Selection terminology

• Jul 21, 2021 - 09:30

Here on the forum people speak of Range Selections and List Selections. But best I can tell, the handbook doesn't use those names.

Respectively the Headers of those topics are:

     Shift selection rather than Range Selection
     Select a list of objects rather than List Selection

As I understand it:

• we invoke a Range Selection with the shift key and that results in a blue rectangle that surrounds the selection.

• we invoke a contiguous or discontiguous List Selection by Control/Command-clicking on selectable objects

Is that an accurate description?


Comments

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

"Which in the end results in a list selection"
... except when trying to lasso specific notes on a stave e.g. only notes within a system which are above or below a certain pitch. Then the Shift+Drag lasso action result in a range selection, which includes all notes on the stave within the horizontal selection - even those notes visually above or below the lasso's outline.

In reply to by DanielR

This was intended as a feature, since otherwise it is rather more awkward to make a range selection at all if there are notes above/below the staff and you have to be careful to get everything. But indeed, a special way to create list selections via a lasso could be interesting, some key modifier to hold while dragging. There was another recent thread about this.

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

@Jojo Then there is the Drag selection, or lasso selection. Which in the end results in a list selection.

Yes, I failed to list that option. Thanks for pointing it out!

Probably better though to call it marquee selection (or call it by its action: Shift-drag selection.)

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

Historically I've thought of Marquee selection as a rectangular selection—like the Marquee lights on a theatre sign. But some apps allow users to combine rectangular selections (i.e. multiple joined or discontiguous marquees.)

Some apps loosely apply the term Marquee to other selection shapes, like ellipses ... but I think that distorts the meaning of the term. Indeed Lasso selections usually leave a "marching ants" outline, and apparently that's the commonality that leads to the broadened use of the term "marquee."

I think of Lasso as freeform selection, where the "marching ants" boundary of the selection is handdrawn with the mouse or trackpad. As far as I know, we have no such thing in Musescore.

Lasso selection example.png

scorster

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