Clicking on a record handle in the table is the same as a Select Touch on that record.
In the illustration above we click on the record handle for the Nevada record to select it. Selecting a record will combine it with any existing selection in accordance with the selection mode (Replace, Add and so on) currently in force.
If the table is linked to a drawing it will select the object associated with that record as well. When tables are linked to drawings each record in the table corresponds to one object (a point, line or area) in the drawing. The objects in the drawing and the records associated with them become the same thing for all intents and purposes. We can then consider the table as simply an alternate way of looking at the objects in our drawing.
If a table is linked to a drawing, making a selection in the drawing will automatically select the records in the table associated with the selected objects. These records will appear highlighted in red selection color. Likewise, making a selection in a table by highlighting records will select the associated objects in the drawing.
Just like drawings and images, tables also can save selections in the Selections pane . When a table is linked to a drawing, the saved selections will be the same for both the table and the drawing. Showing a preview from the Selections pane will cause those records in the previewed selection to be displayed with light blue background color.
Selecting Records in Tables
We select records in tables by clicking on their record handle. Manifold supports the usual Windows "power moves" to highlight items in tables, with slight modifications to deal with selection modes.
§ Clicking on a cell in a record moves the focus to that cell without changing the selection.
§ Clicking on a record handle selects the record or a range of records in accordance with the current selection mode.
§ Holding the SHIFT key down while clicking applies the selection operation to a range of records. This is often used to highlight a series of records: click on the top record and then Shift-click on the bottom record and all the records in between will also be highlighted.
§ Holding the CTRL key down while clicking will extend the click to the entire record as if the record handle were clicked, thus selecting in accordance with selection modes. CTRL is used when tables are wider than the table window so that it is inconvenient to click on the record handle. We can then CTRL-click onto any cell to select that record and CTRL-SHIFT-click on a cell to select a range of records.
§ To deselect a record, change the selection mode to Subtract and click on the record handle or CTRL-click on any cell in a record.
Records in tables may also be selected using the Query toolbar for rapid selection using simple query operators.
Showing Only the Selection in a Table
When working with large tables we may wish to pop open a table window that shows only records in the selection.
To show only the selection in a table:
1. Open the table.
2. In the main menu press in the Selection Filter button.
Showing a table with Selection Filter pressed in will dynamically update the table every time the selection changes either in the table or in an associated drawing. If we have a table with a thousand records in it and five are selected, then only five records will initially appear in the filtered table window and all of them will be highlighted. If we CTRL-click on one of them to de-select it (remember, CTRL-clicking on a highlighted record toggles the highlighting) it will disappear from that table.
See the View - Selection Filter topic for an example.
Query Toolbar Restricted to the Selection Filter
When the selection filter button is engaged subsequent operations of the query toolbar will apply only to those records that are shown in view by the selection filter. This makes it easy to run simple queries that refine the result of a previous query toolbar operation.
Suppose we select records with values in column A greater than 0. Suppose we now want to select records with values in column B greater than 0, regardless of what is in column A: that's easy to do as we simply run the query toolbar again.
Now suppose we again select records with values in column A greater than 0, but this time we also want to find within those selected records only those records that have values in B greater than 0 as well. After making the selection with the query toolbar to find those records with values in A greater than 0 we turn on the selection filter so that those records are shown and then next we run the query toolbar one more time to find those records that also have values in B greater than 0.
Selection using SQL
Structured Query Language (SQL) is an industry standard database query language used to select records from tables and to present those records with the fields desired. The result of an SQL query is what appears to be a new table. Although this is "selection" in the database sense of the word, the actual records and the objects with which they are associated are not selected in the Manifold sense of the word. They simply appear as their own table.
To use SQL to make a selection in the Manifold sense of the word we click open the SQL Query to see the table it creates and then we choose Edit - Select All to select all the records in that table.
See the introductory topics on SQL beginning with Queries . For reference information on SQL see the SQL Reference Guide information beginning with the SQL in Manifold System topic.
Saved Selections and Tables
Just like other components, we can open the selections pane and use it to save selections that we make in a table window. This is a very handy when making different selections and wishing to get back to a previously-made selection.
Selection Using More Like This
We can also select records in tables using the More Like commands. See the More Like This topic for more information.