Working with Element Groups

Elements can be grouped together into groups which can then be edited together. Whether the groups or the individual elements are edited can be enabled and disabled as needed. It is thus necessary to break up a group if you want to edit an individual element of the group.

3D objects in the layout space can also be combined in groups and moved together or be duplicated.

Plot frames, symbols, and forms are special elements.

Plot frames cannot be selected, and so it is also impossible to group elements with plot frames or to ungroup plot frame groups.
Forms cannot be selected, and so it is also impossible to group elements with forms or to ungroup form groups.
Symbols can be arbitrarily grouped. The symbol itself is the smallest possible unit. It is not possible to break a symbol down into pure graphics.

Group elements

Precondition:

The option Consider groupings is selected.

Hold down [Ctrl] and click the elements that you would like to group. (Alternatively, you can open a frame around the desired elements using the mouse.)

The elements are selected.
Select the menu item Edit > Other > Group.

The selected elements are placed together into a group.
To move a single element of a group without removing the grouping, select the element and then move it while holding down the [Shift] key.

The element is moved but remains part of the group.

Already grouped elements can also be combined into a new group. This allows the nesting of groups. A combination of grouped and ungrouped elements is also possible.

Ungrouping

Precondition:

The option Consider groupings is selected.

Select the group you wish to ungroup.
Select the menu items Edit > Other > Ungroup.

The group is broken up into its components, but subgroups are retained.

Warning:

If you wish to define your own keyboard shortcut for the Ungroup command, please ensure that this keyboard shortcut does not contain the [Shift] key because this key has a special meaning for grouping (see the note below ).

Consider groupings

If the Consider groupings option is selected, all commands are applied to the entire group. If you select an element of a group, the entire group is selected. Correspondingly, actions like block editing, deletion, copying, moving, and so on, are performed on the entire group.

Note:

To move a single element of a group without removing the grouping, or to temporarily ignore the grouping, select the element and then move it while holding down the [Shift] key.

If the option is deactivated, all elements are treated as individual elements. This makes it possible to edit, delete, move elements, etc. which are in a group. If such elements are copied, the new elements lose their group membership.

If group consideration is deactivated, the Group and Ungroup commands can also no longer be executed.

Select the menu items Options > Consider groupings to activate or deactivate this option.

Tip:

The [Shift] key allows the Consider groupings option to be temporarily switched off. This makes the insertion points, properties dialog, and context menu quickly accessible for the selected elements.

Note:

The Consider groupings option also affects the grouped functions of a device group. Correspondingly, actions like block editing, deletion, copying, moving, and so on, are performed on the entire device group if the option is selected.