Overview
Set of commands to manipulate selection.
Compatible
- Sketchup 6+ (Older versions untested)
- Windows* and Mac
Requires
- TT_Lib 1.2.0
- Windows requires Internet Explorer 7 or newer for the UI Manager window to function.
New in version 2
Many many bugs brutally squashed. Accuracy improved. Selection speed improved. A spanking new toolbar with a stupid amount of icons. (Don't worry - it will have to be enabled first!) And last but not least: a UI Manager.
New in version 2.1
New in version 2.2
- Select Quad-Face loop now accept mulitple start-edges
- Added Selection filters for Border Edges
- Added Selection filters for Selection Border
- Fixed Select Instances by Layer bug
- Updated some method names to reflect changes in TT_Lib 1.2
Toolbar
Customize the amount of buttons you want from the UI manager.
Have no fear! You must enable it from Tools->Selection Toys->Enable Toolbar before it appears under View->Toolbars->Selection Toys.
This is to avoid the possibility of the dreaded toolbar mayhem that might occur when you add a new toolbar. So if you never want to use this plugin's toolbar you don't have to worry about it causing problems.
However, if you do enable it, be aware you might suffer toolbar madness - there is nothing I can do about that. I warned yee!
Tools:
Select Edge Loops — (1.14.0)
Access: Tools -> Selection Toys -> Select Edge Loop
This select tool will pick out the loops of a face. Using the normal Select modifier keys you can add/remove/toggle their selection. Loops are either the bounding edges of a face or a hole in a face.
Components:
Select Instances - Selects all the instances of the selected component.
(Works just like Rick W.'s Instances script)
Select Active Components - Selects all the instances in the current work space. Excludes everything that's nested inside other components etc.
(Works just like 'Select Instances' when you right click an component from the component browser.)
Select Active from same Layer - Selects all the instances in the current work space of the selected component which is on the same layer.
Select All from same Layer - Selects all the instances of the selected component which is on the same layer.
Dynamic Components:
Same methods as for Components, except that it allows you to select by DC family type. Commands located under 'DC Instances' submenu.
Groups
When you make a copy of a group without modifying it SketchUp keeps a track of each these group items that's similar. You can see the Entity Info give you a number of how many copies there are.
(Commands are located under the submenu 'Copies')
Same selection methods as for Components.
Convert into Components - Converts all the group copies into components. Transformation and materials will be transferred.
Useful for when you have a model where groups where used instead of components.
Edges
Select Quad-face Loop - Select one edge and the connected faces and lines going in either direction from that edge will be selected as long as the faces have four edges. More or less than four edges and the selecting stops at that point.
Faces
- Select Connected Perpendicular Faces
- Select Connected Parallel Faces
- Select Connected Coplanar Faces
- Connected Faces by Angle
- Connected Faces by Area
- Select Perpendicular Faces
- Select Faces in Same Direction
- Select Parallel Faces
- Select Opposite Face
- Select Faces by Area
Edges/Faces
- Select Connected By Material
- Select Connected By Back Material
- Select Connected By Layer
Entities
- All on Selected Layers - Select all the entities in the model that are on the same layer as the selected entities.
- Active on Selected Layers - Select all the entities in the active context that are on the same layer as the selected entities.
Selection Modifier
Selection Submenu - Currently there's two kinds of modifiers. One filters out the type of entity you want. The other deselects the entity you specify.
You can filter/deselect these kind of entities: Edges, Faces, Groups, Components, Guides, Construction Points, Text, Images, Section Planes, Curves, Arcs, Circles, Polygons, nGons, 3D Polylines, Linear Dimension, Radial Dimension, Front Default Material, Back Default Material, Hidden, Soft, Smooth
Other filtering options are filtering entities with default materials, by their layers.
Tip: Assign keyboard shortcuts for these commands for quick selection modification. For instance; Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+9 for the filters and Shift+1 to Shift+9 for the deselectors. Very handy.
Known Issues:
- Ghost selections appear when selecting all groups/instances and some of them are nested inside other groups or components. (Fixed in Sketchup 7.1.)
- Convert Groups to Components doesn't transfer glued_to and attributes.
UI Manager
The UI Manager let you add and remove menu and toolbar items. So if there's features you never use you can hide them forever! Check / Uncheck to add or remove - items marked green will be added next time Sketchup starts, items marked red will be removed.
i wonder if i would be the only one to make use of this script when i made this request i got a lot of technique suggestions 
