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3.2.5 Polyline

A polyline is a series of straight lines at different angles joined end to end.

To create a polyline:
1)Press the Polyline button in the toolbar.
2)Click the cursor in the drawing area where you want the polyline to begin. This places the first point for the polyline. You can cancel the creation at any time by pressing the right mouse button.
3)Add new breakpoints by clicking in the desired positions.
4)Complete the polyline creation by double-clicking the left mouse button for the end of the last line segment. If you double-click on or near the first point, the polyline will be closed; otherwise it will be open.

The default formatting and Format Dialog for polyline are the same as for a rectangle (see Section 3.2.1). Please note that by default, polyline is handled as an atomic shape. If you want to access and change individual breakpoints, select Edit Points from the polyline pop-up menu. This will bring up the control handles for each breakpoint. You can add points by dragging a line, or delete them by Ctrl-clicking them. These operations are also available from the pop-up menu of the lines and points in Edit Points mode. To exit point editing mode, either select Exit Edit Points from the pop-up menu or just click away from the polyline to deselect it.

A polyline is always created as an open shape, but you can later make it closed by checking Closed from the pop-up menu. To make it open again, uncheck the Closed pop-up menu element. When a polyline is closed, it can have a fill color in addition to its line color. To set the fill color, open the Format Dialog for the polyline and select the color in Color field in the Fill section of Line and Fill tab. Please note that the Fill section is enabled only when the polyline is closed.

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