Selecting a group of items

You can select multiple items on the chart. For example, you can view the properties of several items at the same time.

To select several items on the chart, you can either:

  • Select the first chart item, hold down the Ctrl key and click each additional chart item.
  • Drag a selection box around the chart items you want to select.

When all the items you want to select are within a certain area of the chart, it is easier to select them all by dragging a box around them.

To create the selection box, hold down the left mouse button and drag around all the items you want to select. A gray dotted line shows the extent of the box. When you release the mouse button, all the items enclosed within the box are selected.
  • To add the enclosed items to an existing selection, hold down the Shift key as you drag. A small addition sign is shown at the lower right edge of the selection box.
  • To remove the enclosed items from an existing selection, hold down the Ctrl key as you drag. A small subtraction sign appears at the lower right edge of the selection box.
An item must be completely within the box to be selected. For example:
  • To select a link, both ends of the link must be wholly within the box.
  • To select an icon, all the displayed text beneath the icon, including attributes must be within the box.
  • To select a theme line, the theme line icon and all the displayed text beneath it must be within the box. Both ends of the theme line do not have to be enclosed.
  • To select a box or a circle, all of the box edge and circle circumference must be within the box.

When you drag a rectangle across the chart by using the right mouse button, you can select what action to perform on items within that rectangle from the menu:

Select Only Enclosed Selects all the items within the rectangle. Clears all other items on the chart.
Deselect Enclosed Removes all the items within the rectangle from the current selection.
Select Enclosed Adds all the items within the rectangle to the current selection, if any.
Zoom to Area The selected area is displayed to fill the window.