Mangled Polylines

From time to time when you use the Join Polyline command the operation may result in what I refer to as a ‘mangled’ polyline. The lines join but the lines are distorted, shoot off in strange directions and generally the operation fails without any explanation.

Well, there is a reason for this and a fairly easy fix. When a line or any object is drawn in 3D mode and then modified with the 2D selector or vice versa its workplane will change. When such a line is then joined to another line that has a different workplane the underlying mathematics involved cause some, shall we say ‘interesting’ effects. This can happen even in a 2D drawing when you have never changed your User Coordinate System (Workplane) because the line’s workplane (its Entity Coordinate System) can still be affected.

When you run into this problem all you need to do is place the lines you wish to join on the current workplane before performing the Join. To do this, select the lines in question and go to ModifyàPlace on Workplane (Shift +Alt +W). This will put the lines you wish to join on the current workplane and the operation can now be completed successfully.

-Travis

BTW...

Travis is one of our top Techsupport people. He also provides in-depth fee based training. To obtain training you can contact him using the contact information on the support page.

Brian