i never figured what's actually the difference ...
@ alvordr - Thanks for the information.
@ Archie - There seems to be little to no documentation on these tools. However, they are different (albeit still confusing to me).
I have played around with these tools and they do have good value. Here are my discoveries and a bit of an example:
"Select Group"
This tool works in point, edge and poly modes.
It is a "pre-select" tool in that one picks a single or series of points, edges or polys and then when you select the Select Group tool all contiguously connected points, edges or polys (depending on the mode you are in) will be selected. The key message here is "contiguously connected"... this selection is not random or guess work.
This tool does not stay active after the selection. In other words, you can continue to add to the selection by holding the shift key, however, to add another group one must re-select the Select Group tool again.
"Group Select"
This tool only appears to work in poly mode.
It is a "post-select" tool in that one first selects the Group Select tool (which automatically puts you into poly select mode) and as you select a poly it also selects all contiguous edges of your selection.
Unlike the Select Group tool, this tool stays active and by holding the shift key one can continue to add additional groups to the selection (however, you must of corse de-select the tool to add discrete poly's to the selection).
In my opinion, these tools seem to be a compliment and best used when disconnecting groups of poly's within a single object, such as a wall with a window and and window frame. It allows for easy management of the unique parts of the object without having to do splits and deletes.
In the simple example below (fig 1), I disconnected the red poly's from the blue ones. Since all of the red poly's are not contiguous the result is actually four groups on this plane. Two red groups and two blue groups.
Selection of these groups is easy and convenient. Please pay attention to the contiguous nature of things. In the second example (fig 2) the red poly's are connected by a single point. Same with the blue. Therefore, the colors are only contiguous in the point mode because they do not share an edge. Therefore, selecting the shared point in point mode and then selecting the Select Group tool will result in the selection demonstrated in Fig2. Using the edge mode or poly mode, or using the Group Select tool (since it only works in poly mode) will result in the selection demonstrated in Fig 3.
If you haven't embraced these tools I encourage you to work through this example. I think you will find it will speed up your work flow and help organize your objects.
Sorry for the long explanation, but, since these tools are not covered in the help files I thought it might have some benefit to others.
Cheers,
Tom
