Patent ID: 8612923

Claim:
A method for a graphical circuit editor that represents a circuit within a layout space, the method comprising: detecting, in a computer, a command from a user of a graphical circuit editor; defining an aperture in the circuit for an input cursor, wherein the aperture is an area of the circuit layout space that encompasses one or more circuit objects and the location of the input cursor in the circuit layout space, wherein the input cursor and the aperture are moveable within the circuit layout space, and wherein the location of the aperture moves in relation to the movement of the input cursor; collecting a set of items of the one or more circuit objects, each item being at least partly located within the aperture and associated with the circuit; selecting one or more items from the set as one or more targets suitable for the command to operate upon based upon one or more of: a relevancy to the detected command or one or more item types previously selected by the user or one or more customizable user settings for the detected command; and presenting one or more of the targets to the user for selection.