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.

Note: Make sure bitcode 1 of the PICKSTYLE system variable is set (value = 1 or 3) to enable the selection of groups. The Ctrl + H keyboard shortcut toggles the value of the PICKSTYLE system variable: 0/1 if 0 or 1 and 2/3 if 2 or 3.

To create a group

  1. 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:

  2. Do one of the following:
    • Type a name in the Name field.
    • Check the Unnamed option to create an unnamed group.
  3. (option) Type a description in the Description field.
  4. (option) Check / uncheck the Selectable option.
  5. Click the Select entities and create group button.

    The Entity Grouping dialog box temporarily closes to let you select entities.

  6. Select the entities you want to include in the new group.
  7. Right click to conclude the selection of entities.

    The Entity Grouping dialog box reopens.

    The newly created group is added.

  8. Click the OK button to close the Entity Grouping dialog box.

To modify a group

  1. 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.

  2. Select the group you want to modify.
  3. (option) Double click in the Name field to edit the group name.
  4. (option) Double click in the Description field to edit the group description.
  5. (option) Click in the Selectable column to toggle the Selectable option on/off.
  6. (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.

  7. (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.

  8. Click the OK button to close the Entity Grouping dialog box.

To ungroup entities

  1. 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.

  2. Select the group or groups you want to delete.
  3. Click the Un-group selected groups button.

    The selected groups are removed.

Note: When you ungroup entities, the group is deleted, but the entities remain in the drawing.

To change the order of entities

  1. 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.

  2. Click the Re-Order entities button.

    The Order Group dialog box appears:

  3. (option) Click the Highlight button to see the current position of each entity.

    The Object Grouping dialog box opens.

  4. (option) Click the Reverse Order button to reverse the order of all entities in the group.
  5. (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.
  6. (option) Type the number of objects you want to reorder in the Number of objects field.
  7. Click the Re-Order button.

    A message box confirms that the group has been re-ordered.