Ballons prioritising edges over faces

[Damo]

I have been searching everywhere to see if there is a setting that allows ballons to preference their selection to a face, rather than any (and all) hidden lines/edges 'behind' said face.

I do hope someone can point me in the correct direction..

TIA..

[matt]

There's always the selection filter F5. Not sure you can make it "prefer" one, but you can force it to pick faces. I think the default hotkey for that is X.

[josh]

You can turn off selection of hidden lines/edges.

[josh]

Sorry... I may have circled the wrong one.

The one I circled disables selection when you can't see them.
The one above it disables selection even when they're shown.

[David Matula]

I would tend to set the filters to either do edges, or faces depending on what I wanted when doing balloons.

[Damo]

There's always the selection filter F5. Not sure you can make it "prefer" one, but you can force it to pick faces. I think the default hotkey for that is X.

Matt.

This does indeed work for specific face only selection, and I will be able to use this sometimes when secting a face is particularly difficult if many hidden lines behind the face are making selection problematic.
(This is my issue, it seems that the balloons will absolutely preference any and all hidden lines behind a visible face rather than the face I wish to select.
Regardless of HLR/HLV..)
But this "selection filter" option needs to be disengaged in order to select literally anything else. So, it is a bit cumbersome for daily workflow.

Cheers...

[Damo]

You can turn off selection of hidden lines/edges.

image.png

Josh.

My settings are the same as you show here. The box for "Selection in HLR and Shaded Modes" is Unchecked. Which would lead me to think the balloon leader should not be preferencing unseen lines/edges hidden behind visible faces in HLR Mode..?!
As it happens, dimension leaders do this too. This is very worrisome when the incorrect entity can be inadvertanly selected.
It is more noticable with the internal edges of weldment profiles.. Grrrrrr.

Cheers guys..

Does no-one else have this annoying quirk..?

[matt]

... But this "selection filter" option needs to be disengaged in order to select literally anything else. So, it is a bit cumbersome for daily workflow.

Cheers...

That's why you use hot keys, to turn the filters on/off quickly.

[Damo]

That's why you use hot keys, to turn the filters on/off quickly.

Ah yes, you did mention the hotkey option. And yes, I can confirm it is "X".
I haven't used hotkeys much at all, or ther selection filter for that matter, meh.. I will work it that way for a while and see how it goes.
It will very likely be faster than zooming in and desperately trying to find that "sweet spot" when face selection is occassionally problematic.

Cheers mate, I learnt something today. It is a good day.

[Glenn Schroeder]

I remember an issue a few years ago where hidden edges seemed to be prioritized over visible edges when applying note leaders, dimensions, balloons, etc in Drawings. There was a thread or two going about it over at the old forum, but I'm not about to waste my time trying to find it at "that other place". I think it was fixed with a later service pack, but I'm not sure. I'm old. I forget things.

You might also check to make sure this option isn't selected.

[Damo]

I remember an issue a few years ago where hidden edges seemed to be prioritized over visible edges when applying note leaders, dimensions, balloons, etc in Drawings. There was a thread or two going about it over at the old forum, but I'm not about to waste my time trying to find it at "that other place". I think it was fixed with a later service pack, but I'm not sure. I'm old. I forget things.

You might also check to make sure this option isn't selected.


image.png

Glenn.

Good advice. Tho I checked this too. And in my settings that box is NOT checked. Soooo...?!

(I am working on 2016 at this time for this project for reasons all my own, but I will look into whether this complaint is still problematic in later versions.
Tho I gotta say, I do not recall it doing this so often in the past, nor do I recall it being an issue in 2021.. Clearly, I forget things too..
(At least that may be one small mercy of saving grace among every other thing I hate about 2021.)

Anyhoo, I am becoming rather too accustomed to accepting this maddeningly infuriating software isn't gonna be getting any better anytime soon.

Thanks mate.

[AlexLachance]

Ah yes, you did mention the hotkey option. And yes, I can confirm it is "X".
I haven't used hotkeys much at all, or ther selection filter for that matter, meh.. I will work it that way for a while and see how it goes.
It will very likely be faster than zooming in and desperately trying to find that "sweet spot" when face selection is occassionally problematic.

Cheers mate, I learnt something today. It is a good day.

Remember these 3 filters

X = Faces
E = Edges
V = Endpoints

That's what I use when I'm getting pissed off over adding a balloon/dimension that's not selecting what I'm desiring. It doesn't happen enough for me to want to find a setting or something, it's maybe once or twice a week.

[Damo]

Remember these 3 filters

X = Faces
E = Edges
V = Endpoints

That's what I use when I'm getting pissed off over adding a balloon/dimension that's not selecting what I'm desiring. It doesn't happen enough for me to want to find a setting or something, it's maybe once or twice a week.

Cheers..

Tho. I believe I will never need the "Edges" hotkey.. It literally does that all by itself without any issue, all over my needs of anything else..

It is good advice tho, as I use the hotkeys more, I will no doubt find more uses for them..

[AlexLachance]

Cheers..

Tho. I believe I will never need the "Edges" hotkey.. It literally does that all by itself without any issue, all over my needs of anything else..

It is good advice tho, as I use the hotkeys more, I will no doubt find more uses for them..

There are some rare instances that I can't remember where I'll use it, but the most common one is definetly the endpoint one. God I love using that one! It's also rather "easy" to remember and use as they're close to a few hotkeys we often use, the S key and the copy/paste/cut keys (X/C/V)

[Alin]

For drawings, there is a distinct advantage to attach annotations (especially balloons) on edges and not on faces, especially in HLR and HLV modes.
Let's take a simple use case: working in Detailing mode. When a drawing is saved with "Detailing mode data" its lines carry a lot of parametric information. They know to what component are attached, which edge ID they represent and more. There is no information attached to faces in a drawing opened in Detailing mode, they are just empty spaces between the drawing lines.

[jcapriotti]

Cheers..

Tho. I believe I will never need the "Edges" hotkey.. It literally does that all by itself without any issue, all over my needs of anything else..

For the most part, however the filters allow you to window select and only get those elements. So if you want to window a bunch of edges, it's handy in that case.

[Damo]

For drawings, there is a distinct advantage to attach annotations (especially balloons) on edges and not on faces, especially in HLR and HLV modes.
Let's take a simple use case: working in Detailing mode. When a drawing is saved with "Detailing mode data" its lines carry a lot of parametric information. They know to what component are attached, which edge ID they represent and more. There is no information attached to faces in a drawing opened in Detailing mode, they are just empty spaces between the drawing lines.

I did not know this.. I have not yet used the "Detailing Mode" ... This is a new feature in which years release..?
I am sometimes slow on the uptake of new ideas.. Lol.

Today I learnt something.. It is a good day..

[matt]

I did not know this.. I have not yet used the "Detailing Mode" ... This is a new feature in which years release..?
I am sometimes slow on the uptake of new ideas.. Lol.

Today I learnt something.. It is a good day..

Edges are lower on the stability ladder from faces. And edges of fillet and chamfer are even more volatile.

It would be best if you could attach to a body. I've never tried it, but that's the most stable.

[Alin]

Edges are lower on the stability ladder from faces. And edges of fillet and chamfer are even more volatile.

It would be best if you could attach to a body. I've never tried it, but that's the most stable.

If we are talking about balloons on a drawing, it is worth to consider that, in drawings, edges are the actual lines.