Working with groups
The GROUP command creates and modifies named groups of entities, in a dialog box.
The -GROUP command creates and modifies named groups of entities, at the command line.
Working with groups is a technique to manipulate a set of several objects as though it were a single object. A group can also be considered as a 'Named Selection'. You can pick a single object and the entire set is selected as though it were a block, or you can edit individual objects without affecting the rest of the group and without breaking up the group. You can use nested groups if necessary and a single entity can be a member of different groups.
To create a group
- Do one of the following:
- Click the Group tool button () on the Tools toolbar or the Home / Groups ribbon panel.
- Choose Group in the Tools menu.
- Launch the GROUP command.
The Entity Grouping dialog box appears:
- Do one of the following:
- Type a name in the Name field.
- Check the Unnamed option to create an unnamed group.
- (option) Type a description in the Description field.
- (option) Check / uncheck the Selectable option.
- Click the Select entities and create group button.
The Entity Grouping dialog box temporarily closes to let you select entities.
- Select the entities you want to include in the new group.
- Right click to conclude the selection of entities.
The Entity Grouping dialog box reopens.
The newly created group is added.
- Click the OK button to close the Entity Grouping dialog box.
To modify a group
- Do one of the following:
- Click the Group tool button () on the Tools toolbar or the Home / Groups ribbon panel.
- Choose Group in the Tools menu.
- Launch the GROUP command.
The Entity Grouping dialog box appears.
- Select the group you want to modify.
- (option) Double click in the Name field to edit the group name.
- (option) Double click in the Description field to edit the group description.
- (option) Click in the Selectable column to toggle the Selectable option on/off.
- (option) Click the Add entities to group button to add new entities to the group.
The Entity Grouping dialog box temporarily closes to let you select the new group entities.
- (option) Click the Remove entities from group button to remove entities from the group.
The Entity Grouping dialog box temporarily closes to let you select the entities.
- Click the OK button to close the Entity Grouping dialog box.
To ungroup entities
- Do one of the following:
- Click the Group tool button () on the Tools toolbar or the Home / Groups ribbon panel.
- Choose Group in the Tools menu.
- Launch the GROUP command.
The Entity Grouping dialog box appears.
- Select the group or groups you want to delete.
- Click the Un-group selected groups button.
The selected groups are removed.
To change the order of entities
- Do one of the following:
- Click the Group tool button () on the Tools toolbar or the Home / Groups ribbon panel.
- Choose Group in the Tools menu.
- Launch the GROUP command.
The Entity Grouping dialog box appears.
- Click the Re-Order entities button.
The Order Group dialog box appears:
- (option) Click the Highlight button to see the current position of each entity.
The Object Grouping dialog box opens.
- (option) Click the Reverse Order button to reverse the order of all entities in the group.
- (option) To change the order of a single entity do the following:
- In the Remove from position field, type the current position of the entity you want to move.
- In the Enter new position number for the object field, type the new position.
- (option) Type the number of objects you want to reorder in the Number of objects field.
- Click the Re-Order button.
A message box confirms that the group has been re-ordered.