Selecting features interactively
Release 9.2 Last modified January 9, 2008	Print all topics in : "Selecting features and graphics"

About selecting features interactively

Selecting features allows you to identify or more easily locate a subset of features on your map. You'll most likely work with selected features when you are querying, exploring, analyzing, or editing data. Applying a selection is also a way of specifying the features for which you want to calculate statistics, view attributes, move, and so on.

There are several ways you can select features. You can select features with your mouse pointer by clicking them one at a time or by dragging a box around them on the map. There are two main tools to use to select features interactively on the map:

• The Select Features tool on the Tools toolbar
  
• The Edit tool on the Editor toolbar (The Edit tool and the ability to select features with an edit task will only be available when you are in an edit session.)
  

You can also select features in the map by selecting their records in the table or graph window with your mouse pointer. Selecting features on the map, in a table, or in a graph is immediately represented in each of these views.

Before you select features with one of these methods, you can specify which layers are selectable. Do this when the features you want to select overlap or are close to features from other layers. For example, if you have a layer of cities where many of the cities are on rivers, you can avoid selecting rivers by specifying that you want to select from the cities layer only. You can select from the layers that are checked in the Selection tab at the bottom of the table of contents or in the Set Selectable Layers dialog box, which you can open by clicking the Selection menu and clicking Set Selectable Layers. Uncheck the layers you don't want to be able to select from. In the example, you'd make sure that cities are checked, but you should uncheck the rivers layer.

As you are selecting, the number of features selected is shown immediately in the lower left corner of the ArcMap window after you make the selection. It's also shown after the layer name on the Selection tab of the table of contents.

Learn more about the tabs on the table of contents

Selecting features while in an edit session

Selecting features identifies the features on which you want to perform certain editing operations. For example, before you move, delete, or copy a feature, you must select it. You must also select features before you can view their attributes in the Attributes dialog box. For geodatabase annotation features, you must select features to change their symbology.

When editing, you can also select features by creating a line or a polygon that intersects the features you want to select. You can select geodatabase annotation features using the Edit Annotation tool. Only annotation features are selectable with this tool.

When you are in an edit session, the small "x" located in the center of the selected features is the selection anchor. The selection anchor is used when rotating features, moving features using snapping, and scaling features.

Why does the Edit tool let you select features in layers that you are not currently editing? The answer is that there are various editing operations that can utilize any selected features in your map as inputs for the creation of new data in the layers you are editing—for example, copying and pasting features, tracing features, using the Copy Features tool on the Advanced Editing toolbar, and so on.

How to select features interactively

Making a layer selectable

1. Click the Selection menu and click Set Selectable Layers or click the Selection tab of the table of contents.
   
2. Check the check boxes next to the layer names you want to be able to select. Uncheck the boxes next to the names you don't want to be able to select.
   

Layers whose names are unchecked are still visible in your map but can't be selected.

Tips

When setting selectable layers, you can check or uncheck all layers by holding down the Ctrl key while clicking one of the check boxes. You can make one layer selectable and make all the other layers unselectable by right-clicking the layer, pointing to Selection, and clicking Make This The Only Selectable Layer. This command is available in all the tabs of the table of contents. In situations where you just want to make one particular layer the only selectable layer, this command saves you having to use the Selection tab or Set Selectable Layers dialog box.

Setting the search tolerance for selection tools

1. Click Selection on the Main menu and click Options.
   
2. Type a new Selection tolerance. The default is 3 pixels.
   
3. Click OK.
   

Tips

The selection tolerance specifies how close you need to click near a feature for it to be selected. Reduce the search tolerance if you find that these tools are selecting too many features when you use them. Increase the search tolerance if you find it hard to select features with these tools. The selection tolerance is used by several tools, such as the Identify, Edit, Edit Annotation, and Hyperlink tools. This setting is stored in your map document.

Selecting features by clicking them in the map

1. Click the Select Features tool on the Tools toolbar.
   
2. Click the feature you want to select.
   
3. Hold down the Shift key while clicking features to select additional features.
   

Tips

To deselect all selected features at once, click the map where there are no features, click a feature of a layer that is not selectable, or click the Clear Selected Features tool on the Tools toolbar. To select multiple features, hold down Shift and click them or simply drag a box around them. To add features to an existing selection by dragging a box, hold down Shift while you drag. To remove one or more features from a selection of multiple features, hold down Shift and click the features. To select from a selection, hold down Ctrl and click. To remove a feature from the selected set, click the Selection menu, point to Interactive Selection Method, and click Remove From Current Selection. Click a selected feature and it deselects.

Selecting features by dragging a box around them

1. Click Selection on the Main menu and click Options.
   
2. Specify how you'd like to select features with the box and click OK.
   
3. Click the Select Features tool on the Tools toolbar.
   
4. Click and drag a box around the features you want to select.
   
5. Hold down the Shift key as you drag the box to select additional features.
   
To remove a feature from the selected set, click the Selection menu, point to Interactive Selection Method, and click Remove From Current Selection. Drag a box around the features you want to deselect.

Tip

To select multiple features, hold down Shift and click them or simply drag a box around them. To add features to an existing selection by dragging a box, hold down Shift while you drag. To remove one or more features from a selection of multiple features, hold down Shift and click the features. To select from a selection, hold down Ctrl and click.

Selecting features by clicking them in a table

1. Right-click a layer in the table of contents and click Open Attribute Table.
   
2. Select a feature in the table by clicking to the left of a record.
   
3. Hold down the Ctrl key and click additional features to select them.
   
To deselect a feature, hold down the Ctrl key and click the feature.

Tip

To select consecutive records in a table, click and drag the mouse pointer up or down.

Selecting features by clicking them in a graph

1. Create a graph.
   
2. In the graph window, click a bar or drag a box around the features you want to select.
   
Selecting features on the map, in a table, or in a graph is immediately represented in each of these views.

Tip

Graphs can update based on selections. See Interactive querying of graphs for more information.

Selecting features using the Edit tool while editing

1. Click the Edit tool . (You need to be in an edit session to select features this way.)
   
2. Click the feature you want to select.
   
3. Hold down the Shift key while clicking features to select additional features.
   

Tips

The Edit tool works on all selectable layers. If you have other layers that overlap with or are nearby the features you want to select for editing, you might want to uncheck those layers in the Selectable Layers list to avoid inadvertently selecting from the wrong layer. If you are trying to select one feature from a series of overlapping features, you can use the N key to cycle through the selection to select the next coincident feature. You can press the N key as many times as you need to select the feature you want. To select more than one feature in an area, click once with the Edit tool. Then hold down the mouse button and draw a box around the features. Release the mouse button to select the features. To remove features from the selection set, hold down the Shift key while you click the features. To move the selection anchor, move the pointer over it, press the Ctrl key, and drag the selection anchor to the desired location.

Selecting features using a line while editing

1. Click the Current Task drop-down arrow and click Select Features Using a Line. (You need to be in an edit session to select features this way.)
   
2. Click the tool palette drop-down arrow and click the Sketch tool or any of the other construction tools in the tool palette.
   
3. Construct a line that intersects the features you want to select.
   

The features that the line intersects are selected.

Selecting features using a polygon while editing

1. Click the Current Task drop-down arrow and click Select Features Using an Area. (You need to be in an edit session to select features this way.)
   
2. Click the tool palette drop-down arrow and click the Sketch tool or any of the other construction tools in the tool palette.
   
3. Construct a polygon that intersects the features you want to select.
   

The features that intersect with the polygon you created are selected.

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