Hi Michael

Is it possible to add an arc option to the polyline? Most packages I use allow you to use a modifier key to toggle from a line to a tangent arc and then continue with tangents arcs or switch back to lines. So you can get a lot done with just the polyline tool without having to switch to the arc tool.

Kind regards

Jamie

Using the curve tool, if you hold down Ctrl Key when selecting, it is corner point mode. If you hold Ctrl continuously, it is a polyline tool.

Hi Jamie, that kind of combination polyline + a special option just for arc has always seemed to be just a bit odd to me, particularly because in how it behaves when you try to make a closed curve.

The methods that I have seen don't allow you to get the same kind of result at the close point as you would for a filleted polyline - I guess that's the part that seems kind of a little strange.

Also chaining a whole series of tangent arcs together is something that you might want to do if you are trying to manually draw some G-Code that is constrained to only be able to do lines or arcs but for more regular NURBS modeling purposes having a smooth control point curve tends to be a better way to do a longer curved shape instead of a chained bunch of arcs.

Do you have an example of some models where you wished you had this function to help you out? If I could see some examples that might help me to think about it some more and to see if some issues like the closing point would be significant for your cases or not.

- Michael

This kind of feature is in a few cad programs when in sketch mode, ala NX and Solidworks. It's more of a time saver when laying out a sketch to a rough shape you want, but then you have to go back and 'constrain' the sketch by adding dimensions to the lines and arcs, you can't give an accurate dimension on the fly.

[EDIT] Correction. you can type in an accurate dimension on the fly but then slows you down when you have to stop at each arc and type, I always find it quicker to do my arcs later.

~Danny~

Michael

I only use this type of tool for quickly getting something down. Agreed that closing a shape with this type of tool is not good.

Burr thanks for the ctrl tip on the curve tool

regards

Jamie