There are a number of ways to convert splines to polylines. Here are four of them.
- Flatten - if you have Express Tools installed, run the flatten command and select the splines. They will be converted to LWPOLYLINES regardless of the setting of PLINETYPE.
- SPL2PL.VLX - This is a free tool from dotsoft.com. After you download it, drag and drop the .VLX file into the AutoCAD editor, then run the command SPL2PL. This tool will create a POLYLINE or LWPOLYLINE depending on the setting of the system variable PLINETYPE.
- WMFOUT/WMFIN - Run the WMFOUT command, enter a filename, then select the splines. Now erase the spline, and then run the WMFIN command. Use the upper left corner of the viewport as the insertion point, and then scale it 2X. The resulting entity is a POLYLINE.
- Save As R12DXF - If you save a drawing as R12 DXF format, all splines will be converted to POLYLINE entities.
UPDATE (Aug 2008) - AutoCAD 2009 Bonus Pack 1 (available to subscription members) contains a spline to polyline routine.
Labels: AutoCAD 2009, Free, Tips, Utilities
PermaLink Posted 6/26/2007 08:02:00 AM Comments (1)
I just ran across another drawing viewer application called Myriad 3D/2D Viewer. I'm not trying to do a full review here, I just wanted to comment on some of its features with regard to viewing, printing and measuring 2D drawings.
1. Viewing and Printing - This application will open over 100 different file formats. I successfully opened several files of the following file types with no problems. DWG (r2007 version), DGN (v8 version), DWF, PDF, JPG, PNG, TIF, HPGL/2 (plot file), and DXF. This is an MDI application with optional tabs across the top like IE7 or FireFox web browsers. Controlling layer visibility, switching to monochrome mode, and changing the background color are all easily done using an icon in the status bar. You can pan, zoom and even rotate the drawing easily. My only complaint is that the mouse wheel zooms in and out using the center of the viewport as the basepoint, rather than the location of the cursor. Switching from model space to a layout is done with a drop down box in the status bar area. Other than the minor wheel zoom issue, this is an excellent viewing tool. In addition to the normal print options, there is a one button tool for printing to PDF, TIF, and DWF. You can also save the current view as a JPG file.
2. Measuring - Measuring is pretty simple also. You have to calibrate a known distance once before using the other tools. After that you can measure a line, polyline (continuous distance) for linear measurements, and a polygon or rectangle for area measurements. Turning on the "snap" will cause the cursor to snap to endpoints, midpoints, and centers.
Summary Of course, there are many more features in this application related to markup and 3D viewing that I didn't go over. It looks like the pricing structure is based on how many features are enabled. Bentley View has it beat as a pure DWG/DGN viewer simply because BV is free, but if you need other features at a reasonable cost, Myriad looks like the real deal.
I have updated my list of drawing viewers to include this application also.
Labels: Notices, Tips, Viewers
PermaLink Posted 6/12/2007 05:56:00 PM Comments (0)
If you do not have a valid school issued email, you can invite a faculty member to sign up and they can give you access.
You can also find job postings, discussion forums and product tutorials there.
http://students.autodesk.com/
I bet there are other resources there too. If you are a member, let me know what I left out...
Labels: AutoCAD 2008
PermaLink Posted 6/08/2007 08:00:00 PM Comments (0)