A component is an island of polygons or ordered points that is separated from other islands in the same polygon or point object.
Edit > Select > By Area selects components of a polygon or ordered point object whose area is less than or equal to a given percentage of the whole object. This is similar to Edit > Select > Disconnected Components which is for unordered point objects.
The parameters are:
Percent field - A component will be selected if its surface area is at least this percentage of the whole object’s surface area.
Model: field - indicates the surface area of the whole object.
OK button - terminates the dialog and leaves selected polygons selected for further processing.
Cancel button - returns the object to its previous condition and terminates the dialog.
Apply button - selects all polygons in any component whose surface area equals or exceeds Percent percentage of the total, and leaves the dialog open.