Select by Location Back to Feature Querying and Selection Page
The Select by Location tool is always opened from the Results dialogue. Right-clicking on any selection result (Whether it be for multiple selections for a layer or a single selection within a layer) will give the option to 'Send to Select by Location' 
:
The Select by Location tool allows you to select features based on their location relative to features already selected from the Results dialogue.
- First choose the layer that you want to select features from by clicking on it (it is highlighted in blue when selected).
- Choose the selection method from the list. These include:
Intersects with: returns any feature that shares a common part with the source feature(s).
Touches: returns any feature that touches the boundary of the source feature.
Overlaps: returns a feature if the intersection of the two shapes results in an object of the same dimension, but
different from both of the shapes.
Cross: returns any features that have at least one edge, vertex, or endpoint in common but do not share a line
segment.
Are Within: returns a feature if its shape wholly contains the search geometry.
Contains: returns a feature if its shape is wholly contained within the search geometry.
- Note that the selection result that you chose to send to Select by Location layer is listed underneath the Selection methods, indicating this is what will be used in the process.
- You can also specify a buffer for the selection if required (if not required leave it at 0 metres). If you specify e.g. a buffer of 200 metres, then this buffer will be drawn on the map along with the selections made. It will mean that any new selections made will have to be within 200 metres of the first results selection.
- Click Run to execute the Select by Location. The Results dialogue opens automatically and contains the results of the Select by Location.
- To access a context menu available on the result, right click on the layer returned.
This contains a number of useful tools:
- You can choose to select all of the features returned. This is useful when there are a lot of features in the result.
- Likewise you can choose to unselect all features.
- If you have one feature selected in the results you can choose to Zoom to Selected feature, which will zoom the map canvas to the particular feature selected.
- If you have some features in the results selected, choosing Toggle Features will swap the selection to those that were previously unselected.
- To remove just that particular layer from the results window (e.g. if it is not the layer of interest to you but happens to be present at the same location as the layer that does interest you) then choose the Remove option.
- The final part of the context menu refers to Send to Select by Location. This allows you to use the results from the Select by Location query just carried out in another Select by Location query if required.
- A smaller context menu can also be accessed by right-clicking on a single selected feature in a result.
The tools in this are:
Send to Select by Location, Zoom to Feature, Pan to Feature and Delete and they have the same functionality as those in the context menu for the whole layer results, except that they refer only to that single selected feature rather than all the features returned for the layer.
The Pan to Feature is extra and it works by panning the map to show the selected feature instead of zooming in.
- If any or all of the Select by Location results are deleted from the results dialogue (but the Task title remains e.g. Task:2 Select by Location), the task can be refreshed so that the original results are returned again. This means you do not have to set up the query again. To carry this out, right-click on the Task title, and a context menu will appear:
Choose 'Refresh' from the context menu and the results are returned again. If you choose 'Run Task Again' the Select by Location dialogue will be re-opened with empty fields ready to be used again. You can also choose 'Delete' to remove the Task totally from the Results dialogue.
Example of Select by Location query:
Query: Find out if there is any railway line within 500 metres of planning application ID K/2000/0560/A41.
Process:
First select the planning application ID K/2000/0560/A41 using the Select by Attributes. Right-click on the Selection result in the Result dialogue and choose Send to Select by Location:
As for Identify,Select by Polygon and Select by Attribute tools, expand the Results to see all information. Any features matching the query will be returned and if these are expanded the attributes of the feature belonging to the layer that was returned can be seen.
To select any of the features so they are highlighted on the map click on the check box beside it.
Example of a buffer created on the map canvas using a Select by Location task:
- To remove the buffer from the map canvas, remove the task that created it from the results window.
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