Location queries enable you to define spatial locations from which you query objects out of your

source drawings and copy them into your current drawing. There are several different location queries

you can perform.

Start with an empty drawing. To begin the process, attach some source drawings. In the Task Pane,

Map Explorer tab, right-click Drawings and click Attach. Select your drive alias, navigate to the

dataset folder, and then select the Drainage, Parcel, and Sewer drawings. Click Add, and then click

OK. For now, query only objects from the Parcel drawing, so deactivate the Sewer and the Drainage

drawings. This is a very effective way to limit the objects that you include in a query.

Now, looking at your screen, you are faced with a common dilemma when defining location queries,

which is that there is nothing on the screen to orient you in the location that you want to define. A

simple solution to this is to execute a Quick View to bring in an image of some of the objects that are

in the source drawings. Right-click the Parcels drawing and select Quick View. If you still don't see

the objects that have been quick viewed, zoom to the extents of those objects. Now you can see the

Parcel drawing. This gives you some reference while you create location queries. Zoom in a little bit

to your area of interest, and then in the Map Explorer, double-click the Current query.

In the Define Query of Attached Drawing(s) dialog, click Location. For this query, select Circle. Leave

the Selection Type set to Crossing, and then click Define. In the drawing screen, pick the location for

the center of the circle and then drag out to define the basic area that you are interested in. You could

use object snaps and enter a radius distance, if you need precision.

Once you have defined the radius, the Define Query dialog opens again. And at the top, you can see

in the query that you have defined a location, crossing circle query. In the bottom center under Query

Mode, select Preview and click Execute Query.

The drawing window changes so that you can only see the results of your query. The command line

reports the number of objects that are either fully within, or crossing the circle. These objects have

been copied from the source drawing Parcels, into the current drawing.

Next, try defining a different type of location condition query. But first, go back to the Map Explorer,

right-click the Parcels drawing, and select Quick View, to restore the full Parcel drawing preview.
For this query, you want to focus in on a specific block within the city. Double-click Current Query, to

return to the Define Query dialog. Before you begin to add any additional location criteria, the first

thing you need to do is to clear the existing query by selecting the Clear Query button. Then select

Location, and this time select Polygon. For Selection Type, select Inside, and click Define.
In the drawing window, draw a polygon around the block that you want to retrieve, and press ENTER.

In the Define Query dialog, click Execute Query. The drawing now shows the results of this new

query.

Next, create a query that is a little more complex and interesting, so you can begin to see how

powerful queries can be. Start by quick viewing the Parcels again, and then zoom to an area to create

this next query. In this scenario, you want to query all of the objects from all of the drawings that fall

within 150 feet of the centerline of this street. The first thing to do is activate the Drainage and Sewer

drawings. Then, double-click the Current Query. In the Define Query dialog, clear the existing query,

and click Location. This time, under Boundary Type, use a Buffer Fence, and click Define.

Buffer Fence allows you to draw a line down the middle of the street. Again, you can be as precise as

you want, but in this case just make it somewhat close to the center of the street. Once the line is

defined, press ENTER. The command line asks you for a buffer fence width. Enter 150, and press

ENTER. This reopens the Define Query dialog. This time for Query Mode, select Draw to actually

copy the objects into the current drawing. Click Execute Query.

When you zoom in, you can see that these are individual objects that now reside as native objects to

this current drawing. You can also go to the Layer Properties Manger, and you can see that all of the

layers have been defined within this drawing as a part of that query. These layers were copied into

the drawing along with the objects.

You can see that there are a number of methods to use as a part of location queries, and that they

are a very powerful way to extract precise information from large drawings, and from a large number

of drawings.