Selecting Objects
There are several ways to select objects in Surfer. An object is selected if there is a bounding box with selection handles surrounding the object. The name of the selected object appears in the status bar. You can set some selection options in File | Options.
Editing base layers and groups is done by pinning them. Objects within groups can be individually or selected in groups once the pin at the higher level in the hierarchy has been established.
Selecting Objects from the Contents Window
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Objects may be selected using the Contents window. To display the Contents window, use the View | Show/Hide | Contents command. Once the list is displayed, click on the layer or group you wish to select. To the right of the layer or group a button with a left arrow with a broken pin
will appear and the group or layer is selected in the plot window. Click on the pin to toggle it to the pinned position 
. Objects contained within the hierarchy that is pinned may be edited without affecting objects in other groups or layers. Objects outside the hierarchy that is pinned cannot be edited. The object's properties are displayed in the Properties window. -
Hold down the CTRL key while clicking on objects to select multiple objects in the Contents window, or hold down the SHIFT key to select adjacent objects.
Selecting Objects from the Plot Window
Several procedures are available to select objects in a plot window:
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After the list of objects is displayed and the layer or group has been pinned
in the contents window, objects within that hierarchy can be selected in the plot window. - To select a single object in the plot window, move the cursor over the object using the mouse or the arrow keys. When the cursor is over the desired object, click the left mouse button or press the SPACEBAR on the keyboard. Eight rectangular selection handles appear, indicating that the object is selected.
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If an object other than the one you want is selected, hold down the CTRL key and continue clicking with the mouse or SPACEBAR until the desired object is selected. Any objects that were previously selected become deselected. (The bounding boxes for the objects are overlapping.)
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To select two or more objects in the plot window, hold down the SHIFT key while making your selections. This retains previously selected objects and includes the newly selected objects. You can hold down both the CTRL and SHIFT keys to select several overlapping objects in the plot window.
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The block select allows you to select one or more objects contained in a user-defined rectangle. Press and hold the left mouse button on an empty portion of the plot window. Drag the mouse to form a rectangle around the group of objects you wish to select. Alternatively, you can use the arrow keys to position the cursor on an empty portion of the plot window, press and hold the SPACEBAR, and move the cursor with the ARROW keys. If the Rectangle must fully surround check box is activated in the Options dialog Selection page, then only objects fully surrounded by the selection rectangle are selected. If the check box is not activated, then all objects with any portion of their bounding boxes within the block select rectangle are selected.
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The Home | Selection | Select All command is used to select all the objects in the plot window. Pressing the CTRL+A keys performs the same command.
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The Home | Selection | Select All | Invert command selects all unselected objects and deselects all selected objects. This command is useful for selecting a large number of objects and leaving a few isolated objects unselected. Select the objects you do not want to select and use the Invert Selection command.
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The TAB key can be used to cycle through all objects, selecting each one at a time.
When you select a nested object, the main object is also selected. For example, if you select the contours map layer, the map object is also selected. Only one nested object can be selected at a time. For example, it is not currently possible to select two axes at once.