GeoTools->Polyline Tool set 1

Prev: Shortcut Macros

Table of Contents

Next: Polyline Tool Set 2

 

The Polyline tools are a set of tools for performing various types of editing and inquiry operations on polylines.

Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1  
     
Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Join 3D Polylines 
Command line: GT_3DJ 

Joins 3D segments (lines or polylines) and combines them into a 3D polyline. The PEDIT command does not allow  joining of 3D segments. This command fills the need by allowing the Join subcommand to be applied on 3D polyline segments or lines. The segments to be joined must be exactly touching each other.

Once the command has been issued, the prompts that follow are similar to the PEDIT command. You are prompted to select polylines. If a line has been selected, you are prompted to convert it into a polyline. Then you select the objects to join. All touching segments are joined to the first segment resulting in a joined 3D Polyline.

Select 3d polylines/lines to join (or ENTER to select by layer[s]):
Select objects: (do so)


If you are selecting multiple layers for processing, GT_3DJ will join them individually in their respective layers. They will not be joined across different layers except if they are selected explicitly from the command line.

See Also: GT_PLJOIN

GT_3DJ Tutorial



Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1  
     
Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Automated join 2D Polylines
Command line: GT_PLJOIN  
Automatically fuses (joins) all selected line or polyline objects together. The objects should be touching each other at their ends.

See Also: GT_3DJ




Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1
      Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Change 2D to 3D Polylines
Command line: GT_CH2D3D 

Converts all the selected 2D Polylines to 3D polylines. A 3D polyline can hold different Z values in each of its vertex. The new 3D polylines thus formed will look exactly like the 2D polylines except that internally they are 3D and therefore can hold Z values.

The standard object selection dialog appears and allows polylines and lines to be selected. Click Apply and all the 2D polylines are converted into 3D polylines. The original 2D polyline will be erased.

Tech Info: GT_CH2D3D changes the DXF Group Code 70 of each polyline, adds the 8 bit and recreates a 3D polyline. The 3D polyline thus created has the 3D flag set. The 3D polyline acquires new handles but any extended entity data in the 2D polyline will be transferred to the 3D polyline.


GT_CH2D3D Tutorial

See also: GT_CH3D2D



 

Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1  
     
Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Change 3D to 2D Polylines
Command line: GT_CH3D2D 

Change 3d polylines to 2d polylines in different ways

Converts all selected 3D polylines and lines into 2D polylines and lines. Depending on the setting of the PLINETYPE variable, the 2D polylines thus formed will be either heavy weight polylines or light weight polylines. 

While creating the 2d polylines, you can specify the constant elevation that the 2d polylines should acquire.

The following options are possible:

Set to 0.0
Lowest Z of each 3d polyline
Highest Z of each 3d polyline
First vertex elevation
Average of all vertices (default)


The standard object selection dialog appears and allows polylines and lines to be selected.

Click Apply and the all the 3D polylines and lines are converted into 2D polylines. The original 3D polyline will be erased.

Tech Info: CH3D2Dchanges the DXF Group Code 70 of each polyline, removes the 8 bit and recreates a 2D polyline. The 2D polyline acquires new handles but any extended entity data in the 3D polyline will be transferred to the 2D polyline.


See also: GT_CH2D3D





Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1  
     
Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Change widths.
Command line: GT_CHW

The GT_CHW command is useful to change the widths of selected lines, polylines, arcs or circles. Non-polyline objects will be converted to polylines.


The Change Width dialog box

Specify the width to set in the width-control dialog box and select the objects to process through the object selection dialog box.


See Example GT_CHW

 

 

Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1  
     
Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Delete polyline vertex
Command line: GT_DELVX 

Allows picking a polyline vertex and deleting it in one step. A handy shortcut resulting in much fewer mouse clicks than using the PEDITàEDIT VERTEXàNEXT.... 



One Pick and the vertex is gone.  Save keystrokes!

See also: GT_INSVX and GT_XV (Express PEDIT commands)


 

Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1  
     
Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Insert polyline vertex
Command line: GT_INSVX 

Pick any point along a polyline and add a vertex at the picked location. A handy shortcut resulting in much fewer mouse clicks than using the Pedit->Edit Vertex->Next..... 


See also: GT_DELVX and GT_XV (Express PEDIT commands)



Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1  
     
Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Flip polyline flow direction
Command line: GT_FLIP

Reverses the direction of the polyline vertices. This command preserves the handle (see below for conditions) as well as any extended entity data that is stored with the polyline or with each or any of its vertices (in case of heavy weight polylines).


Reverse the direction of polylines selectively

Direction Control:

Clockwise:
Choosing this option flips all counter-clockwise polylines to clockwise

CounterClockwise:
Choosing this option flips all clockwise polylines counter-clockwise

Interchange: Reverses the direction of all selected polylines irrespective of whether they are clockwise or counterclockwise.

Low to High Z:
Reverses the direction of the polylines whose last vertex elevation (Z value) is higher than the first vertex elevation (Z value).

High to Low Z:
Reverses the direction of the polylines whose last vertex elevation (Z value) is lower than the first vertex elevation (Z value).

Display graphically:
Displays the polyline direction graphically by drawing leader arrows along the polyline segments. Does not slip the polyline.

Retain same object handle for reversed polylines:
Choosing this option ensures that the reversed polylines have the same handle as the original polyline. This takes longer time to process and it does not work on polylines having arc segments. The object handle is always preserved for 3d polylines irrespective of whether the option above is chosen or not. In case of 2D polylines, the object handles will not be preserved unless this option is set. Switching this option off can greatly improve the process speed especially for long polylines.

Hide dialog box and run GT_FLIP with current settings:
By clicking this option, you can run GT_FLIP any number of times in the current session without the dialog box. You will be prompted to only select the polylines to flip and the program operates with the settings last set. The setting remains in place for the current CAD session unless it is reset using the 'GT_ShowDlg' command. 

Tech Info: The extended entity data in the objects will always be retained.



Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1  
     
Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Densify polylines
Command line: GT_DENSIFY 

This command can be used to add extra vertices to the polylines, i.e. 2D or 3D based on the "Number of segments" and "Length of segment"




Densify Method
Number of segments: Densifies or adds vertices with specified number of segments.
Length of segment: Densifies or adds vertices with specified length i.e. distance between each vertices.

Tech Info: GT_Densify will not work on polylines consisting any arc segments in them. Such polylines will be ignored by the GT_Densify command and must be pre-processed using other GeoTools commands before they can be densified. 


See Example: GT_Densify

 

Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1  
     
Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Weed polylines based on inter-vertex distance and angular deflections
 
Command line: GT_DISTANGWEED 

This command can be used to eliminate redundant vertices in a polyline by weeding out vertices that fall closer than a specified value or those segments that deflect less than a given angular value. There is also an option to create a point object at every location where a vertex was weeded.



Weed vertices closer than this value [drawing units]:
Enter the linear tolerance parameter here. This is specified in drawing units. Any two consecutive vertices that are closer (nearer) than this value will result in the second vertex to be removed.

Weed if deflection angle is within this value [degrees]:
Enter the angular tolerance parameter value in degrees.

Create marker at every weeded location:
Checking this box creates a POINT object marker at every vertex location that was weeded. This helps in identifying the locations where the weeding took place.

Weed criteria

Distances:
Checking this option causes weeding based on inter-vertex distance only.

Deflection angle: Checking this option causes weeding based on deflection angle only.

Deflection distance: Checking this option causes weeding based on deflection distances only.

Deflection distance and angle: Checking this option causes weeding based on both deflection distance and deflection angle.

Distance and deflection distance: Checking this option causes weeding based on both inter-vertex distances and deflection distance.

Measure distances in:

Slope: Checking this option measures slope (actual) distances.
Horizontal: Checking this option measures horizontally projected distances.

Tech Info: Polylines containing ARC segments will be weeded based on their inter-vertex straight line lengths and NOT the actual arc distances. Therefore, in areas where arc segments exist, the results may sometimes not be as desired. You may want to convert the arc segmented polylines to linear segmented polylines using the GT_PLARC2PL command.


See also: GT_DENSIFY, GT_REM_LINVERTS

 


Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1  
     
Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Weed (remove) collinear vertices from polylines
Command line: GT_REM_LINVERTS 

The GT_REM_LINVERTS command removes vertices which are collinear. Any three vertices which fall in a straight line are said to be collinear and will be be removed.



Mark locations of removed vertices with points: Checking this box marks points at the location where the linear vertices were removed.

See also: GT_DISTANGWEED , GT_DENSIFY

 





Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1  
     
Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Assign interpolated Z values to vertices.
Command line: GT_PL_INTER

 

Often, you may have polylines in which some vertices have a zero elevation while others have non-zero elevations. This command fills in all the zero [0.0] elevation vertices with non-zero values based on a linear distance interpolation between the non-zero vertices.

Create interpolation output file: Checking this box creates an .txt output file of interpolation

Output filename...:
Click on this button to specify the output file path.

Zero tolerance: Enter the required tolerance value.

GT_PL_INTER Tutorial



Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1  
     
Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Computes total lengths of linear objects
Command line: GT_LENGTH 

Adds up the lengths of selected lines, polylines, splines, circles and arcs. Displays both horizontally projected length and actual slope length where applicable.


See also: GT_CALCAREA



Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1  
     
Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Set or remove flowing linetypes for polylines
Command line: GT_FLOW_LT 

In  AutoCAD / Bricscad , polylines can be set with a flag to determine if flowing linetypes are enabled or not. When flowing linetypes are enabled, the linetype pattern and scale are applied continuously across even small length segments thereby generating the linetype correctly. If this flag is disabled, the linetype pattern is applied each time at the start of a new segment. This may cause improper representation of the linetype in a polyline with very short segments. This command provides a means to set or remove flowing linetypes from selected polylines.

 



Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1  
     
Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Multiple PEDIT
Command line: GT_MPEDIT 

This is a global Pedit command applied to multiple polylines. The PEDIT command operates on one polyline at a time. GT_MPEDIT can be used to select multiple polylines and process them. It offers the following commands: Open, Close, Fit, Spline, Decurve, Convert to polylines and Change Widths etc.

Edit multiple polylines at once

If the Convert to polylines option is chosen, GT_MPEDIT will allow selection of lines, arcs and circles as input data.

If Change Width option is chosen, GT_MPEDIT will allow selection of polylines, lines, arcs and circles as input data.




Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1  
     
Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Highlight PLINE vertices with 0 elevation
Command line: GT_PL_0 

The PL_0 command identifies vertices in polylines, which have an elevation of 0.0. This is particularly useful to study erring 3d polylines, which have one or a few vertices, whose elevation has fallen to 0.0 because of an erroneous program or due to operator error. 

A POINT object is created on a temporary layer at the positions of vertex whose elevation is 0.0

GT_PL_0 Tutorial

 



Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1    
     
Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Place points or blocks along polyline vertices
Command line: GT_PL_PLACE 

This command places a point or a block at each vertex of a polyline/line. Useful for many mapping and utility applications.

What to place?:

Points: Choosing this option allows to place points on vertices of Pline/Line.
On specified layer.  

Blocks:
Choosing this option allows to place block on vertices of Pline/Line. On specified layer.

Block Name: Clicking on the button "Block Name" allows to select the block for insertion.
(Note: You can select one block at a time)

Insertion Settings:

Scale Factor:
Allows to enter the required scale factor for the block.

Rotation Angle: Allows to enter the required rotation angle for the block.

Which layer to place?:

Source:
Choosing this option places the block/point in source object layer.

Current: Choosing this option places the block/point in current layer.

GT_PL_PLACE Tutorial

See Example: GT_PL_Place

 

 

Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1  
     
Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Merge adjacent closed polylines 
Command line : GT_MERGEPOLY

The GT_MERGEPOLY command is used to merge adjacent closed polylines which have overlapping and common boundaries between them. This is a useful tool to process a set of adjacent closed polylines resulting from typical GIS analyses etc. and retain only the outer-most external boundary out of them. For this program to function, there must be overlapping segments between two polygons. If there is no overlapping polylines segments at the boundary, it will not be processed.

An illustration of what this program does is shown in the image below:



 

Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1  
     
Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Multiple vertex editor for polylines, lines and arcs. 
Command line : GT_MVEDIT

The GT_MVEDIT command is used to edit multiple vertex positions from multiple selected polylines, lines and arcs.

With the GT_MVEDIT command, you can move multiple vertices from many objects at once in the X, Y, Z, XY, YZ, XZ or XYZ directions while keeping the other coordinate unchanged. Think of this as a tool similar to the XYZ point filters in AutoCAD and Bricscad, but applied across multiple objects and multiple selected points of a polyline, line or arc.






Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1
      Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Mark Intersection points along lines, polylines, arcs
Command line : GT_INTERSECT

The GT_INTERSECT command can be used to mark points of intersection between polylines, lines, arcs and/or splines. Please be aware that this command does not mark self-intersections between the segments of the same polyline or spline object. Instead, it marks points where each object intersects with other objects in the selection.



Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1
      Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Mark junction points on a network of linear objects
Command line : GT_JUNCTION
The GT_JUNCTION command creates points at every junction node. A junction is defined as a point where at least three or more segments branch out in as many different directions.

Please note that while the GT_INTERSECT command creates points at every segmental intersection, the GT_JUNCTION command creates points at every junction or node where there is an explicit vertex or end point or ARC or LINE.





Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1
      Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Flip (mirror) arc segments of polylines
Command line : GT_PLARCMIRROR 
The GT_PLARCMIRROR command flips (mirrors) ONLY the arc segments of a polyline with arcs. This can be a useful tool to flip the direction of polyline arcs in many mapping situations where arced polylines are used to show vegetaion symbols. In particular, this command may be used to fix the polyline arc direction if it has been generated incorrectly by the GT_VEGLINE command in GeoTools.




Toolbar : Polyline Tool Set 1
      Menu : GeoTools Polyline Tool Set 1 Specify segment lengths in polylines
Command line : GT_SEGLENSET 
The GT_SEGLENSET command is used to specify a new segment length for each of the segments of the polyline. The command will highlight each segment of the polyline one by one in red color and ask for a new segment length. On entering the new length, the polyline is updated such that the segment gets the specified length.

 

 

Prev: Shortcut Macros

Table of Contents

Next: Polyline Tool Set 2