All selections obey the user-defined selection mode. The selection mode is set using the combination of two radial menus: one controlling the 'how' to select, and one controlling the 'what' to select. How and what selection options always work in tandem.
Note
Only entities that are currently shown in the Viewport can be selected.
Selection Modes: "How to Select"
The 'how' to select radial menu, when opening the software for the first time, is found on the left-hand side of the Viewport. By default, this option is set to 'box selection,' and therefor is indicated by the box icon. Clicking this icon exposes all options in the radial menu. These options are further explained below.
Selection Modes: "What to Select"
The 'what to select' radial menu can also be found in the left-hand side of the Viewport (when opening the software for the first time). By default, this option is set to 'Structure,' and therefore is indicated by the purple star icon, shown in the center of the radial menu below.
This menu is split into four quadrants, each of which have several subcategories.
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Structures
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Elements
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CAD
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Other
In order to quickly switch between commonly used options, HyperX remembers the last-used subcategory and keeps it directly accessible for a respective quadrant.
Structure Select
The options found within the structure subcategory represent the option to filter selection by all entity types found in HyperX.
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Any - All HyperX entities and unused FEM properties can be selected.
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Shells - Only entities composed of 2D finite elements can be selected.
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Edge Joints - Only Joints which are composed of shell-element boundaries can be selected.
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Point Joints - Only Joints composed of connector elements can be selected.
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Beams - Only entities composed of 1D finite elements can be selected.
Element
The element option facilitates the filtering of select-able entities by the various element types present in the model.
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2D Shells - All supported shell, plate, and membrane elements can be selected.
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3D Solids - All supported hexa-, tetra-, and wedge elements can be selected
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1D Beams - All supported beam, bar, and rod elements can be selected.
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1D Connectors - All supported connector or bush elements can be selected.
CAD
The CAD menu allows for selection filtering by various CAD Entities:
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Curves - All 1D CAD entities can be selected.
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Points - All 0D CAD entities can be selected.
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Solids - All 3D CAD entities can be selected.
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Surfaces - All 2D CAD entities can be selected.
Other
The 'other' menu provides additional options for filtering entity selection.
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Boundaries - Allows for the selection of perimeters and intersections of 2D Zones.
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Structures - Allows for the bulk-selection of entities based on Structure definition (i.e. all entities within the selected Structure are selected).
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Sets - Allows for the bulk-selection of entities based on Set definition (i.e. all entities within the selected Set are selected).
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Panel Segment - Defines selection by Panel Segment entities.
In many instances, it is beneficial to select entities or groups of entities using various different Trees (see FEM Tree, Structures Tree, and Property Tree) found in the Viewport. This allows the user to 'piggy-back' off of current model organization and property assignments in order to select the exact entities desired.
To select an item in a Tree, left click on the corresponding Tree node. Any existing node, regardless of level, is able to be selected. If the chosen node has sub-nodes, all sub-nodes will be selected as well. This is particularly useful when selecting entire Structures and Sets, an example of which is shown in the screenshot below.
Selection via the Trees is independent of what is shown in the Viewport - meaning that entities can be selected even if they are not currently being shown.
Multi-selection of Tree items can be done as well - simply left-click the first item, press Shift, and left-click a second item. All items in between the first and second item are then selected - as evidenced in the screenshot on the left-hand side below. Individual Tree items can also be toggled by holding Ctrl and left-clicking - an example of which is shown on in the image on the right.
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Entities can be selected in-bulk based on their respective analysis inputs and resulting outputs using the Legend. For any data that is being plotted, left-clicking on a particular color bin of interest automatically selects all entities with data points within those bounds. This selection mechanism will respect the current what selection mode - See Viewport Selection.
In the example below, the bright-green color bin (margin of safety value between 0.02 and 0.1) is selected. All Zones with a margin value that falls between 0.02 and 0.1 are selected - as indicated by the light-orange coloring. This selection is reflected in both the Viewport and the corresponding Tree nodes.
Smart Select is a tool which, based on the current entities selected in the Viewport, determines logical, selection-enclosing shapes. This tool is particularly useful when selecting FEM elements.
Smart Select is launched from the View tab of the Ribbon. Clicking this button allows the user to pick between several different Smart Select features, each of which is defined below, with respect to the initial selection shown in the image. All Smart Select operations are through-select operations, meaning all entities within the bounds, regardless of the current visible plane, are selected.
Aligned Minimum Bounding Box
Determines the smallest bounding box that encloses the current selection - which is aligned with a vector defined by user-input dX and dY values. In the case of Smart Selection, the X and Y axes are relative to screen coordinates, not the HyperX coordinate system. The aligned minimum bounding box that encloses the initial selection above and aligns with dX=dY=1 is shown in the image below.
Minimum Bounding Box
Determines the smallest bounding box which encloses the current selection, regardless of direction/alignment. The minimum bounding box for the initial selection is shown below:
Convex Hull
Determines the convex hull that encloses the current selection. See example below, taken for the initial selection.
As of HyperX version 2025.1.4, you can also select model entities by ID. To open the "Select by ID" Form, click the corresponding button on the View tab of the Ribbon.
From this form, first choose the type of entity that you want to select. The available types are discussed more in the "What to Select" section above. Next, input the IDs for the entities you want to select. There are a couple of ways to find these IDs.
The first way is to display the entity IDs in the Structures Tree. To do that, click the "Tree Options" button and select "ID" from the dropdown.
When you return to the Structures Tree, you will see each entity's ID displayed next to its name. You can then type these into the "Select by ID" form.
The other way(s) to add IDs to the form, is to make a selection in any other way while the form is open.
Once you have the IDs that you want in the form, press the "Select" button to process the selection.
Important
If you make edits to the IDs in the form, the active selection will not update until you press the "Select" button.
A major advantage of selecting by IDs comes from the ability to open multiple "Select By ID" forms and lock selections. You can open multiple "Select By ID" forms by clicking the button on the View tab of the Ribbon multiple times. By pressing the "Lock selection" button on the form, you will lock the current values of the IDs in that form allowing you to make other selections on the model without updating that form.
Tip
In combination, multiple "Select by ID" forms with locked selections become multiple selection presets that you can cycle between at the click of a button.
For example, you may have one form that selects all of the Joints while others correspond to other related Structures. You can switch through these presets by pressing the "Select" button on the desired form.