idea Save a Selection Set in ArcGIS Pro Ideas

Save a Selection Set

WalterKeyes — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 17:05:32 GMT

I would like to have the ability to name and save/manage a selected set of features similar to saving Bookmarks.

In the same light, have a button that will allow me to "Reselect Previous". If I have a challenging selection made and I hit the wrong key, I have to reprocess my selection again. I would like the ability to reselect the same "last" features on the fly without building a model.

Re: Save a Selection Set

CarlosIsaac_Cabrera — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:13:09 GMT

I like this idea, I've made a similar request and its nice to see another person that can see the use of it.

Re: Save a Selection Set

DavidKnudsen — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:59:43 GMT

I have also made missteps after a complex, sequential selection and had to start all over again. I reflexively consider trying to "undo" and then realize that I can't.

Re: Save a Selection Set

JasonHart — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 17:40:43 GMT

Have you looked at saving the selection as a seperate layer. It will create a layer of only the selected features. It can be saved and re-added like any layer.

Re: Save a Selection Set

MichaelHillig — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:39:09 GMT

This is a great idea and I totally agree.

Re: Save a Selection Set

RussellGaulin1 — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 13:53:21 GMT

A related but similar idea, I could not find a thread for this:

Preserve the selection on a table regardless of editing state.

Why, pray tell, must a selection be lost when one enters or exits edit mode? My idea: don't do that! (It is an "Aarrgghh moment every time it happens.), could this be difficult to do?

Re: Save a Selection Set

JanetBrewster — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 01:27:26 GMT

Similar to rigaulin's comment, the "Create Layer from Selected Features" is not a stable environment. If the base layer that the features were selected from is edited in any way, even if that edit doesn't involve any of the selected features, the selection goes wonky. You'll end up with selected features that you didn't select. And even worse, there's no error, warning, or anything to give you a heads up that something has changed...!

It's such a great feature -- saves us from creating unnecessary feature classes -- but it's just not reliable.

Re: Save a Selection Set

KenCarrier — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 19:48:51 GMT

If doing a large selection and forgetting to hold down the shift key you lose previous selected features, a way to hit undo for the selection would really be handy. Hard to tell how much productivity it might save but I think many of us could admit we are guilty of doing this at one point or another. So in my case I agree with the go back to previous selection button for the map which is a merged idea in this case.

Re: Save a Selection Set

ZacharyOrdo__GISP — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 20:12:44 GMT

This should have been implemented years ago.

Re: Save a Selection Set

MizukiKayano2 — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 21:14:00 GMT

Our organization would significantly benefit from this enhancement. We are working with the parcel fabric in ArcGIS Pro. In ArcMap, we had the ability to save our selections by using something called a job book in Parcel Editor. We often spend a significant amount of time creating a selection in order to apply a least squares adjustment, then need to analyze the results before we apply them. During the analysis we may add or remove parcel to selections, perform edit/clean up activities on related lines, add or modify control points to participate in an adjustment; re-running adjustment tool after each change until an optimum result is reached.

In ArcGIS Pro, we have been using Tasks to save our selections and reapply them at different stages of our work. This works well, but it would certainly be an advantage to be able to save selections when outside of a task as well. Within the task, we have to keep clicking back in order to re-apply the selection, and if we want to add or remove from the selection, we have to make sure we are on the step in the task that saves the selection set, so it is not quite so straight forward in a task as one may initially think.

Re: Save a Selection Set

ChrisWozniak — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 16:09:04 GMT

I agree, this would be a huge QOL improvement!

Sure, you can 'save a selection as a layer' to store the selection in memory, but only as a layer. If we wanted all features in that layer to be our current active selection again, we have to first right click -> selections -> select all.

I think that a set of buttons that allow you reselect previous selection sets (say that five times) would be very helpful. Ideally, they could function similarly to the to the previous/next extent navigation buttons:

Additionally, perhaps the selection processes could be implemented into the project-wide undo/redo actions.

Re: Save a Selection Set

Bud — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 19:02:04 GMT

Re: Save a Selection Set

ColeSutton11 — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 16:41:21 GMT

imho Make Layer From Selected Features is sufficient for when you want to "save" a selection for later. However I think the "Reselect Previous" button is a fantastic idea. Even if it only could go one step back, it would be very helpful for when you accidentally lose or incorrectly alter a complex selection.