Select all /except/ holes?

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geneb
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Select all /except/ holes?

Post by geneb »

I'm working on a project that involves 400+ little 3" hex tiles with six holes in each tile.

The tile holes are all drills and the tiles themselves are outside profile cuts.

I can easily select the holes in all 400 nested tiles by using the selection tool to grab only the holes.

The problem comes when I need to select everything else that's NOT a hole.

Is there some sneaky trick I can use in order to avoid having to individually select all 400 tiles?

I'm using Aspire v9.5

Thanks folks!

g.
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IslaWW
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Re: Select all /except/ holes?

Post by IslaWW »

Put the holes on a separate layer from the hex geometry's
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Re: Select all /except/ holes?

Post by eph210 »

The method Gary suggested is the best way to approach intricate designs. The sneaky trick that is the second best way is to select all the holes and then box select every vector while holding the shift key down. That way everything that was previously selected will be de-selected and everything that was not selected will become selected.
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Re: Select all /except/ holes?

Post by 4DThinker »

Select all the holes first, then hit G to make them a Group. Now CTRL-A select all. Shift select the grouped holes and all that is left selected is everything but the holes.

4D

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martin54
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Re: Select all /except/ holes?

Post by martin54 »

Lots of different ways as you can see but I would use Garys mehod of using different layers. Get use to using layers for designs as you build them, using them properly will probably make most things that you do easier & quicker. It's not just when it comes to selecting vectors either :lol: :lol: :lol:

geneb
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Re: Select all /except/ holes?

Post by geneb »

I've tried using layers, but I'm starting from a DXF file. I'll try the other suggestions tomorrow and let you folks know how it worked out.

Thank you!

g.
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Adrian
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Re: Select all /except/ holes?

Post by Adrian »

Definitely layers. Use the vector selector (as you have done) to select the circles. Right click and choose to move those circles to a new layer. Everything else will be on the original layer so you can select/deselect easily by using the Select on Layer command and/or using layer association in the toolpath.

geneb
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Re: Select all /except/ holes?

Post by geneb »

Adrian, the problem is that I've got to nest these things and when I split things to different layers, even when selecting all the vectors, I get 400 sets of circles. :(

g.
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Adrian
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Re: Select all /except/ holes?

Post by Adrian »

Shouldn't make any difference. Layers are preserved via nesting. If you need to group to maintain the relationship of parts then group after setting the layers and you can ungroup back to the original layers afterwards.

geneb
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Re: Select all /except/ holes?

Post by geneb »

The issue is that if the holes are on a different layer, even if I select all (all the vectors are highlighted), the nesting operation is only grabbing the holes.

I'll keep at it.

g.
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Adrian
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Re: Select all /except/ holes?

Post by Adrian »

Then the other vectors you have aren't closed vectors. The nest will only operate on closed vectors. That's a different issue from selecting.

geneb
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Re: Select all /except/ holes?

Post by geneb »

I got it all sorted out - I was stupidly forgetting the join vectors process. In my defense I haven't used Aspire in well over a year. :)

thanks all!

g.
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