Using Find Similar Objects Tools in Altium Designer

Parent page: Design Object Selection

The Find Similar Objects process uses the attributes of a target object as a reference for finding several other objects with similar characteristics. It can be accessed in the following ways:

• By using the Edit » Find Similar Objects menu command.
• By using the Shift+F shortcut.
• When right-clicking over an object.

The Find Similar Objects dialog is divided into two primary sections; the upper section consists of a grid that lists the attributes of the reference object, and the lower section consists of a group of check boxes that define what will happen once the Apply or OK button is clicked.

The first (left) column lists the object's parameters, the second (middle) column lists the parameter's current value, and the third (right) column is used to specify how that parameter should be used to select additional objects. By default, the Object Kind parameter will be set to Same, with all other parameters set to Any. This basically means 'find all objects of the same kind, regardless of other parameteric values'. Make changes to narrow the search as required.

To search for objects with different values, enter the search pattern into the attribute value column directly; the '*' character can be used as a wildcard for finding any group of characters – i.e. C* will find C1, C2, C20, C397, Cap5, etc. Edits made to the attribute value in the dialog will not alter the attributes of the reference object.

The right column of the table contains a drop-down list of options used for specifying how the associated attribute should be used to find similar objects:

• Any - Find similar objects with an attribute value that has any value. This is the default that will ignore the associated attribute from the filter.
• Same - Find similar object with an attribute set to the same value as this one.
• Different - Find similar object with an attribute set to a different value to this one.

The options in the lower section of the Find Similar Objects dialog define the action to be taken for the identified items.  The check boxes and drop-down fields operate as follows once the Apply or OK button is clicked:

• Zoom Matching - zoom the display to a window that encompasses all found objects in the workspace.
• Select Matched - select all found objects matching the search criteria.
• Clear Existing - clear any existing Selection or Editing Mask before performing the search. Uncheck this option if doing successive Find Similar Objects searches and it is desirable for the results to accumulate.
• Create Expression - create an expression that matches the criteria specified by the Find Similar Objects dialog and enter it into an associated Filter panel. The Filter panel will be opened if it is not already. This option makes it possible to use the Find Similar Objects dialog as a quick way of constructing complicated filtering operations.
• Open Properties - enable to automatically open the Properties panel.