Create and Edit Polylines

Use the Create Polylines tool to draw polylines for geometry construction and to generate meaningful snap locations to be used by other tools.

New lines are organized in the same component as the entity where the first end point is placed.

  1. From the Geometry ribbon, Lines tool group, click the Create Polylines tool.


    Figure 1.
  2. Optional: On the guide bar, click to define controlled line creation.
    This creates controlled lines between locations with the possibility of reducing the number of joints and locations that fall outside the path line.
  3. Left-click on geometry or in space to select control points for the polyline.
    A preview of the line along with a microdialog displays as you select or provide control points.
  4. Select a line type using the drop-down menu () on the left of the microdialog.
    • Linear
    • Smooth
  5. Select whether to close the polyline using the () icon on the right of microdialog.
    In a closed polyline, the first and last nodes/locations in the line are linked to form a closed line loop.
  6. On the guide bar, click one of the following:
    • - Save changes and stay in the tool
    • - Save changes and close the tool
    • - Exit the tool without saving changes
  7. To edit a polyline:
    1. Double-click a polyline.
    2. Using the microdialog, change the line type or open/close the line.
    3. Click Upgrade on the guide bar.
    Control points can be selected and moved using the move tool. Control points can also be added to a line. Doing so will convert an existing line into a polyline.
    You can edit start and end point slopes with the vector tool. It set to normal, the end point is normal to the specified vector. This option does not work for closed line loops.
    Controlled line creation reduces the number of joints and removes locations that fall outside the line path.
Tip: When selecting nodes from the mesh, you can select either by path or by list. To toggle between the two options, press the Ctrl key while selecting nodes.

Create Polylines Tool

An overview of the Create Polylines tool.



Figure 2.

Use the Create Polylines tool to draw polylines for geometry construction and to generate meaningful snap locations to be used by other tools.

Access
Go to Geometry > Lines > Create Polylines.

Options

Controlled Line Creation
Use this option to specify the values that determine joint creation or location reduction.
Break Angle
Specify the minimum angle allowed between three points in a line. If the angle between a point and the two adjacent points is less than the angle specified, this point is considered to be a point of discontinuity in the line and a joint is placed at that point.
In the image below, a break angle is set to 150 degrees. The highlighted point angle is closed to 135 degrees. Therefore, a joint is created.
Figure 3.
Aspect Ratio
Specify the maximum ratio allowed for the distance between a point and the previous point on the line, and the distance between the same point and the next point on the line. If the ratio of the distance between the two adjacent segments exceeds the defined aspect ratio, a joint is placed between the segments.
In the image below, the aspect is set to 5. The large gap (top line) results in a joint (bottom line) because it is more than 5 times the length of its neighbors.
Figure 4.
Linear Angle
Defines the angle at which a line is considered a straight line. If the line angle between three consecutive points along the line is greater than the angle specified, the center point is removed from the line.
In the image below, three points (top line) are removed because they form lines with their neighbors that are greater than the linear angle setting.
Figure 5.

Keyboard Shortcuts and Mouse Controls

To do this Press
Toggle select nodes by path or nodes by list Ctrl + Left Mouse Drag
Edit line type Double-click