It seems like Osnap might be able to accomplish what you’re looking for, thought I’m not sure if this is exactly what you had in mind, and fyi.
this is pretty much what I could do until now.
Just imagine the red segment is very complex (many control points) → I do not want to retrace it, i just want to add it to my new polyline—in a single click—and then continue drawing my polyline.
Adding segments to a newly traced polyline saves useless clicks, basically.
Please give it a try with ContinueCurve, and fyi.
Indeed I use ContinueCrv when I need it, however it solves a different workflow; my wish is trying to solve another one.
• Imagine you have to include hundreds of sparse segment here and there…
• Or imagine you started tracing a polyline and all of the sudden you find a segment already drawn that you just wanna include without quitting the polyline you are tracing…
For processing hundreds of lines efficiently in one go, I believe Grasshopper would be more effecitive. Could you provide a similar reference exmaple? BTW, what was the intended purpose of your first screenshot? Was it for quickly generating contour lines from a bitmap-based topographic map? Thank you.
I wish a simple clickable option in the command line when running polyline command. I want to avoid grasshopper
I received a CAD file with sparse segments here and there. I needed to complete it
I need to have full control of the polyline I draw.
i have a jpeg of topographic contours underneath to follow.
press space to finish the command.
press space to start the last command (polyline) again.
this is super fast, as your thumb of the left hand can stay on the keyboard space…
(others use right mouse button)
after all polylines are drawn:
select all, _join
do not forget that the polyline command ( in difference to the polyline object type) can have mode = arc.
so it will become quite tricky to integrate existing curves and give an intuitive experience for the user.
but of course it is possible technically.
But … I do not see a lot of use cases where an “add existing segments” options makes sense.
I am a bit afraid, if rhino follows all those needs - that a valid for single users / workflows - the already very complex usage / interface / commands + options will become scattered even more.
New users want to understand all options - so if also those very basic commands like polyline get more and more complex - the overall accessibility will sink.
… from a teachers point of view.
if this is really part of your daily workflow many days per month, then think about asking a developer / consultant (like me) to write a script / plug-in and pay for it.
… from a developers point of view.
kind regards - tom
Thank you for your thorough explanation. I have logged this requirement with our development team.
RH-89751 Polyline: Add existing segments to Polyline