Repeating last selection enables you to re-select elements that you have earlier captured. To repeat the last selection, perform the following operations:
• Capture the currently-selected element or elements.
• Re-select the captured selections.
In addition, when you use certain commands, Creo Elements/Direct Modeling implicitly captures certain selected elements. For details, see
Implicitly capture elements during commands.
Capture the current selection
You can either select elements in the viewport or select parts, assemblies, or workplanes in the Structure Browser. You can capture a combination of the following elements:
• Parts
• Assemblies
• Containers
• Workplanes
• 3D edges
• 2D edges (real and construction)
• 3D annotations
• Custom features
The owner model of the captured element is not modified. In addition, you cannot capture the current selection in Creo Elements/Direct Annotation.
Capture the current selection in one of the following ways:
• Click on the SMT. If nothing is selected, is not available on the SMT.
• Automatically, when you start a command with preselected elements. Only valid elements are captured.
• Click Catch/Select/Show > Capture Current Selection on the context menu.
Each selection is assigned a name; for example, Prev-sel-1. The number is reset after Prev–sel–99.
Re-select the captured selection
You can select elements from a list of up to 20 earlier selections that you have already captured using . On the SMT, in the (Repeat Last Selection) list, select an element. The earlier-selection list is available on the SMT only if you have captured one or more elements.
• You can set the number of entries for the earlier-selection list using the UI Settings dialog box.
1. On the left pane, click Misc.
2. Under Repeat Last Selection, type a number between, and including, 4 and 20 in the Number of Entries box. The value is persistent and the default is 20.
• You cannot use the earlier-selection list in Creo Elements/Direct Annotation.
You can use the earlier-selection list:
• During preselection.
• During a command when UI selection is expected.
• When you use selection lists in the Select dialog box.
The first entry in the earlier-selection list is suffixed with Latest while the entry that corresponds to the maximum number of entries is suffixed with Last.
Creo Elements/Direct Modeling validates your selection and filters it based on the following criteria:
• The selected element must belong to a valid type.
• The selected element must exist; it must not be deleted.
• The selected element’s or its owning element’s position in the Structure Browser must be unchanged.
A message appears if some or all elements are not valid for selection.
Creo Elements/Direct Modeling clears the earlier-selection list after a session reset.
Implicitly capture elements during commands
Creo Elements/Direct Modeling implicitly captures the following elements when you select them during specific commands.
The elements are implicitly captured irrespective of whether the command is completed or not.
You can set a limit for the number of elements that are implicitly captured in a single list using Automatic capture entities Limit in the UI Settings dialog box. The value is persistent and the default is 1000. For example, if you set a limit of 1000 elements, and select more than 1000 elements, your selection is ignored. However, you can still access already-stored lists that have more than 1000 elements.
on the SMT. If nothing is selected, 
(Repeat Last Selection) list, select an element. The earlier-selection list is available on the SMT only if you have captured one or more elements.