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You can also create new area features from selected line features by selecting a collection of lines, then
right-clicking and selecting the Advanced Feature Creation Options->Create New Area Feature(s) from
Selected Line Feature(s) menu command. This will attempt to connect the selected line features to build area
features. All line features will be connected as far as possible, then closed to create a new area feature.
Creating New Line Features
After selecting the Create New Line Feature (Vertex Mode) popup menu option, you can proceed to draw a
new line feature with the mouse. To draw the feature, simple left click at each place that you'd like to drop a
vertex. To finish the line feature, right click at the desired location of the last vertex. You can cancel creation
of the new line at any time by pressing the Escape key. Note that while drawing the line in Vertex Mode you
can use the Snapping feature to help align the line with existing features.
You can also choose to draw a line using the Create New Line/Area Feature (Trace Mode) popup menu
option. To draw the feature, simple press the left button to start the line/area, then trace the path to draw using
your mouse while keeping the left button pressed. To finish the feature, simply release the left button. You
can cancel creation of the new feature at any time by pressing the Escape key or just releasing the left button
then pressing Cancel on the dialog that appears. If you are using a digitizing table just select this mode, then
press down the pen to start, trace the path, then release it to end. If your drawn path is nearly closed, you will
be asked whether to create a closed area feature from the path or just keep it as a line feature.
Once you've completed drawing the line, the Modify Feature Info dialog will appear allowing you to setup the
label, classification, drawing style, and attribution for the line. The length of the line feature will be added as a
default attribute. The units for the length measurement can be modified on the General tab of the
Configuration dialog. See Editing Feature Attributes and Drawing Styles for more details.
Once you have completed have completed creating the line, the Digitizer Tool will remain in the line creation
mode, so you can simply start left-clicking to draw another line, or right-click to choose a different mode.
You can also create new line features from selected area features by selecting one or more areas, then
right-clicking and selecting the Advanced Feature Creation Options->Create New Line Feature(s) from
Selected Area Feature(s) menu command. This will create a single closed line feature from each selected area
feature.
Creating New Line Features with Distance/Bearing/COGO Input
After selecting the Create New Line with Dist/Bearing/COGO popup menu option, you can proceed to select
the starting location of the new line feature by left clicking at the desired start location. Note that while
selecting the start point for the line you can use the Snapping feature to help align the line with existing
features.
After selecting the starting location, the Distance/Bearing/COGO Input dialog (pictured below) will display,
allowing you to enter distance/bearing information for additional points either as separate distance/bearing
values, as a COGO (Coordinate Geometry) coordinates (see below for explanation), or as a
quadrant/bearing/distance value. Once you have entered all of your points, press Done to complete the process
and create the new line feature.
You can also check the option to Close Path Using Compass Rule when Completing Feature. If this option is
checked, all of the points will be adjusted using the compass rule to ensure that the shape is closed. The
compass rule evenly distributes the shift required to close the shape to all vertices and is commonly used by
Global Mapper User's Manual
Map GPS Coordinates - GPS Map Coordinates - GPSCoordinates Map
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