Selecting Visible Elements

This task shows you how to hide already hidden elements when performing a selection, thus selecting only the visible elements in a subdivision surface.

Open the ModifySurface5.CATPart document.

  1. Click Modification .
    You can see that the hidden edges and vertices of the mesh are also visible and can be selected. Selection of visible elements becomes difficult.

  2. Click View and Selection mode in the Operations toolbar.

    You can also access this command by pressing ALT+SHIFT+A.

    You can see that all the hidden edges are no longer visible within the subdivision surface and that the hidden elements visible in the mesh are no longer pickable.

    The View and Selection mode icon state has changed . To go back to the previous off state, click it again.

  3. Rotate the subdivision surface or change its shape (in case of a modification). You can see that as the surface moves the relevant hidden edges are not visible. The selected edge remains highlighted and visible even after rotation.