In many cases, you can write a query to select records. However, this requires that you specify a condition for selecting the records.
In some situations, you need to select individual records or groups of records on a map.
We have earlier examined the selection tools for the browser window: MapInfo Monday—Manually Selecting Records in the Browser Window.
Let's look into the Selection tools that MapInfo Pro provides access to when it comes to selecting records in the map window.
Happy #MapInfoMonday!
Manual Selection Tools for the Map Window
MapInfo Pro has several tools for manually selecting records from the map window.
You can find these in the Select dropdown on the Map tab.
You can also find them in the Select dropdown on the Map Mini Toolbar.
The Select tool allows you to select individual records from the map by clicking on the records.
If you hold down the Shift key, you will add to the current selection or remove an already selected record from the selection. This also works if you use the other built-in selection tools such as the Radius Selection tool, the Marquee Selection tool, the Polygon Selection tool, and the Boundary Selection tool.
If you hold down the Ctrl key while using the Select tool, it will select from the next selectable layer in the map. In this way, you can select from layers that have overlapping objects.
The Circle Selection tool allows you to draw a circle with the first click as the center. You need to click on hold down the left mouse key while creating the circle in the desired size. Release the left mouse button when the circle has the desired size.
MapInfo Pro will now select all records inside the final circle from the top-most selectable layer in the map.
If the Ruler window is open, it will show the circle radius as you draw. This helps you create a circle of a specific size.
The Marquee Selection tool lets you draw a rectangle for selecting. All records inside the drawn rectangle will be selected. Click and hold down the left mouse button, drag to create the rectangle, and release the mouse button to run the query using the drawn rectangle.
It also shows the distance across the rectangle in the Ruler window as you draw it if the Ruler window is open.
The Polygon Selection tool lets you draw a custom polygon for selecting. It can have any form and number of nodes you desire. You can even use Snap and Trace to follow existing lines on the map when drawing.
The Ruler window will show the distance of the current line segment and the total length of the line drawn.
You can use the Selectable option for the layers to control which layers the tools can select from. This is especially useful if you have many layers in your map. You can also right-click on a layer and use the Make Other Layers Non-selectable menuitem to make only the layer you selected selectable.
Remember that you can use Clear Selection to unselect all records. This can easily be done using the Ctrl+W shortcut.
With the MapCAD tool loaded, you can use the Select by Style control to select records with the same style as the currently selected record.
When you select this option, you will be shown a Select objects by Style dialog. The specific dialog shown depends on the object type you have selected. With a point selected, the dialog looks like this.
You can select what object type(s), you are looking for.
You can select which elements from the style you want to use when querying the table for records with similar styles. By default, all elements from the style will get used.
You are querying the same table as you made your current selection from.
If you have WindowHelper running, you can use the Map Extent Selection control from the Select dropdown on the Map tab.
This will allow you to select records inside the current map extent from the topmost selectable layer. Make sure you have a map window as your active window before selecting the control.
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Peter Horsbøll Møller
Principal Presales Consultant | Distinguished Engineer
Precisely | Trust in Data
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