Selecting from the Screen - MapInfo_Pro - 2023

To select objects from the screen, the layer that contains the objects must be selectable. To make a layer selectable, on the HOME tab, in the Windows group, click Tool Windows, and click Layers from the list, to open the Layers window. In the Layers window, click the Selectable icon beside a layer name to turn On selection.

When you select map objects in a selectable layer, MapInfo Pro highlights the objects using Highlight Control settings (on the PRO tab, click Options, and Styles). When you select map objects in an editable layer, MapInfo Pro places edit handles (small squares) around the extents of the object you selected.

If you have more than one selectable layer in a Map window, MapInfo Pro selects objects from the topmost Selectable layer.

For example, you have a selectable layer of county boundaries and a selectable layer of state boundaries. If the county boundaries are in the topmost layer in the Map window, MapInfo Pro selects objects from the county layer. If the state boundaries are in the topmost layer in the Map window, MapInfo Pro selects objects from the STATES layer. When you use the Select command, MapInfo Pro also displays information tips for the topmost selectable layer. As you move your cursor over the objects, the information tips display the object's label expression. You can turn off the information tips in the Map Preferences dialog (on the PRO tab, click Options, and Map Window).

Likewise, if you perform a boundary search, the boundary object that you want to search should be in the topmost layer.

For example, you have a layer of postal code boundaries and a layer of state boundaries. If you want to select all objects that fall within a postal code boundary, the postal code layer should be the topmost boundary layer. If you want to select all objects that fall within a given state, the state layer should be the topmost boundary layer. You can reorder the layers in the Layers window (On the HOME tab, in the Windows group, click Tool Windows, and click Layers from the list).

You can select objects from tables other than the topmost table, by holding down the Ctrl key when you are selecting an object. For example, say you have three selectable layers, such as STATES, COUNTIES, and CITIES. If you want to select objects in the STATES table, but it is the bottom layer in the Map window, do the following:

1. Hold down the Ctrl key and click the map with the Select command. You are now in the second layer.
2. Hold down the Ctrl key and click the map again with the Select command. You are now selecting objects from the third layer, the STATES layer.

You can find the Select command on the MAP tab, in the Selection group.

Selecting a Single Object from a Map or Layout

Making selections is a basic MapInfo Pro operation. Using the Select command is only one way of making selections.

To select a single object from a map or an active map in a layout:

1. On the MAP tab, in the Selection group, click Select from the list of selection commands. The cursor becomes a pointer. If you are editing records in a browser, the cursor becomes an I-beam.
2. Click the object on the map.

The layer where the object is located has to be selectable in the Map window. When an object is selected it is highlighted according to the settings you specified on the PRO tab, by clicking Options, and Map Window.

• When the layer is editable, the selected object is surrounded by edit handles and is colored and patterned as it was originally defined.
• When you select another object, the first object is unselected.
• To select a number of objects from a map or an active map in a layout, hold the Shift key down while selecting objects.