Modify or Join Polylines (Concept)

Additional editing operations are available for changing the shape of polyline objects. You can also join separate polylines.

You can edit polylines by closing and opening them and by moving, adding, or deleting individual vertices. You can straighten the polyline between any two vertices and toggle the linetype so that a dash appears before and after each vertex. You can set a uniform width for the entire polyline or control the width of each segment. You can also create a linear approximation of a spline from a polyline.

Joined Polyline Segments

You can join a line, an arc, or another polyline to an open polyline if their ends connect or are close to each other. If the ends are not coincident but are within a distance that you can set, called the fuzz distance, the ends are joined by either trimming them, extending them, or connecting them with a new segment.

Properties of Modified Polylines

If the properties of several objects being joined into a polyline differ, the resulting polyline inherits the properties of the first object that you selected. If two lines meet a polyline in a Y shape, one of the lines is selected and joined to the polyline. Joining also causes an implicit decurve, with the program discarding the spline information of the original polyline and any polylines being joined to it. Once the joining is completed, you can fit a new spline to the resulting polyline.

Additional Editing Options for Polylines

In addition to the general editing operations available for most objects, there are additional options available for editing and joining polylines with PEDIT.

Close. Creates the closing segment of the polyline, connecting the last segment with the first. The polyline is considered open unless you close it using the Close option.
Join. Adds lines, arcs, or polylines to the end of an open polyline and removes the curve fitting from a curve-fit polyline. For an object to join the polyline, their endpoints must touch.
Width. Specifies a new uniform width for the entire polyline. Use the Width option of the Edit Vertex option to change the starting and ending widths of segments.
Edit Vertex. Marks the first vertex of the polyline by drawing an X on the screen. If you have specified a tangent direction for this vertex, an arrow is also drawn in that direction.
Fit. Creates a smooth curve consisting of arcs joining each pair of vertices. The curve passes through all vertices of the polyline and uses any tangent direction you specify.
Spline. Uses the vertices of the selected polyline as the control points, or frame, of a spline-fit polyline. The curve passes through the first and last control points unless the original polyline was closed.
Decurve. Removes extra vertices inserted by an arc-fit or spline-fit polyline and straightens all segments of the polyline.
Ltype Gen. Generates the linetype in a continuous pattern through the vertices of the polyline. When this option is turned off, the linetype is generated starting and ending with a dash at each vertex.