Chain Select

First thank you all for the relatively large amount comments on the previous selection post (Press & Drag) that can still be found here.  Again the best comments explain why you use it one way or another since that helps us understand how to best support your tasks and uncover patterns of usage.

In this post I want to briefly talk about Chain Select  This is the behavior that allows you to select a contiguous set of connected lines.  Revit does not have a polyline element so this is one way to speed multi-segment selection.

In the Massing environment the preference is to always select the chain or loop.  Tab will select individual sub elements of the chain.  This is 180 degrees opposite from the project environment where individual elements are given preference and you must tab to select the chain.

Each behavior has its benefits yet having two opposing behaviors can lead to frustration and slow learning.  Is this the case in the field?  Do you prefer one behavior over the other? Why?  Do we need a setting to control this?  can one behavior serve both environments?

I look forward to the discussion.

_Erik

Comments

[Chad]

I've always thought the auto-chain highlighting functionality in the Massing to be unusual, but usually not an issue. That is until you accidentally move a chain of elements after when you thought you had tabbed to a single element in the chain.

But then again, for the most time you are working with chains of elements in the massing environment so the current functionality helps speed the design process.
So it comes down to auto-chain in massing suits that environment's workflow, whereas tabbing in all other environments like a project works better.
One of the things I like about the current functionality is the ability to double-click an element in the chain to select it without having to use Tab.

If I had to pick one method over the other across the entire product, I would go with the default behaviour of using Tab to select a chain.

I like the current chain functionality how it is, regardless of environment. But having said that, I'm also open to other selection ideas.

[Tom]

I like the tab-for-loop selection method, and the "new" massing environment drives me up the wall with its destructive editing paradigm, so I don't use it, so the other way round is not an issue for me :p

Can we have the old (ie. works like the rest of the program) massing tools back? (I have a 2009 massing family that I load in as a workaround for now...)

[Tim Waldock]

It drives me absolutely demented that the massing/adaptive component environment selects a chain without pressing tab - this is mostly because it is inconsistent. You have to be so careful when you switch between environments a lot - it is completely disruptive to the workflow. I find it particularly irritating when working with adaptive components that are being created for use directy in projects - this environment is somewhere between normal Revit and massing.

I could live with either method as long as they were consistent. However, my strong preference is to go with the tried and trusted Revit method of needing to press tab for a chain, because it is less dangerous. I can just imagine someone accidentally deleting or moving an entire building facade because they forgot to press tab when they only wanted one wall. Also, I don't think that the tail (massing/vasari) should wag the dog (Revit).

[C M]

As an MEP user I'd much prefer to keep the current functionality of tab selecting to increase the selection set, e.g. start small (a valve), then tab-select to increase the selection (connected pipes, systems etc).

If the mass-editing functionality were applied to general MEP editing it would drive our users nuts to have to tab-select individual elements in systems.

[C M]

Also meant to say, on a general note, without sounding too creepy(!), it's brilliant that you're asking the questions Erik. For too long as an AutoCAD user there was a general perception in the community that ADSK just didn't care about what the users wanted, it was all about the shareholders.

While we've yet to see the outcome of any of these surveys, it does feel good (as a user of the software) to be asked about how I'd like it to work. And doing it in an open forum like this is great, as we can see each others responses.

[Anthony Hauck]

Thanks.  I dont imagine things will be reverted given the new tools offer a great deal of new capability.  More likely would be some combination or unification that tries to accommodate all common work-flows.

[Paul F. Auvbin]

Now that you have both behaviors and as you say, one is 180 degrees different than the other, I think reasonable solution is a setting in Options that asks which behavior you want. It can be like the setting for returning to the Modify tab and ask about both the project and massing environments just like the setting for modify in both project and family environments. Thanks.

[Michael Coffey]

I think it would be better to have it consistent between both, tab to select chain. You also bring up a good point, why is there no polyline in Revit?? We rely on these for doing egress paths and calcs. Thanks.

[Tim Waldock]

Michael,
You can use adaptive components (multiple line segments) to do egress paths and calcs in v2012. The only problem is that when creating the component, you encounter that darned "chain select without tab" issue. I demonstrated how to create the egress path component at the Revit Technology Conference in 2011.