Create a selection recipe using attributes

When you create an attribute selection recipe, you can add the attributes specified in the selection recipe to an existing entity in the model. For example, if the selection recipe selects all blue polygon faces, and none of the polygon faces in the model are blue, you can change the color of the polygon faces that you specify so that they are selected by the selection recipe. However, to do this, you must first select the Apply Attributes from Selection Recipe check box in the Customer Defaults dialog box and restart the software.

1. In the Simulation Navigator, right-click the Selection Recipes node.To create a single-strategy selection recipe, choose New Selection Recipe.To create a stacked selection recipe that can include additional strategies or adapters, choose New Stacked Selection Recipe.

2. In the Name box, type a unique name for the selection recipe.

3. From the Strategy list, select Attribute.

4. If you are creating a stacked selection recipe, click Add .

5. From the Input Filter list, select the option that indicates where the entities that you want to select exist.For example, if polygon faces with the same names exist in two different assembly FEM components, you might select Component to select the faces from a particular component.Your choice also affects the type of entities that you can select using this strategy. For example, if you select Polygon Body, you can select only polygon edges or faces. If you select Entire Model or Component, you can also select polygon bodies, curves, or points.

6. If you selected Polygon Body or Component from the Input Filter list, in the Input Filter subgroup, click Select Object and then select the appropriate object.

7. From the Entity Type list, select the type of entity to select.The listed options vary, depending on your selection in the Input Filter list.

8. From the Attribute list, select the attribute that you want to use to determine which entities to select:Name—Selects all entities with a particular name.You can set the name of an entity by editing its properties. For more information, see Assign a name to one or more objects.Note: If you select Name and use only a wild card (*) as the name, you can select all entities of a particular type (such as all polygon faces), whether or not they have a name.Color—Selects all entities of a particular color.You can use this attribute for any entity except a polygon edge.To specify the color of a polygon face, polygon body, curve, or point, right-click the entity in the graphics window and choose Edit Display.User Attribute—Selects all entities with particular attributes that you define.For information about assigning attributes to an entity, see Assign a string, integer, or real object attribute and Assign a time object attribute.Note: This option does not appear when Entity Type is set to Mesh.

9. Click Add Attribute .The attribute type appears in the Attribute column in the list, and a Name, Color, or User Attribute subgroup appears below that list.Tip: To remove an attribute from the list, right-click it and choose Delete.

10. In the displayed subgroup, take the appropriate action, depending on which attribute type you selected:NameTo select all entities that have the same name or a similar name (such as all entities whose name begins with FORCE), from the Value Type list, select Single Value.To select entities that have distinct names (such as only the entities named FORCE1 or FORCE2, or all entities whose name begins with either FORCE or LOAD), select Discrete Values.Tip: To select all entities of the specified type (such as all polygon faces), whether or not they have a name, select Single Value.If you selected Single Value, in the Name box, type the name that each entity must have in order to be selected by the selection recipe. Then press Tab to add the name to the Attributes list table.For example, if Entity Type is set to Polygon Face and you set Name to FORCE, the selection recipe selects all polygon faces named FORCE. This name is not case-sensitive unless Entity Type is set to Mesh.You can also use an asterisk (*) or dot (.) as a wildcard. An asterisk represents multiple characters; a dot represents a single character.To use an asterisk or dot as a literal part of the name, you must precede that symbol with an at sign (@). For example, to select all faces named FACE.1, you would type FACE@.1 in the box.If you type only an asterisk, the selection recipe selects all of the specified type of entities, whether or not they have a name.If you selected Discrete Values, click Edit Discrete Values and type at least two unique comma-separated names in the Edit Discrete Values dialog box.Like single values, discrete names are not case-sensitive unless Entity Type is set to Mesh, and you can use wildcards, dots, and at signs as described above.You can also use the Cut , Copy , and Paste commands to modify the text that appears.When you click OK in the Edit Discrete Values dialog box, a portion of the specified names appears in the Values box and the Value column in the preceding dialog box.In addition, if the same name is used more than once, the duplicates are removed automatically. This process is case-sensitive, so Force and FORCE would not be considered duplicates, but FORCE and FORCE would be.ColorClick the Color box. In the Color dialog box, specify the color that each entity must use in order to be selected by the selection recipe, and then click OK. The color ID and name appear in the Attribute list table.User AttributeComplete the options described in User Attribute, and then press Tab to add the specified title/alias to the Attribute list table.

11. To add more attributes, repeat steps 8–10.You can add each type of attribute only once. For example, you can add a name and color attribute, but you cannot add two name attributes. Each entity must have all of the listed attributes in order to be selected by the selection recipe.

12. (Optional) If you are creating a single-strategy selection recipe and want to highlight the selected entities in the graphics window, click Show Result . To stop highlighting the entities and activate the options in the dialog box so that you can change the selection recipe as needed, click Undo Result .If you are creating a stacked selection recipe, you can highlight the selected entities after you click OK in the Attribute Strategy dialog box.Tip: To see interior entities, choose View tab→Visibility group→See-Thru All .

13. Click OK.

14. If you are creating a single-strategy selection recipe, go to step 17.If you are creating a stacked selection recipe, the Attribute Strategy dialog box closes, and the Create Stacked Selection Recipe dialog box reappears. Go to the next step.Note: If you are creating a stacked selection recipe and 0 appears in the Count column in the strategy table, the selection recipe is not selecting any entities. You might have specified an incorrect name, color, or other value, or you might need to add the attribute to an entity, which you can do later in this procedure. To modify the strategy, right-click the strategy in the list and choose Edit.

15. (Optional) To narrow or widen the scope of your selection, select another strategy or an adapter from the Strategy list, click Add , and then complete the displayed dialog box (if any).For example, you might select Bounding Volume to limit the selected polygon faces to those within a defined area, or select Related Elements to select all of the elements associated with the selected polygon faces.

16. Click OK in the Create Stacked Selection Recipes dialog box.

17. If the Apply Attributes from Selection Recipe check box is cleared in the Customer Defaults dialog box, or if that check box is selected and the selection recipe selects at least one entity, the selection recipe appears under Selection Recipes in the Simulation Navigator.However, if that check box is selected and the selection recipe selects no entities, you are prompted about applying the attributes from the selection recipe to an entity in the model. Click No to create the selection recipe as is, or click Yes and go to the next step.Note: If the selection recipe includes a wildcard, a message box indicates that you cannot apply the attributes to any entity. Click Close. The selection recipe appears under Selection Recipes.When you apply the attributes to an entity, all the attributes in the selection recipe are applied, which might overwrite an existing attribute. For example, you might create a selection recipe to select all blue polygon faces named FORCE. If you apply those attributes to a blue polygon face named LOAD, the existing name is overwritten.If an attribute specifies multiple discrete values, you can apply only the first or last value in the series to each selected entity. If an attribute specifies a range of values, you can apply only the low or high value.

18. In the Apply Attributes from Selection Recipe dialog box, if the Discrete Attribute Preference group appears, click First Value to apply the first value in the list of discrete values to the entity that you will subsequently select, or click Last Value to apply the last value.For example, suppose the attribute strategy includes a name attribute for which Value Type is set to Discrete Values, and the discrete values are FORCE1, FORCE2, FORCE3. If you click First Value, then the name for the selected entity is set to FORCE1. If you click Last Value, then the name is set to FORCE3.

19. If the Range Attribute Preference group appears, click Low Value to apply the low value in the range to the entity that you will subsequently select, or click High Value to apply the high value.For example, suppose the attribute strategy includes a user attribute for which Type is set to Integer, Value Type is set to Range, Low Integer Value is set to 1, and High Integer Value is set to 5. If you click Low Value in the Apply Attributes from Selection Recipe dialog box, then the integer value for the selected entity is set to 1. If you click High Value, then the integer value is set to 5.

20. Click Select Object and select the desired entity.You can select only the appropriate type of entity. For example, if Entity Type is set to Polygon Face, you can select only polygon faces, but you can select as many polygon faces as you want.

21. Click OK in the Apply Attributes from Selection Recipe dialog box.All the appropriate attributes in the selection recipe are applied to the selected entities, and the selection recipe appears under Selection Recipes in the Simulation Navigator.

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