Selecting

Selecting is often the first step for the user in working with an object. Throughout the CommonPoint application system, the user typically accomplishes an operation by selecting the target object and choosing the desired operation.

To select an object, the user moves the mouse cursor over the object and clicks the mouse button. The object is highlighted to provide visual feedback that it is selected.
To select text, the user presses the mouse button down and drags over the desired text. The range of selected text is highlighted to indicate selection.

The Shift modifier key is used to extend or contract selections. Shift-click outside of the current selection extends the selection to that point, Shift-click within the selection contracts the selection to that point. For example, if you select the first line of a five line paragraph, and then Shift-click at the end of the paragraph, all five lines of the paragraph are selected. If you then Shift-click in the middle of the third line, the selection is contracted to that point, including only the first two and a half lines. Similarly, in a scrolling list, Shift is used to add contiguous items to the selection.

The Control modifier key is used to add or remove noncontiguous items from selections. For example, in a scrolling list, Control-click can be used to add a noncontiguous item to a selection or remove an item from a selection.

In an object-based graphics program, a marquee rectangle can be used for the selection of objects within a bounding rectangle.

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