Selecting objects AFTER they have a clipping mask applied.

Question

Hi There,
What really disturbs me about Illustrator is that after I apply a clipping mask to a set of objects, the program assumes that I would want to actually select that object if the cursor hovers above that masked object if it is outside the boundary of the clipping mask. It's like selecting the "invisible". Is there an option that will allow me to turn that function off?
The logic should be something like:
if object has a clipping mask and
cursor hovers above clipped object OUTSIDE of the clipping mask boundary
then
do not highlight or allow user to select the clipped object
Likewise, this logic should be implemented in the interface:
if object has a clipping mask and
cursor hovers above clipped object INSIDE of the clipping mask boundary
then
highlight the clipped object and allow them to select it.
Anybody know any work arounds? Did they address this in CS4? It's really annoying to have to lock and unlock objects all the time.
Thanks,
Laz

Answer 1

It's not a problem. In PostScript thinking it's
quite normal that a couple of graphic objects
defines one or more paths, and that a clipping path
is applied to the whole underlying path system.
If those paths or path fragments which are outside
the clipping path could not be selected, then it
would be rather difficult to handle paths which are
simultaneously inside and outside the clipping area.
Therefore it's necessary to have access to the whole
underlying graphic - not only to the path fragments
which are entirely inside the clipping area.
Best regards --Gernot Hoffmann