Patent attributes
A technique for selecting an object is described. During this technique, a computer system selects an object from multiple objects associated with a circuit design in an electronic-design-automation (EDA) environment based at least on a current cursor location and a current design command. For example, the computer system may select the object by determining distances between the cursor location and objects in at least a subset of the multiple objects, and then identifying the minimum distance in the distances. Furthermore, the object may be selected either with or without a user first providing an object-selection input. If the object-selection input is provided, the user may do so by performing one or more mouse clicks or a keyboard shortcut, as opposed to using a window (such as a dialog box or a drop-down menu) that can be displayed in the EDA environment.