Spline Polyline
A spline polyline is a smooth, flowing polyline with no sharp or distinct angles. Click the Home | Insert | Spline Polyline, the 
button, or the Features | Insert | Spline Polyline command to draw a spline polyline. You can change the line style, color, opacity, width, and end styles for the spline polyline display.
To draw a Spline Polyline
- Click the Home | Insert | Spline Polyline command to enter drawing mode.
- Move the cross hair pointer over the location for the start of the spline polyline and click the left mouse button.
- Move the mouse to the next position along the line and click again. Generate the spline polyline by clicking on the anchor points during the polyline creation. The anchor points identify a change in the spline polyline's shape and direction. Notice that the spline polyline shape is visible and that you can change the curvature of the line by moving the mouse in different directions.
- Continue clicking on the anchor points until you click the last point.
- Press the ENTER key on the keyboard or double-click the left mouse button to end drawing mode. The new spline polyline is drawn.
- Press the ESC key on the keyboard or click the
button to exit drawing mode.
To edit a Spline Polyline
- Select the spline polyline in the Contents window or the plot window by clicking on it.
- Click the Features | Edit Features | Reshape command to enter editing mode.
- Anchor points appear as white boxes on the spline polyline. Click on an anchor point to select it.
- For anchor points that are the first or last point on the spline polyline, two control points will be active. The control point that is located at the exact anchor point controls the position of the anchor point. Click and drag the green control point to a new location to move the line. The control point that is connected by a line to the anchor point controls the degree of curvature of the line. Click and drag the green control point to make the line more or less curvy. The closer the control point is to the line, the straighter the line will be.
|
|
|
The end anchor point is being edited. The top green control point controls the curvature of the spline polyline. The bottom green control point controls the location of the anchor point. |
- For anchor points that are not the first or last point on the spline polyline, three control points will be active for each anchor point. The three control points are connected by a light blue line. The middle control point determines the location of the anchor point. The two outer control points determine the curvature of the line. Click the outer control points and drag to a new location to make the line more or less curvy. The line connecting the control points will always be tangent to the anchor point on the spline polyline. The shorter the connecting line, the sharper the angle at the anchor point. The longer the connecting line, the smoother the curve at the anchor point.
|
|
|
A middle anchor point is being edited. The left and right green control points control the curvature of the spline polyline. The center green control point determines the location of the anchor point. |
Drawing Tips
- Click points on the page to draw a spline polyline.
- If the CTRL key is pressed while clicking points, the points are constrained to 45-degree angles.
- Right-click to remove the last drawn point. Repeated clicking of the right mouse button removes all points in reverse order.
- Double-click the left mouse button or press the ENTER key to end drawing mode.
- Press the ESC key to cancel drawing the spline polyline before ending the line.
- Use the Features | Edit Features | Reshape command to change the spline polyline's shape.
- Edit the spline polyline properties in the Properties window.
- Change the properties for a group of selected spline polylines in the Properties window.
- Use the Options command Default Properties page to set the default line properties for the spline polyline.
Spline Polyline Properties
The spline polyline properties includes the following pages: