Why "Clear selection first" must be checked in order to make "Act on current selection only" work?

Question

The linked question allowed me to do just what I want, but I find it counter intuitive. The help says :

Clear Selection First

Controls, whether the existing selection should be cleared first.

So, checking this should uncheck my selection, and since also "Act on current selection only" is checked, I would believe my selection applies on nothing. Maybe some rephrasing of the option should be done?

Or maybe when "Act on current selection only" is checked, maybe "Clear selection first" should be grayed out, with it checked so that it works as expected?

Or did I miss something?

Answer 1

The "first" in "Clear Selection First" does not mean "before evaluating selection criteria" but "after evaluating selection criteria, but before selecting elements that match the selection criteria".

On the other hand, the "Act On Current Selection Only" option is an additional selection criterion. Thus it applies to the "evaluate selection criteria" phase.

If you have a suggestion for a name that describes the subtle implications of the "Clear Selection First" feature better than the current name while at the same time is short enough to be suitable for use as a label in an UI control, please do let us know.

Comments

Thanks for the explanation.
Maybe "Do not include current selection in the result"
or "Clear selection before reselecting"
and/or adding your explanation, which I find clear, in the help file ?