Selecting an object within the current viewport is one of the most common tasks you have to perform during the modeling process. In the course of various procedures you may need to select geometric objects (vertices, edges, faces, cells, and datums) or discrete objects (nodes and elements) by picking them directly from the viewport. Figure 6–1 shows these different object types.

You can select objects in the viewport only during certain procedures, such as those listed below:

In most circumstances only objects that are appropriate for the current procedure are available for selection. For example, the first step in partitioning an edge is selecting the edge of interest. Therefore, at this point in the procedure you can select only an edge; you cannot select a cell, a face, or a vertex. Messages in the prompt area guide you through the steps of a procedure and indicate which types of objects are available for selection. You can select only objects that are part of the current display group.

In some circumstances ABAQUS/CAE cannot determine which objects are appropriate for selection and does not limit your selection. For example, when you are creating a set, you can select from cells, faces, edges, and vertices to include in the set and ABAQUS/CAE allows you to select any of these objects. When you make a selection from the viewport, ABAQUS/CAE allows you to cycle through the available objects until the desired object is selected. This ambiguity is described in “Cycling through valid selections,” Section 6.2.6. You may find it easier to use the selection filters to limit the type of object you can select. For more information, see “Using the selection options,” Section 6.3.

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