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.

When the create mode is set to FE geometry, polylines are created as PLOTEL, 1D elements. The number of 1D elements depends on the control points used for polylines. With “Auto-imprint”, 1D elements drawn on FE geometry remesh the surface; on CAD geometry, they imprint an edge.

  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.
    Tip: When selecting nodes from the mesh, by default, the selection type is "by path". You can switch the type to "by list" by holding Ctrl while selecting nodes.
  4. Use the microdialog to control the following:
    • The line type: Linear or Smooth lines can be created
    • Closed polyline: This defines whether the first and last node/location in the list should be linked to form a closed line loop.
    • Modify polyline: Control points can be selected and moved using the Move tool.
      Tip: Add control points to a line and then modify their location with this option. Using this approach, existing lines can be converted to polylines.

    • Edit Start and End slopes: Start and end point slopes can be modified using the Vector tool. If set to normal, this end point is normal to the specified vector. This option does not work for closed line loops or linear lines.

  5. Double-click on a polyline to edit it.
  6. On the guide bar, click one of the following:
    • - Apply and stay in the tool
    • - Apply and close the tool
    • - Exit the tool without applying

Controlled Line Creation Options

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 2.
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 3.
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 4.