Draw Polylines

A polyline is a connected sequence of segments created as a single object. You can create straight line segments, arc segments, or a combination of the two.

Polylines are ideal for applications including the following:

Contour lines for topographic, isobaric, and other scientific applications
Wiring diagrams and printed cicuit board layouts
Process and piping diagrams
Extrusion profiles and extrusion paths for 3D solid modeling

Polylines can be created with several commands including PLINE, RECTANG, POLYGON, DONUT, BOUNDARY, and REVCLOUD. All of these commands result in a LWPOLYLINE (lightweight polyline) object type.

With the 3DPOLY command, you can create non-planar polylines that result in a POLYLINE object type. Fewer options are available with 3D polylines.

After you create a polyline, you can edit it using grips or PEDIT. You can use EXPLODE to convert polylines to individual line and arc segments.

NoteYou can convert a spline-fit polyline created with PEDIT into a true spline object with SPLINE.

Create Wide Polylines

You can draw polylines of various widths by using the Width and Halfwidth options. You can set the width of individual segments and make them taper gradually from one width to another. These options become available after you specify a starting point for the polyline.

The Width and Halfwidth options set the width of the next polyline segments you draw. Widths greater than zero produce wide lines, which are filled if Fill mode is on and outlined if Fill mode is off.

Intersections of adjacent wide segments are usually beveled. However, nontangent arc segments, acute angles, or segments that use a dash-dot linetype are not beveled.

Create Polylines from the Boundaries of Objects

You can create a polyline from the boundaries of objects that form a closed area with BOUNDARY. A polyline created using this method is a separate object, distinct from the objects used to create it.

To expedite the boundary selection process in large or complex drawings, you can specify a group of boundary candidates, called a boundary set. You create this set by selecting the objects you want to use define the boundary.

See Also

Procedure

To draw a polyline with straight segments

To draw a line and arc combination polyline

To create a wide polyline

To create a boundary polyline

Click Home tabDraw panelBoundary. At the Command prompt, enter boundary.
In the Boundary Creation dialog box, in the Object Type list, select Polyline.
Under Boundary Set, do one of the following:
- To create a boundary set from all objects visible in the current viewport, select Current Viewport. Avoid this option for large, complex drawings.
- To specify which objects to include in the boundary set, click New. Select the objects that you want to use to create the boundary. Using this option automatically selects the Existing Set option.
Click Pick Points.
Specify points within each area that you want to form a boundary polyline.
This area must be totally enclosed; that is, there can be no gaps between enclosing objects. You can select more than one area. Click Island Detection if you want internal closed areas to be included in the boundary set.
Press Enter to create the boundary polyline and end the command.
The command creates a polyline in the shape of the boundary. Because this polyline overlaps the objects used to create it, it may not be visible. However, you can move, copy, or modify it just as you can any other polyline.

Quick Reference

Commands

System Variables