types) and the part containing the selected feature for other data types.

Product Selection Mode
This command may also be referred to as Products Selection .
This selection mode enables the selection of the products (or parts).
Even if the selected product (part) is driven by a device, only the part is selected.
While using product selection, Toggle Manipulation Handle Mode can be turned on or off, depending on the user's needs.
Since this selection mode selects entire parts, the user can "drag and drop" to assign items to different activities while selecting from the geometry.
When Products Selection mode is used in conjunction with the Intersecting Trap command, if at least one feature or a basic geometrical element (e.g. point, line, plane, block) of a product is completely trapped, the whole product is selected, even if not all parts of the product are trapped. If you need to select the product only when it is completely trapped, use the Feature Selection mode.

Device Selection Mode
This selection mode enables the selection of devices simply by selecting, on the geometry or in the PPR tree, a portion of the device.
  • If a device drives the selected part, the whole device is selected.
  • If multiple mechanisms drive the selected part, the first one is selected.
  • If the selected part is not driven by any device, the selection will work the same as for the Product Selection mode.
While using Device Selection , the Toggle Manipulation Handle Mode command can be turned on or off, depending on the user's needs.
The user can "drag and drop" to assign items to different activities while selecting from the geometry. The whole device will be assigned if a part from a device was selected to be dragged.

Impact of Selection Mode on Most Commands
Most V5 commands allow both action-object and object-action selections; that is, it does not usually matter whether you select a command first and then the object on which it acts, or vice versa.  However, in order to select the kind of object for which you have set your selection mode (assuming you are selecting from the geometry and not the PPR tree), you usually must use the object-action scenario.  Otherwise, the selection mechanism works as though the Feature Selection mode was active.

Impact of Selection Mode on Save or Restore Initial State
Only two commands apply the selection mode when a selection is done: Save Initial State and Restore Initial State . They apply the selection mode imposed by the user when the Selected Products/Resources only option is used. If the selection mode is Product Selection or Feature Selection , the user is able to save or restore the initial state for the selected parts driven by a device.  For Device Selection , the initial state is saved or restored for the entire device.

Using Selection Modes with Selection Commands
Users can first choose a selection mode and then use one of the selection commands (e.g., Intersecting Trap ). When Products Selection or Device Selection mode is used in conjunction with Intersecting Trap , if at least one feature or a basic geometrical element (e.g. point, line, plane, block) of a product or device is completely trapped, the whole product or device is selected, even if not all parts of the product or device are trapped. If you need to select the product or device only when it is completely trapped, use the Feature Selection mode.