If you only want to select objects for further analysis rather than edit the objects, make the layer selectable. More than one layer can be selectable at a time. If a layer is editable, it is also selectable.
Many MapInfo Pro functions require that map objects be selected before performing the particular operation. To use Select, Label, or Info you must first make the layer selectable. Unlike the editable feature, more than one layer may be selectable at the same time. You may, however, only select from one layer at a time.
The Select command selects objects from the topmost Selectable layer. To select an object that is not in the top Selectable layer, you can turn off the Selectable option in the Layers window for every layer above the layer you want to select from by selecting a layer's Selectable 
icon to deactivate it. Alternatively, you can leave all layers Selectable and use the Ctrl key in combination with the Select button to cycle through each Selectable layer.
instead.To make a layer selectable:
- On the HOME tab, in the Windows group, click Tool Windows, and click Explorer from the list, to open the Explorer window.
- Click the Selectable icon to make the layer selectable.
- Click OK to return to the Map window.
To make more than one layer at a time selectable, select the layers you want and then select the Selectable icon for one of the layers.
For example, if you want to find all customers who live within a fifty kilometers radius of Paris, make the Street layer selectable. If the map also includes a layer of hospitals (which you do not want to include in the radius search), turn off the Selectable option for the hospital layer.
The Editable or Selectable options only apply to the Map window itself. You can always select objects using the Select or SQL Select commands regardless of whether a layer is selectable.
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