Entering Coordinates

To enter the Opening Section boundary, you may use the keyboard, the mouse, or a combination of the two, to enter coordinates. You may also enter coordinates into a spreadsheet dialog, which allows you to import x-y coordinates from an existing file or spreadsheet.

The Opening Section boundary is modeled by a series of straight-line segments defined by x-y coordinates.

Graphical Entry

Use the mouse to move the cursor, and enter a point by pressing the left mouse button. The cursor coordinates are always displayed in the right-most box of the Status Bar at the lower right of the Unwedge application window.

TIP – the Snap options allow you to enter "exact" coordinates graphically, by snapping to existing vertices, boundaries, grid points or extension lines.

Prompt Line Entry

Use the keyboard to type coordinates in the prompt line at the bottom right of the Unwedge application window. Simply type in x-y coordinate pairs, and press Enter for each pair. For example:

Enter vertex [t=table, a=arc, esc=quit]: 0 , 0 <Enter>

Enter vertex [t=table, a=arc, u=undo, esc=quit]: 50 , 0 <Enter>

Note that the use of a comma to separate the x-y coordinates is optional, and you may simply leave a space between the x and y values in the prompt line.

TIP - to complete the entry of the Opening Section boundary, right-click and select Close Boundary, or type c and Enter in the prompt line, after the last vertex has been entered.

Table Entry

Coordinates can also be entered into a convenient table, in which you may type coordinates directly, or import coordinates from an existing file or spreadsheet. This is done as follows:

  1. At any point during the process of entering coordinates for a boundary, right-click the mouse and select Coordinate Table from the popup menu. (Alternatively, you can type the letter " t " in the prompt line, followed by Enter).

  2. You will see the Coordinate Table dialog. This dialog allows you to enter x-y coordinates in a spreadsheet style table. If you have already entered coordinates (e.g. graphically or through the prompt line), the existing coordinates will be displayed in the table, and you may continue to enter / edit the coordinates in the table.

  3. There are three ways in which you can enter coordinates into the table.

  1. Several handy editing features are also available in the Coordinate Table dialog:

  1. When you have entered the desired coordinates in the table, select OK in the dialog, and you will be returned to the process of adding the boundary. You may continue to enter coordinates (e.g. graphically with the mouse, or typed into the prompt line), or if all coordinates have been entered, right-click the mouse and select Close Boundary. NOTE: if the coordinates you have entered in the Coordinate Table dialog form a closed boundary (i.e. first vertex = last vertex), then when you select OK, the boundary will automatically be added to the model, and you will exit the option.

Correcting Mistakes

If at any time you make a mistake while entering coordinates, you may "undo" the vertices you have entered, by:

Either action will remove the last vertex from the current polyline you are entering. Undo can be repeated any number of times to remove successive vertices from the boundary you are drawing – experiment with this option to see how it works.

Note: the u command is only operative while you are entering a boundary. After a boundary has been added, you can use the Undo option, or the editing options (e.g. Move Vertices, Delete Vertices), to edit the boundary.