Navigating in Hierarchies

You can navigate hierarchies of objects and their properties using the arrow buttons on the Select panel or using keyboard shortcuts. The difference is that the arrow buttons work only with a single selection, while the keyboard shortcuts work with multiple selections. On the other hand, the arrow keys also work with properties, while the keyboard shortcuts only allow you to select the owner of a property.

In all cases, the order for next and previous siblings is determined by the internal order. You can modify this order using the explorer or the schematic view (see Reordering Scene Objects in the Explorer or Reordering Child Nodes in the Schematic [Interface and Tools]).

For information on navigating hierarchies in the explorer, refer to Viewing the Element Tree [Interface and Tools].

Selection Navigation Arrow Buttons

The selection navigation arrows on the Select panel let you select the parents or siblings of objects and properties. They work only with a single selection — if multiple elements are selected then only the last one added to the selection is considered.

A	Up: Select parent.
B	Previous: Select previous sibling.
C	Next: Select next sibling.

You can use the arrows in combination with modifier keys, as well as set some options, as described in the next sections.

To navigate hierarchies using the arrow buttons

Use the mouse and button combinations shown in the table below.

Use this...	To do this...
Up	Select the parent of an object, or the owner of a property.
Next	Select the next sibling object or property.
Shift+Next	Add the next sibling object or property to the selection.
Ctrl+Next or Right-click > Select Last Sibling	Select the last sibling object or property.
Ctrl+Shift+Next	Add the last sibling object or property to the selection.
Previous	Select the previous sibling object or property.
Shift+Previous	Add the previous sibling object or property to the selection
Ctrl+Previous or Right-click > Select First Sibling	Select the first sibling object or property.
Ctrl+Shift+Previous	Add the first sibling object or property to the selection.

To set the navigation arrow options

Right-click on the Previous or Next arrow, then turn any of the following options on or off:
- Same Type of Objects restricts the navigation to objects of the same type. For example, if a geometric object is selected, then the arrow buttons ignores nulls, control objects, and so on.
- Same Type of Clusters restricts the navigation to clusters of the same type of components. For example, if a cluster of points is selected, then the arrow buttons ignores polygon, edge, and sample clusters.
- Loop cycles through siblings so that if the last sibling is selected, then Next selects the first; if the first is selected then Previous selects the last.

Selection Navigation Shortcut Keys

You can use the Alt key plus your keyboard arrow keys to move up and down hierarchies in any view. These key combinations work with both single and multiple object selections.

Alt+up arrow goes to the parent.
Alt+down arrow goes to the first child.
Alt+left arrow goes to the previous sibling.
Alt+right arrow goes to the next sibling.

Holding the Shift or Ctrl keys while using any of the above keys will add to the selection:

Holding Shift adds to the selection.
Holding Ctrl selects a branch.
Holding Shift+Ctrl adds a sibling's branch to the selection.

Use this...	To do this...
Alt+up-arrow	Select the parents of selected objects or the owners of selected properties.
Alt+down-arrow	Select the first child objects of the selected objects.
Alt+left/right-arrow	Select the previous/next sibling objects.
Alt+Home	For a bone or effector, select its chain root. or For any other object, select the first ancestor that is a chain root. If no chain root is found, select the root of the hierarchy.
Alt+End	For a bone or chain root, select its end effector. or For any other object, follow the path down the first child of any parent and select the first effector or, if no effector is encountered, select the bottom-most child.
Shift+Alt+up-arrow	Add the parents of selected objects or the owners of selected properties to the selection.
Shift+Alt+down-arrow	Add the first child objects of the selected objects to the selection.
Shift+Alt+left/right-arrow	Add the previous/next sibling objects to the selection.
Ctrl+Alt+up-arrow	Select the parents of selected objects or the owners of selected properties in branch.
Ctrl+Alt+down-arrow	Select the first child objects of the selected objects in branch.
Ctrl+Alt+left/right-arrow	Select the previous/next sibling objects in branch.
Ctrl+Alt+Home	For a bone or effector, select its chain root in branch. or For any other object, select the first ancestor that is a chain root in branch. If no chain root is found, select the root of the hierarchy in branch.
Ctrl+Alt+End	For a bone or chain root, select its end effector in branch. or For any other object, follow the path down the first child of any parent and select the first effector in branch or, if no effector is encountered, select the bottom-most child.
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+left/right-arrow	Add the previous/next sibling objects to the selection in branch.