Hi eric,

> But if I could draw the first segment and then toggle for a tangential arc the end of it
> would be tangential and end wherever I place the next point ... with the end point
> determining the radius automatically ...

The main thing I don't like about this method is having the radius calculated as a side effect of the end point placement rather than having the radius specified directly.

I mean how often does it happen where you want to make something with lines and arcs but you care more about placing the endpoint of the arc rather than its radius? Not that it doesn't happen sometime but I have to kind of have to try and weigh how frequently that's going to happen.

You can already get very close to what you're describing using a combo of the Line command and the ArcContinue command (ArcContinue, not ArcTangent). Try this - set up keyboard shortcuts for 2 keys next to each other (like the a and s keys), one with the command Line on it and the other with the command ArcContinue on it.

Then you can basically do the kind of toggle that you're asking for by switching between those 2 keys - press a then draw a line, then press s (to run ArcContinue) and draw the arc, with ArcContinue you can draw an arc with 2 point picks, the first pick at the end of the line you just finished, and then the second pick for the end of the arc just like you're asking about. Then press a and draw a line snapped on to the end of the arc, etc...

ArcContinue will track to a mouse point and figure the radius for you so you don't need to predetermine a radius value for it. It doesn't go between 2 lines, it goes at the end of just one line.

I'm just not sure though that this kind of "meandering lines and arcs with non-specified radius values" should really be what a built in arc mechanism in polyline should focus on doing as its primary purpose....


Possibly it's a better idea overall to just a make it easier to chain together the regular commands, like having some option which could be activated by keyboard shortcut for automatically picking up the last drawn point from the previously used drawing command, so that when you triggered ArcContinue you wouldn't have to pick the first point for it...

- Michael