CreatingLines

Thistaskshowsthevariousmethodsforcreatinglines:

pointpoint
pointdirection
angle/normaltocurve
tangenttocurve
normaltosurface

bisecting

Italsoshowsyouhowtocreatealineuptoanelement,definethelengthtypeandautomatically

reselectthesecondpoint.

OpentheLines1.CATPartdocument.

Anewlockbutton isavailablebesidestheLinetypetopreventanautomaticchangeofthetype

whileselectingthegeometry.Simplyclickitsothatthelockturnsred .
Forinstance,ifyouchoosethePointPointtype,youarenotabletoselectaline.Mayyouwantto
selectaline,chooseanothertypeinthecombolist.Thestatusofthisbuttonisstoredasthe
defaultvalue:therefore,ifitisredandyoulaunchthesamecommandagainoranothercommand
owningthisbutton,thebuttonwillberedtoo.
Iftheinputisselectedautomatically,whenwechangethetype,theinputwillnotbetransferredto
thenewtype.Forexample,ifweselectPointPointinLinetypeandWorkonsupportisactive,it
isselected
asinputforsupportautomatically.Thissupportfeaturewouldnotbetransferred,ifwechangeline
typetoPointDirection.

Definingthelinetype

PointPoint

1.ClickLine .
TheLineDefinitiondialogboxappears.
2.SelectthePointPointlinetype.
3.Selecttwopoints.
Alineisdisplayedbetweenthetwopoints.

4.Ifneeded,selectasupportsurface.
Inthiscaseageodesiclineiscreated,i.e.goingfromonepointtotheotheraccordingtothe
shortestdistancealongthesurfacegeometry(bluelineintheillustrationbelow).
Ifnosurfaceisselected,thelineiscreatedbetweenthetwopointsbasedontheshortest
distance.
Ifyouselecttwopointsonclosedsurface(acylinderforexample),theresultmaybe
unstable.Therefore,itisadvisedtosplitthesurfaceandonlykeepthepartonwhichthe
geodesiclinewilllie.
 5.SpecifytheStartandEndpointsofthenewline,thatisthelineendpointlocationinrelation
tothepointsinitiallyselected.
TheseStartandEndpointsarenecessarilybeyondtheselectedpoints,meaningtheline
cannotbeshorterthanthedistancebetweentheinitialpoints.
6.CheckMirroredextenttocreatealinesymmetricallyinrelationtotheselectedStartand
Endpoints.

Theprojectionsofthe3Dpoint(s)mustalreadyexistontheselectedsupport.

7.ClickOKtocreatetheline.
Theline(identifiedasLine.xxx)isaddedtothespecificationtree.

PointDirection

1.ClickLine .
2.SelectthePointDirectionlinetype.

3.SelectareferencePointandaDirectionline.
Avectorparalleltothedirectionlineisdisplayedatthereferencepoint.
ProposedStartandEndpointsofthenewlineareshown.

4.Ifneeded,selectasupportsurface.Inthiscaseageodesiclineiscreated,i.e.thedirection
ofthe
createdlinecorrespondstotheprojectionofthegivendirectionontothesupport.
5.SpecifytheStartandEndpointsofthenewline.
 Thecorrespondinglineappears.

6.ClickOKtocreatetheline.
Theline(identifiedasLine.xxx)isaddedtothespecificationtree.

Angle/Normaltocurve

1.ClickLine .
2.SelecttheAngle/Normaltocurvelinetype.

3.SelectareferenceCurveandaSupportsurfacecontainingthatcurve.
Iftheselectedcurveisplanar,thentheSupportissettoDefault(Plane).
IfanexplicitSupporthasbeendefined,acontextualmenuisavailabletoclearthe
selection.
Weadviseyoutoavoidthecreationoflineswhenthedirectiondoesnotlieonthe
support,aswellastheeditionoftheanglebetweenthedirectionandthesupportinsuch
cases.
4.SelectaPoint.
5.EnteranAnglevalue.
 Alineisdisplayedatthegivenanglewithrespecttothetangenttothereferencecurveatthe
selectedpoint.Theseelementsaredisplayedintheplanetangenttothesurfaceatthe
selectedpoint.
YoucanclickontheNormaltoCurvebuttontospecifyanangleof90degrees.
ProposedStartandEndpointsofthelineareshown.
6.SpecifytheStartandEndpointsofthenewline.
Thecorrespondinglineappears.
7.CheckRepeatobjectafterOKifyouwishtocreatemorelineswiththesamedefinitionasthe
currentlycreatedline.
Inthiscase,theObjectRepetitiondialogboxisdisplayed,andyoukeyinthenumberof
instancestobecreatedbeforepressingOK.

Asmanylinesasindicatedinthedialogboxarecreated,eachseparatedfromtheinitialline
byamultipleoftheanglevalue.

YoucancheckGeometryonSupportifyouwanttocreateageodesiclineontoasupport
surface.
Thefigurebelowillustratesthiscase.
 Geometryonsupportoptionnotchecked

Geometryonsupportoptionchecked
Thislinetypeenablestoedittheline'sparameters.RefertoEditingParameterstofind
outmore.
8.ClickOKtocreatetheline.
Theline(identifiedasLine.xxx)isaddedtothespecificationtree.

Tangenttocurve

1.ClickLine .
2.SelecttheTangenttocurvelinetype.
3.SelectareferenceCurveandapointoranotherCurvetodefinethetangency.
ifapointisselected(monotangentmode):avectortangenttothecurveis
displayedattheselectedpoint.
Ifasecondcurveisselected(orapointinbitangentmode),youneedtoselecta
supportplane.Thelinewillbetangenttobothcurves.
IfanexplicitSupporthasbeendefined,acontextualmenuisavailableto
cleartheselection.
Whenseveralsolutionsarepossible,youcanchooseone(displayedinred)directlyinthe
geometry,orusingtheNextSolutionbutton.

Linetangenttocurveatagivenpoint Linetangenttotwocurves
4.SpecifytheStartandEndpointstodefinethenewline.
5.ClickOKtocreatetheline.

IntheimageaboveweselectacurveandapointasElement2.
Theline(identifiedasLine.xxx)isaddedtothespecificationtree.
 Normaltosurface

1.ClickLine .
2.SelecttheNormaltosurfacelinetype.

3.SelectareferenceSurfaceandaPoint.
Avectornormaltothesurfaceisdisplayedatthereferencepoint.
ProposedStartandEndpointsofthenewlineareshown.

Ifthepointdoesnotlieonthesupportsurface,theminimumdistancebetweenthepointand
thesurfaceiscomputed,andthevectornormaltothesurfaceisdisplayedattheresulted
referencepoint.
4.SpecifyStartandEndpointstodefinethenewline.
Thecorrespondinglineappears.

5.ClickOKtocreatetheline.
Theline(identifiedasLine.xxx)isaddedtothespecificationtree.

Bisecting

1.ClickLine .
2.SelecttheBisectinglinetype.

3.Selecttwolines.Theirbisectinglineisthelinesplittingintwoequalspartstheanglebetween
thesetwolines.
4.Selectapointasthestartingpointfortheline.Bydefaultitistheintersectionofthe
bisectinglineandthefirstselectedline.
5.Selectthesupportsurfaceontowhichthebisectinglineistobeprojected,ifneeded.
6.Specifytheline'slengthbydefiningStartandEndvalues(thesevaluesarebasedontothe
defaultstartandendpointsoftheline).
Thecorrespondingbisectingline,appears.
7.Youcanchoosebetweentwosolutions,usingtheNextSolutionbutton,ordirectlyclickingthe
numberedarrowsinthegeometry.

8.ClickOKtocreatetheline.
 Theline(identifiedasLine.xxx)isaddedtothespecificationtree.

Regardlessofthelinetype,StartandEndvaluesarespecifiedby
enteringdistancevaluesorbyusingthegraphicmanipulators.
StartandEndvaluesshouldnotbethesame.
ChecktheMirroredextentoptiontocreatealinesymmetricallyin
relationtotheselectedStartpoint.
ItisonlyavailablewiththeLengthLengthtype.
Inmostcases,youcanselectasupportonwhichthelineistobe
created.Inthiscase,theselectedpoint(s)isprojectedontothis
support.
Youcanreversethedirectionofthelinebyeitherclickingthe
displayedvectororselectingtheReverseDirectionbutton(not
availablewiththepointpointlinetype).
Parameterscanbeeditedinthe3Dgeometry.Formoreinformation,
refertotheEditingParameters.
Youcanisolatealineinordertocutthelinksithaswiththegeometry
usedtocreateit.Todoso,usetheIsolatecontextualmenu.Formore
information,refertotheIsolatingGeometricElements.
Youcannotcreatealineofwhichpointshaveadistancelowerthanthe
resolution.

Creatingalineuptoanelement
Thiscapabilityallowsyoutocreatealineuptoapoint,acurve,orasurface.

Itisavailablewithalllinetypes,buttheTangenttocurvetype.

Uptoapoint
SelectapointintheUpto1and/orUpto2fields.
HereisanexamplewiththeBisectinglinetype,theLengthLengthtype,andapointas
Upto2element.

Uptoacurve
SelectacurveintheUpto1and/orUpto2fields.
HereisanexamplewiththePointPointlinetype,theInfiniteEndLengthtype,anda
curveastheUpto1element.

Uptoasurface
SelectasurfaceintheUpto1and/orUpto2fields.
HereisanexamplewiththePointDirectionlinetype,theLengthLengthtype,andthe
surfaceastheUpto2element.

IftheselectedUptoelementdoesnotintersectwiththelinebeingcreated,
thenanextrapolationisperformed.Itisonlypossibleiftheelementislinear
andliesonthesameplaneasthelinebeingcreated.
However,noextrapolationisperformediftheUptoelementisacurveora
surface.
TheUpto1andUpto2fieldsaregrayedoutwiththeInfiniteLengthtype,
theUpto1fieldisgrayedoutwiththeInfiniteStartLengthtype,theUpto2
fieldisgrayedoutwiththeInfiniteEndLengthtype.
TheUpto1fieldisgrayedoutiftheMirroredextentoptionischecked.

Definingthelengthtype
SelecttheLengthType:
Length:thelinewillbedefinedaccordingtotheStartandEndpointsvalues
Infinite:thelinewillbeinfinite
InfiniteStartPoint:thelinewillbeinfinitefromtheStartpoint
InfiniteEndPoint:thelinewillbeinfinitefromtheEndpoint
Bydefault,theLengthtypeisselected.
TheStartand/ortheEndpointsvalueswillbegrayedoutwhenoneoftheInfinite
optionsischosen.

Reselectingautomaticallyasecondpoint

ThiscapabilityisonlyavailablewiththePointPointlinemethod.

1.DoubleclickLine .
TheLineDefinitiondialogboxappears.
2.Createthefirstpoint.
TheReselectSecondPointatnextstartoptionappearsintheLineDefinitiondialogbox.
3.Checkittobeabletolaterreusethesecondpoint.
4.Createthesecondpoint.
5.ClickOKtocreatethefirstline.

TheLineDefinitiondialogboxopensagainwiththefirstpointinitializedwiththesecondpoint
ofthefirstline.
6.ClickOKtocreatethesecondline.

Tostoptherepeataction,simplyunchecktheoptionorclickCancelintheLine
Definitiondialogbox.