Isolate, or is it Displayset>Set?

Try View Set instead.

Hi Tom,

Isolate and Isolate Clear are context menu items that use the Displayset function.

Isolate runs 'displayset set selection'

Isolate Clear runs 'Displayset clear'

When you pick Isolate, note that [Displayset] is added to the view window's title bar.

You can use View Attributes > Displayset to toggle the isolation on/off without clearing it.

It should work with any selected elements, if not please post a sample file.

Tom,

1. I can't answer this question as I never use Treat Attachment as Element for Manipulation

2. No.  There is no difference between them (other than Shift+Right-click gives you the additional options.  I believe the naming difference evolved when Bentley Navigator V8i came out and renamed DisplaySet to Isolate the the context sensitive menus for clarity for non-MicroStation users.  At some point MicroStation/PowerPlatform adopted that as well in the Right-Click menu, but left it as DisplaySet in the Shift+Right-click menu for legacy users.

I hope this helps.

Travis

Thanks Travis, that clarifies - but leaves me thinking the whole legacy issue has been running the show for too long, hampering modernisation and creating a poorly documented black-box whose convoluted logic can only be understood by old hands.

I do hope that 'legacy' can be frozen soon and that a state-of-art modern easy-use interface be offered, to at least equal the competition - with an option to switch at any time to 'frozen legacy' mode. A bit like Revit being switchable to Autodesk Architecture interface!

Impossible? I seriously think that Bentley has no choice.

Hi Tom,

Unknown said:

while 'Treat Attachment as Element for Manipulation' was checked in References dialog

the reference is treated as a single element so display set will not be able to access individual elements. (I think the idea of this option being to reduce the number of clicks needed when moving, mirroring, etc a reference. These days people tend to have their references in the right place rather than randomly drawn where the first mouse click happened to be so less need to move them around.)

Unknown said:

If not, why call it 2 opaquely different (and undocumented) things, just because it's a 1-click shortening of a 2-click procedure?

• Isolate is a specific process (or workflow)
• Displayset is the tool that enables it.
• The Isolate menu option is an ease of use overlay.
• Displayset isn't a legacy tool.

Also Displayset's additional features, Add and Remove for instance, might sound a bit odd if Displayset was renamed Isolate.

Thank you for pointing out that Isolate is undocumented, defect 86647 has been filed.

I discover that a Ref doesn't get included in a super-easy Ctrl +A (or R click>Select All); is selectable only by e.g. ElemSelect>Block.

That's a drag but only a small one, because after Ctrl + A, Ref(s) can be added to the selection with one click provided 'Treat Attachment as Element for Manipulation' is checked.

Except that's no use, because after Displayset>Set (or Isolate) the Ref's linework disappears, leaving only the Ref's boundary visible.

Is there any gd reason for the latter?

I do realise that "the reference is treated as a single element so display set will not be able to access individual elements".

I think the linework dissappearing in the Ref with TAAEFM set could be a bug but it may actually be WAD. I don't like having that set on a Ref because when you do Level Off can't be used to hide a particular Level in that Ref.

With TAAEFM the Ref is treated like a block/cell, and only the Level from the "cell header" (Level setting of the Ref) is shown or hidden, not the levels of the actual reference.

In the same logic, if you do an Isolate on that Ref only the elements on the level of the cell header are shown and that probably means all the linework will dissappear. It's probably logical, but not very useful.

I think the linework dissappearing in the Ref with TAAEFM set could be a bug but it may actually be WAD. I don't like having that set on a Ref because when you do Level Off can't be used to hide a particular Level in that Ref.

With TAAEFM the Ref is treated like a block/cell, and only the Level from the "cell header" (Level setting of the Ref) is shown or hidden, not the levels of the actual reference.

In the same logic, if you do an Isolate on that Ref only the elements on the level of the cell header are shown and that probably means all the linework will dissappear. It's probably logical, but not very useful.

Is this suitable for a SR? I would like someone to look at these 2 questions:

a) why the confusing dual terminology, introducing Acad-alike 'Isolate' meaning same as 'Displayset>Set'.

Unknown said:

Displayset's additional features, Add and Remove for instance, might sound a bit odd if Displayset was renamed Isolate

b) why shouldn't selecting a ref for inclusion in a Displayset (to remain visible as-is) count as a Manipulation as defined by the setting 'Treat Attachment as an Element for Manipulation'? Why, with TAAAEFM set, should the ref's linework disappear after Displayset>Set, leaving only its boundary visible? I understand that technically with TAAEFM set, only the ref's boundary gets selected, not its contents, but still ...

Can I file a SR that simply gives a link to this thread, instead of writing it all out again?

Unknown said:

people tend to have their references in the right place ... so less need to move them around

Unknown said:

I don't like having that set on a Ref because ...