To Work With Polygon Objects

You can edit a polygon by editing its boundaries (adding, deleting, moving, or disconnecting them), changing its fill properties, moving nodes in a boundary, changing individual boundary types to Inner or Outer, or rebalancing the polygon. For explanations of these terms, see About Polygon Objects.

To add boundaries

1. At the Command prompt, enter mapmpedit.
2. In the drawing area, select the polygon to edit.
3. Enter a.
4. Select the polygon or closed polyline to add to the polygon.

   The boundary is added to the polygon and assigned an inner or outer boundary type based on its relationship to the rest of the object

5. Repeat Step 2 to add any other boundaries.
6. When the selection is completed, you can rebalance the polygon by entering r.

To delete boundaries

1. At the Command prompt, enter mapmpedit.
2. Select the polygon to edit.
3. Enter d to delete the boundary, or enter c to delete the boundary from the polygon but preserve it as an object.
4. Click a boundary object to delete from the polygon.

   The boundary is removed from the polygon.

5. Repeat Step 2 to delete any other boundaries.
6. When the selection is completed, you can enter r to rebalance the polygon.

To move boundaries

1. At the Command prompt, enter mapmpedit.
2. Select the polygon to edit.
3. Enter m.
4. Click a boundary object to move within the polygon.

   Any nested boundaries within the boundary are also selected.

5. Click in the drawing to specify the base point.
6. Click in the drawing to specify the displacement point.
7. Repeat these steps to move any other boundaries.

To edit nodes on a boundary

1. At the Command prompt, enter mapmpedit.
2. Select the polygon to edit.
3. Enter e.
4. Click a boundary object to edit.
5. Click the node to edit.
   Tip:

   Press the Spacebar to move to the next node.

   Enter r to remove the node, m to move the node, or i to insert a new node.

   You can not modify the boundary in a way that would make it cross another boundary in the polygon. For example, you cannot delete a node if that would make the current boundary cross an inner boundary.

6. When you finish editing nodes, press x to exit node-editing mode.

To change the boundary type

1. At the Command prompt, enter mapmpedit.
2. Select the polygon to edit.
3. Enter b.
4. Click the boundary object for which you want to change the type.
5. Enter o, i, or a (Outer/Inner/Annotation).

   Annotation boundaries behave the same as inner boundaries, but have no effect on area calculations.

To rebalance the polygon object

1. At the Command prompt, enter mapmpedit.
2. Select the polygon to edit.
3. Enter r.

   The Rebalance option recalculates the polygon tree and reassigns the Inner/Outer property of all the boundaries based on their nesting level.

To edit the fill property for the polygon object

1. At the Command prompt, enter mapmpedit.
2. Select the polygon to edit.
3. Enter f.
4. In the Polygon Fill Properties dialog box, edit the polygon fill properties. These properties are applied to the polygon that you are editing.

To specify a different color for the polygon fill and outline

1. Create a Display Manager layer for the polygons. In Display Manager, click DataAdd Drawing DataDrawing Layer.
2. Right-click the new layer and click Add StyleEntity.
3. Right-click the Entity Style entry and click Properties.
4. Change the Color for the Entity to the desired outline color.
5. Right-click the layer again and click Add StyleHatch.
6. Right-click the Hatch Style entry and click Properties.
7. Change the Color for the Hatch to the desired fill color.
8. At the Command prompt, enter Regen.

To set the default fill pattern for polygons

1. At the Command prompt, enter mpfill. Press Enter.
2. Select the fill pattern and properties.

   All polygons you create or convert will use the new default fill.