Pitney Bowes MapInfo Professional - Manual (Page 219)

AutoTrace entry in Status Bar.
Smoothing and Unsmoothing Lines
You can use the Smooth command to convert polyline angles into polyline curves.
To smooth a polyline angle into a polyline curve:
• Click a polyline with the Select tool and on the Objects menu, click Smooth. MapInfo Professional
smoothes the line so that it appears to be one continuous line with curves instead of angles.
• To undo the process choose either the Undo Smooth command or on the Objects menu, click
Unsmooth.
Both the Smooth and Unsmooth commands can be used only on polylines. A polyline is a line drawn
with the Polyline tool. Smooth and Unsmooth do not work with objects drawn with the Line tool. If you
attempt to smooth or unsmooth any object besides a polyline, MapInfo Professional displays a warning
message.
Converting Regions to Polylines
You may find it necessary, on occasion, to change an object into a polyline or a polyline into a region
during an editing session. You can do so simply by selecting the object and on the Objects menu, click
Convert to Region or Convert to Polyline.
For instance, you select a group of nodes that you want to copy and paste elsewhere on your map.
MapInfo Professional treats the group as a polyline and copies it to the clipboard. After you paste the
polyline on your map, you can convert it to a region on the Objects menu, click Convert to Region.
If you want to create a buffer zone within one mile of a boundary, meaning you want a zone that extends
one mile from the boundary to the outside and to the inside, you must first convert the region to a polyline
and then create the buffer. If you first create the buffer on the region, you will include too much territory
in the buffer (the entire region in the buffer plus the one mile buffer that extends outside of the region).
Converting objects to polylines and regions allows you to perform node-editing operations on objects
that ordinarily do not allow node editing. For example, you cannot add nodes to a rectangle object. If,
however, you first convert the rectangle into a polyline or region, you can then add nodes to the object.
The Help System contains these related topics:
• Editing Street Maps (StreetPro)
• Adding a Segment to an Existing Street
• Adding a New Street
• Renaming a Street
• Editing Street Colors
Merging One Map into Another
There are two ways to merge layers from one Map window to another:
1. You can use the Drag Map Window functionality to drag the layers of an existing Map window onto
the another Map window.
To see this method, see Merging Maps using the Drag Map Window Tool in the Help System.
2. You can copy the map layers you want from one map to the other in the Layer Control window.
To see this method, see Merging Maps from Layer Control in the Help System.
219 MapInfo Professional User Guide
Chapter 8: Drawing and Editing Objects