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Break line into equal distanced segments


awolcott

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I have searched throughout the forums, both Microstation and AutoCAD and can't find anything of this manner.

 

I have a line. I must break this line into segments of equal distance, say 10 nautical miles, which at my location is .3177. My X,Y is in lat/long. So basically X=.3177 and/or Y=.3177 is also equal to 10NMs.

 

Is it possible to break my single continuous line into separate elements which are equidistant in length, and then delete every other line, so as to emulate a dashed line?

 

I would use line types, however I must export the data to a program which will display individual, solid lines, but does not support line types. I have to show these lines as "dashed", with the dashes 10NMs in length with 10NMs between each one.

 

Thanks.

 

Andrew

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You can use MEASURE to divide your line into specified lengths, but it will still be a line, and you might not see the division points. I think it would be easier to use ARRAY: draw one line at the correct length, and then select ARRAY. You then specify how many "rows" or "columns" you want, depending upon which axis your line is on. The spacing should be double your line length, or .6354. You can prevue your lines before you accept them.

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I do not know many projects where there is a 10NM 'straight line'. :wink:

 

Instead, the two commands mentioned can place points, or blocks at the specified intervals, and then the line may be manually 'broken' at each accordingly.

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Is this a Microstation or AutoCAD question?

 

I think I once ran across a LISP or a request for a LISP to change a dashed linetype to individual lines.

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You can use MEASURE to divide your line into specified lengths, but it will still be a line, and you might not see the division points. I think it would be easier to use ARRAY: draw one line at the correct length, and then select ARRAY. You then specify how many "rows" or "columns" you want, depending upon which axis your line is on. The spacing should be double your line length, or .6354. You can prevue your lines before you accept them.

 

I'll give this a shot. I know there is a way, but as with all things that are worth doing, they are worth doing well. Doing them well however takes a bit of time! LOL. Thanks!

 

If using AutoCAD, consider the MEASURE and DIVIDE commands.

 

I do not know many projects where there is a 10NM 'straight line'. :wink:

 

Instead, the two commands mentioned can place points, or blocks at the specified intervals, and then the line may be manually 'broken' at each accordingly.

 

You are right taking into consideration the curvature of the earth. :) However, the data I am working from has been converted to DXF directly from a lat/long text file source. So, when converted back the lines do place correctly, since the program uses a simple projection system; 60NMs per degree of Latitude, and 42.66 NMs per degree of longitude.

 

Of course this had to be taken from the point of tangency of a 386,319 sq. mile area :?

 

Anyhow I've played around with the above commands, but as I have nearly 100 lines to do this with, this may become a time consuming adventure LOL.

 

Thanks for the replies!

 

Andrew

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Is this a Microstation or AutoCAD question?

 

I think I once ran across a LISP or a request for a LISP to change a dashed linetype to individual lines.

 

Microstation specifically, as I prefer to work in Microstation, V8i. However, AutoCAD pointers are an option as well. I would prefer those to be PM'ed, or otherwise split from this thread and placed in the appropriate AutoCAD forum.

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You can use MEASURE to divide your line into specified lengths, but it will still be a line, and you might not see the division points. I think it would be easier to use ARRAY: draw one line at the correct length, and then select ARRAY. You then specify how many "rows" or "columns" you want, depending upon which axis your line is on. The spacing should be double your line length, or .6354. You can prevue your lines before you accept them.

 

Okay I tried the path array method in AutoCad. It works, but only if I draw the line to be arrayed in the same orientation as the original line(path) to be followed.

 

Next up is to try the measure function in Autocad.

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... I just threw up in my mouth a little. :sick:

 

LOL. Don't get me wrong, as I am new to both. But for my purposes I find Microstation to be somewhat more user friendly. However, I find that to accomplish my goals I generally bounce back and forth between Microstation and AutoCAD.

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Before you try the MEASURE command, you should use DDPTYPE to set the appearance of the points. Use a cross or circle or something; if you use the default AutoCAD setting, then you won't see the points. If your line is just a straight line, then you should be alright. If your line is a polyline, then I think your specified distance of 10 NM will be shortened at each corner.

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The construct points tools could help you place points where you need to partial delete element segments. You may also be able to use the snap divisor setting (KY=) to create snap points. Also, you might be able to use a macro.

A custom line style is not an out of the question possibility since there is a drop linestyle command which would leave lines and gaps. you could use a unit base linestyle that would be used with the global linestyle scale factor equal to the gap required.

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The construct points tools could help you place points where you need to partial delete element segments. You may also be able to use the snap divisor setting (KY=) to create snap points. Also, you might be able to use a macro.

A custom line style is not an out of the question possibility since there is a drop linestyle command which would leave lines and gaps. you could use a unit base linestyle that would be used with the global linestyle scale factor equal to the gap required.

 

 

Just want to clarify for others, and myself, that you are speaking about Microstation, correct?

 

If so, does anyone know if there an equivalent command for Autocad?

 

 

Edit:

 

BTW, thank you for the input. I am now exploring this option and so far I like what I see. :)

Edited by awolcott
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That is correct. There is a family of construct points tools that is similar to measure/divide. And the snap divisor lets you set "midpoint" snaps, except that you can specify, thirds, quarters, fifths, etc. The shortcut key-in is KY=X where X is an integer number representing the number of segments to subdivide something into. Lets say you want to divide something into equal length segments and delete every other segment, leaving dashes and gaps, but want a dash at each end. Set a divisor that is an odd integer, like 7. With the partial delete command, you can delete the segment between the sixth and fifth segment. After you have completed that step, you would need to decrease the divisor by 2, since what is left is now 5 segments long. After deleting the fourth segment, reduce it to 3 and delete the middle third.

It might be possible to make a macro that combines all of these steps based upon the length of the element, its end points and the number of segments desired.

As this was the MicroStation forum, I answered with MicroStation work flows. I'm pretty sure that some of the lisp gurus could offer some thoughts.

Edited by caddcop
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