Polygon

The Polygon option allows you to draw an arbitrary, closed polygon consisting of any number of line segments. A Polygon can also be used to determine areas.

To add a Polygon:

1. Select Polygon from the Tools menu, or from the toolbar.
2. Enter points graphically with the mouse, or enter x,y coordinates in the prompt line. (Snapping may be useful here).
3. When you have entered the last vertex of the Polygon press Enter. The last vertex will automatically be connected to the first vertex, to close the Polygon, and the Polygon will be added to the view.

Area Measurement

A useful feature of the Polygon drawing tool option, is that the area of the Polygon is automatically calculated, and can be displayed as a Data Tip. To view the area:

1. Make sure the Data Tips option is on (either Min or Max).
2. Hover the mouse over the Polygon, and the area of the Polygon will be displayed as a popup Data Tip.

This allows you to easily determine the area of any part of a model, by simply drawing a Polygon object around the area.

Tips:

• Double-click on the Polygon to bring up the Format Tool dialog. In this dialog you can edit the Polygon appearance. The color, weight, and style of the Polygon outline line can all be changed. You can also choose not to have an outline for the Polygon. Hatch and Fill patterns and colors can also be selected in the Format Tools dialog.
• Right-click on the Polygon to change the appearance of the Polygon in the view (i.e. Bring to Front, Send to Back, etc.). You can also edit the coordinates.