What a PITA! I'm trying to do the function like on this video at the :32 mark... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4ZuUbgmTrc ...When I click/drag in the lower third the selection mask keeps defaulting to audio track wave and not the selected volume automation lane. When I then select over to the volume automation lane and get the clip highlighted, I'm unable to implement the add node feature....thus unable to use the "upper third" level bar function....when I move cursor to upper third of automation lane window, I get the level bar but click/dragging just defaults the selected region to that cursor point and has no impact on non-existant nodes or the automation line for that matter. It will make sense if you watch the video. Sonar X2A 64bit.

How thoroughly have you reviewed the manual's section on working with automation envelopes? There are a lot of very specific commands that need to be used to get the desired results and I believe there have been quite a few changes since X1. I had a bugger of a time trying to get nodes/envelopes to do what I wanted until I went over all that stuff and would still need to have the manual open or my notes to make it all work. It's rather cumbersome IMO but it does work. It could be bugs or something but if you don't have all the tricks memorized you may want to review that stuff. Good luck.

If you're dragging a selection in the lower part of an automation lane, I have no idea how you could be selecting the clip which would be positioned above all automation lanes.   Or is it the clip from a track below?  If that's the case you'll need to keep a steady hand or should expand that automation lane height.
 
This is assuming that you're trying to adjust a volume envelope (in a lane) and not a clip gain envelope as the thread title suggests.
 

beepster, thanks for the empathy. i have thoroughly read the manual in and out. if you watch the video and attempt step by step what the narrator is doing, you will see what i mean. stevec, the question you ask is the exact one i'm asking too and is part of the apparent bug. when i click/drag in the volume automation lane upon release it will highlight the actual clip! and this is after i make sure to select just the volume automation lane in the left window. it has nothing to do with steady hand...you can see the level bar when scrolling to upper third of lane, but no combintion of shift click drag control etc is doing anything other than moving the cursor in the time line. and if this isnt annoying enough, when i collapse automation lanes and thrn reopen, automated mute defauts back to ON, even if ive turned it off and saved. and as final confirmstion of being nadty bug, my cursor arrow disappeared at one point behind the sonar window... total nightmare.

...also reason i called thread clip gain, because this was a work around for the issue we discussed in other thread....ultimately slice track into clips and leveling them off before processing.

Okay, just thought I'd mention it. It's starting to sound like you are having the selection bug blues. X2 has MASSIVE problems with selecting things (nodes, tracks, clips, midi events, etc) and it is a nightmare once it starts doing it. It is one of the very few complaints I have with X2 but it's a doozy. They absolutely need to patch this. Doesn't seem to affect everyone though otherwise the queue would be filled with people screaming bloody murder over it. PLEASE for the love of all that is noisy fix this, Bakers! It is extremely unprofessional and frustrating.

Yeah, Beeps, I'm one of those that doesn't seem to be affected by selection weirdness.   I don't know why, really, but I plan to keep it that way.  
 
 
Gerberbaby, when performing this operation you do have the Smartool (F5) active, correct?   It almost sounds like you have one of the other tools active instead. 
 
And just to confirm, when I do this - which I've done many, many times - I drag+select underneath the envelope to set my time range, then regardless of what I visually see (because I really never pay much attention) I simply position the cursor above the envelope until it changes and drag up or down.   I don't use any modifier keys.
 

stevec thanks for the troubleshoot tips but unfortunately i am attempting the exact process sequence you use, as well as any other combo i can think of. i am having trouble even if i manually place nodes. must be like beepster mentioned. im working with very dynamic vocal tracks and like to level off takes before processing otherwise....being able to quickly nudge a phrase +3db has become a headache along with the automated mute always mysteriously turning back on. so i have to use other DAW on raw tracks and then import into Sonar (like i do with tuning vocz too)

Hi, Steve. You are indeed fortunate in that regard. It is infuriating. Fortunately it doesn't happen all the time but when it does it's chaos. I have work arounds for most of what I've encountered so far but it makes me have to double check EVERYTHING as I work because sometimes it can effect things off screen and I've lost large chunks of work having to go back in the history to fix things and implement the work arounds. It's why I lock all tracks while editing except for the one currently being worked on. Kind of dreading having to deal with it in automation lanes if gerberbaby's description is what awaits me. Hopefully not. Cheers.

Actually, I can't remember specifically but I think there are ways to lock lanes and nodes. If that is the case it might help reduce some of the issues you are having. I'm really not certain though so I wouldn't want to send you on a wild goose chase.