Searching for specific network objects

Step-by-step guide

InfoWorks ICM provides a number of tools to help locate and select objects, including zoom tools, selection tools, and the Find in GeoPlan dialog box, which includes the Quick Find tool. A group of selected network objects can also be saved as a selection list for future use.

To complete this exercise, create a new network and import the 1D Sewer Network.isfm snapshot, or open the existing model from the previous lesson onto the GeoPlan.

1. With the network open, right-click the GeoPlan window to view a list of operations that can be performed, such as:
• Zoom in and out
• Zoom to selection
• Zoom to the network extents
• View a specific GIS layer
• View a location online—for example, in Google Maps

2. Click Selection to expand the menu of selection options for the GeoPlan, including Select all objects, Clear selection, and Invert selection.

These options are also accessible from the Selection menu, which appears whenever a network window is the currently active window.

As an example, select all links that connect to an outfall node:

3. With the Selection menu expanded, choose Select Outfall Links.
4. In the GeoPlan, right-click and select Zoom to Selection.

This zooms the GeoPlan view to the extents of the selection, meaning that all selected items, or in this case, outfall links, are now visible.

By default, the selection color of found objects is red, but this can be changed to any color:

5. Right-click the GeoPlan, select Properties & Themes.
6. In the GeoPlan Properties dialog box, click the Visual tab.
7. Under Selection Colours, next to Network, click More (…).
8. In the Windows Colour Picker dialog box, select a new color.

9. Click OK.
10. Click OK again to close the dialog box and set the new selection color.

All of the currently selected items make up the current selection list, which can be saved to the database for future use and shared with other users.

11. In the Explorer window, right-click the model group and select New InfoWorks > Selection list.
12. In the New Name - Selection List dialog box, enter the name "All Outfall Links".

To test the new selection list:

13. Click Selection > Clear Selection.
14. From the Explorer window, drag the selection list and drop it onto the GeoPlan.

The same objects are selected again.

To view the selection list in a grid view:

15. Right-click it and select Open As > Grid View

The grid window opens to an empty Nodes page, because there are no nodes in this selection.

16. Click the Links tab to view the list.

Use the grid view to add items to and remove them from a selection list.

With selection lists, quickly navigate to an area or a particular set of objects. They can also be used to increase time-varying result frequency, and refine and speed up results analysis for the contained objects.

To locate specific network objects:

17. From the menu, select GeoPlan > Find in GeoPlan, or in the GeoPlan Tools toolbar, click Find in GeoPlan.
18. In the Quick Find dialog box, enter the name "TF91295101", and click Find.

The object found appears selected and zoomed in on the GeoPlan.

Quick Find is useful when the exact objects are known, but Advanced Find can perform a search using a string that contains wildcard characters. This is the preferred search type when looking for more than one object.

19. To go to a particular set of coordinates, use the Go to XY Coordinates tool.