Region To Line

Function Description

The region-to-line function supports converting the boundary or center line of the selected region to a line object, and saving it to the CAD dataset. When converting region objects to line objects, two conversion modes are supported: boundary and center line, as shown in the following figure:

Figure 1: Region boundary converted to line object
Figure 2: Region center line converted to line object

Function Entry

  • Edit Data Tab -> Object Editing Group -> Type Conversion -> Region to Line

Instructions

  1. Open the region dataset in the map. With the current region layer editable, select one or more region objects.
  2. In the Edit Data tab, from the Type Conversion drop-down menu, click the Region->Line button. The Region->Line dialog box appears.
  3. In the dialog box, specify the target datasource and dataset to store the newly generated line objects. The result data can be saved in two ways: save to an existing dataset or create a new line dataset. The parameters in the dialog box are as follows:
    • Target Datasource: Set the datasource where the result dataset will be saved.
    • Target Dataset: Select an existing line or CAD dataset to store the newly generated line objects.
    • New Dataset: Check the New Dataset check box, specify the name of the new dataset, and save the newly generated line objects to the newly created line dataset. If this check box is not selected, the newly generated line objects will be stored in the target dataset, and their property fields will be appended to the target dataset's attribute table.
  4. Region to Line Type: Click the drop-down button on the right side of the combo box to select the region-to-line type. Two conversion modes are provided: Extract Boundary/Extract Border Line and Center Line:
    • Extract Boundary/Extract Border Line: This conversion mode converts the boundary of the region object into a line object.
    • Extract Center Line: This conversion mode converts the center line of the region object into a line object. When selecting the Extract Center Line mode, you need to set the Maximum Width and Minimum Width values. For region objects with a width between the maximum and minimum width, the center line is extracted; for region objects with a width less than the minimum width, the center line is not extracted; for region objects with a width greater than the maximum width, the boundary/extract border line is extracted. For details, see the Centerline from Polygon page.
  5. Delete Source Object: If the selected region layer is editable, you can check the Delete Source Object check box to delete the selected objects from the source dataset.
  6. Click the OK button to complete the conversion of region objects to line features.
Notes:
  • One region object generates one line object. Composite region objects generate composite line objects.
  • Compounds composed of multiple regions in CAD are not supported for conversion to line objects via this function.