J_ChainCreate

J_BoundaryCreate

J_ChainEdit

Create and edit a chains and boundaries

Find it in: JPattern Design sidebar (J_ChainCreate, J_BoundaryCreate) or Edit Entity cascade menu on JPattern Design toolbar (J_ChainEdit)

Chains and boundaries are connected lines based on a set of segments. The main difference is that a boundary is always closed and chains are not.

Steps

  1. Select the segments you want to add to a chain or boundary. Clicking twice on the same segment will remove the segment itself
  2. Press Enter (or right-click) to create the chain/boundary/exit editing

Chain tutorial

Remarks

  • The chain/boundary infrastructure depends highly on the topology of the curve. For example, you may need to click twice in parts of a closed curve that looks continuous but, since every curve has a beginning and an end, the two parts are different segments.
  • If the curve you selected isn't completely planar, you will be asked to fix it, as this may lead to problem
  • While selecting segments it is possible to use the undo (Ctrl + Z) function to remove the last selection

J_BoundaryBooleanCreate

Create a boundary using boolean curves

In certain context it is easier to select areas instead of curves. This command allows you to select the areas inside a given set of curves.

Find it in: Boundary cascade toolbar

Steps

  1. Select the curves to use for area selection
  2. Select the areas you want to use to create the boundaries
  3. The boundaries are created based on your selection

Boundary unfold tutorial

Remarks

This command relies on the CurveBoolean command from Rhino, so it offers the same options when selecting the areas. Later the result curves are converted into boundaries.

J_ChainCreateLegacy

J_BoundaryCreateLegacy

Create a chain or a boundary in sequence

This mode of creating chains and boundaries allows you to select lines in order and for some scenario it is a more efficient way than the traditional one.

Find it in: JPattern Design sidebar

Steps

  1. Select the lines you want to create a chain/boundary with
  2. Each selection needs to be on consecutive lines

Chain legacy tutorial

Remarks

  • When selecting the lines they should be picked as close as possible to the intersection with the previous line. By doing so, you will be sure of how the chain will look like.
  • If the curve you selected isn't completely planar, you will be asked to fix it, as this may lead to problem

J_ChainAnalysis

Check and repair chains and boundaries that have issues

It happens when moving around lines or importing files from other pattern tools that chains are not properly calculated. This tool allows the user to identify and repair the incorrect entities.

Find it in: Boundary cascade toolbar

Chain analysis

Steps

  • You can double-click on an item to edit it
  • You can also use the buttons below to isolate an item or refresh the panel

Remarks

The command will open up a panel that can be docked and used during normal user interaction. The same panel can be opened from any panel contextual menu.

J_SimpleCutCreate

Create a cut on a simple open curve

Find it in: Boundary cascade toolbar

This command allows you to create a cut on an open curve, possibly constraining the start/end of the cut by selecting other curves.

Steps

  1. Start the command and select the curves to use to create the cut.
  2. After selecting the first curve, the user can decide to create the cut on the total length of the curve, by pressing ENTER or clicking the mouse right button; in this case the command terminates
  3. If the user selects a second curve, he can choose by clicking the command line options if the first curve must be used as start constraint or the second curve must be used as end constraint; he can press ENTER or right-click the mouse to confirm and terminate the command
  4. Optionally, the user can pick a third curve: in such case, the three curves selected are interpreted as [start constraint, cut curve, end constraint] and the command automatically terminates, creating the constrained cut

J_SimpleCutConstrainedCreate

Create a simple cut over a constrained chain

Find it in: Boundary cascade toolbar

This command allows you to create a simple cut by chaining a series of curves.

Steps

  1. Select a series of curve segments, as you would normally do to create a chain
  2. Press ENTER or right-click to confirm curves.
  3. Choose if start/end curves must be used as constraints by using the command line options
  4. Confirm with ENTER or right-click to create the simple cut over the generated chain