Transform Operators - Drawings

The Transform toolbar for drawings includes a wide variety of operators. Some are specialized operators used to repair topology or to prepare drawings for use as networks in network or transportation analysis while other operators are more commonly used in GIS. The hyperlinks below will jump to the Help topic for the corresponding command.

Attach to / Attach to Self	These operators move the coordinates of one object to align to the coordinates of another object or objects. They are mainly used to adjust areas and lines to the shapes of adjacent areas or lines within the same object set or across different object sets.
Border Buffers	Create a buffer zone for each area object extending both outward and inward from the area's boundary the given distance.
Boundaries	Create lines in the shape of the periphery for each area in the target set. Will create duplicate boundary lines in places where the edges of areas coincide.
Bounded Areas	Create areas within regions enclosed by lines in the target set.
Bounding Boxes	Create an area in the form of a rectangular bounding box that encloses each object and is aligned vertically and horizontally with the map window.
Buffers	Create a buffer zone for each object extending outward by the given distance. For areas, this is an outer buffer zone.
Centroids	Create a point at the center of the minimum circle that encloses each object. (areas or lines)
Centroids (Box)	Create a point at the center of the minimum enclosing rectangle for each object. (areas or lines)
Centroids (Inner)	Create a point at the "center" of an area and adjust the position of the point so that it always falls within the area. (areas only)
Centroids (Weight)	Create a point at the approximate center of balance of each object. (areas only)
Clip with (Intersect)	Use the areas in the source / argument box set to "cookie cutter" objects in the target set and leave only those items inside the cookie cutter.
Clip with (Subtract)	Use the areas in the source / argument box set to "cookie cutter" objects in the target set and remove those items inside the cookie cutter.
Clusters	Given a Parameter value from 0 to 100, detects clusters and draws lines between all points in the cluster. Exists in standard and Zahn algorithm versions.
Common Bounding Box	Like Bounding Boxes, but creates one bounding box about all objects in the scope.
Common Buffer	Like Buffers, but creates one buffer zone about all objects in the scope.
Common Centroid	Like Centroids, but creates one centroid using the center of the minimum enclosing circle for all objects in the scope.
Common Enclosing Circle	Like Enclosing Circles, but creates one minimum enclosing circle for all objects in the scope.
Common Enclosing Rectangle	Like Enclosing Rectangles, but creates one minimum enclosing rectangle for all objects in the scope.
Constrained Triangulation	A constrained Delaunay triangulation consisting of both lines and areas that does not cross line segments within the source object set.
Constrained Triangulation Areas	A constrained Delaunay triangulation consisting of areas that does not cross line segments within the source object set.
Constrained Triangulation Lines	A constrained Delaunay triangulation consisting of lines that does not cross line segments within the source object set.
Convex Hull	Draw an area that just exactly encloses all objects using the extremal coordinates as bounding coordinates for the area's boundary.
Decompose	Split branched objects into simple (non-branched) objects. For example, a single, branched area object composed of three "islands" will be split into three separate area objects.
Decompose to Convex Parts	Splits area objects into smaller areas automatically. Each smaller area created will be a convex hull for the locations it encloses. This operator is often used to split area objects into smaller areas to allow computations or to create centroids that fall within areas.
Decompose to Triangles	Automatically splits area objects into triangles.
Distance Network	Build a network that connects every pair of points that are within a given distance of each other.
Enclosing Circles	Create an area in the form of the minimum enclosing circle for each object.
Enclosing Rectangles	Create an area in the form of the minimum enclosing rectangle for each object, allowing the rectangle to be rotated as compared to the map window.
Explode	Explode lines into multiple line objects where each line segment from the original line becomes a separate line object. No effect on areas or points.
Farthest Neighbor	Assign each object in the Parameter set to the farthest object from it in the drawing and draw a line between them. Exists in standard and Symmetric versions.
Farthest Pair	Find the two objects that are farthest apart.
Flip Horizontally	Flip objects left / right to their mirror image.
Flip Vertically	Flip objects top / bottom to their upside down image.
Gabriel Network	Creates a Gabriel network on the target point set.
Inner Buffers	Create a buffer zone for each area that is within and smaller than the area by the given distance.
Intersect Lines	Split all lines in the target set into separate lines at intersections and place points at the intersections as well.
Intersection Points	Create points at the intersections of all lines in the target set, including self-intersections.
Join Lines	Join lines with coinciding ends into a new, single line object. Redistribute any data attribute fields according to transfer rules .
Move Horizontally	Move all objects or selected objects the specified distance horizontally. Negative values move objects to the left (West).
Move Vertically	Move all objects or selected objects the specified distance vertically. Negative values move objects down (South).
Nearest Neighbor	Assign each object in the Parameter set to the nearest object to it in the drawing and draw a line between them. Exists in standard and Symmetric versions.
Nearest Pair	Find the two objects that are closest together.
Node Points	Create points at the terminal coordinates of lines, avoiding duplicates at locations where multiple lines terminate.
Normalize Metric	Fix common flaws in object metrics.
Normalize Topology	Fix common problems in topology, including snapping lines to nearest points, resolving intersections, resolving overshoots and undershoots and other miscellaneous topological anomalies based on settings in the View - Properties - Precision dialog. Also used to "generalize" drawings to lower precision.
Points	Create points at all coordinates defining the shape of lines and areas in the target set. Avoids making duplicate points in places where the edges of two areas coincide.
Relative Neighborhood Network	Relative neighborhood network.
Remove Duplicates	Remove duplicate objects. Deletes areas, lines or points that appear exactly at the same location.
Reverse Lines	Reverse the order of coordinates that define a line, thus reversing the "direction" of the line. Used with asymmetric line formatting styles so that the style is oriented as desired.
Rotate	Rotate objects about the approximate center of their minimum enclosing circle by the number of degrees given in the source / argument box. Negative degree values cause counter-clockwise rotation while positive values cause clockwise rotation. Fractional values are allowed.
Scale	Resize objects by the scale given in the source / argument box. A parameter value of 0.5 resizes objects to half their size. A parameter value of 2 resizes objects to twice their size.
Scale Horizontally	Resize objects by the scale given in the source / argument box only in their horizontal (East / West) extent. A parameter value of 0.5 resizes objects to half their size. A parameter value of 2 resizes objects to twice their size.
Scale Vertically	Resize objects by the scale given in the source / argument box only in their vertical (North / South) extent. A parameter value of 0.5 resizes objects to half their size. A parameter value of 2 resizes objects to twice their size.
Segments	Add redundant coordinates to objects so they are defined using a larger number of coordinates (and thus, segments). This allows preservation of shape when projecting large, simple, vector shapes.
Select Adjacent to	Select all objects in the target set that are adjacent to any object in the source / argument box set. Objects are adjacent if they have one or more boundary coordinates in common with no other overlaps.
Select Contained within	Select all objects in the target set that are entirely contained within an object in the source / argument box set.
Select Containing	Select all objects in the target set that completely contain any object in the source / argument box set.
Select Critical Service Centers	Given a set of nodes, called clients, in a network finds the nodes that minimize the maximum path length to any of the clients. This is the classic problem for locating an emergency service center, where at any time one may be called upon to travel from the center to any client. The Select N Critical Service Centers transform uses the source / argument box to set the number of service centers allowed.
Select Euclidean Point Coverage	Select a minimal set of points so that each point from the source set is within the given distance (in the drawing's native measurement units) to at least one point of the result set.
Select Intersecting	Select all objects in the target set that intersect any object in the source / argument box set. Objects intersect if they have any parts in common excluding intersections consisting of common boundary coordinates only.
Select Line Coverage	Select a minimal set of lines so that each line from the source set touches at least one line from the result set.
Select Point Coverage	Given a network, selects a minimal set of points so that each point from the source set is adjacent (through the network) to at least one point of the result set. Normally used with [Selection] in the scope box.
Select Service Centers	Given a set of nodes, called clients, in a network finds the center nodes that minimize the path length to travel from the center to each of the clients and to then return to the center. This is the classic problem for locating a regular or daily service center, where every day one must make the rounds of each of the clients. The Select N Service Centers transform uses the source / argument box to set the number of service centers allowed.
Select Shortest Path	Finds the shortest path between two points in a network.
Select Spanning Tree	Given a network, select lines in the network that make up a minimum spanning tree.
Select Touching	Select all objects in the target set that touch any object in the source / argument box set. Objects touch if they either intersect or are adjacent to each other.
Shape Hull	Tile objects in the drawing with polygonal areas built up out of square tiles using the grid specified in the parameter.
Spanning Tree	Given a set of points, build a minimum spanning tree network on that point set by adding lines.
Spline	Smooths lines and areas by inserting additional midpoints and using a spline algorithm to replace sharp corners with curves.
Split With	Split target areas and lines using a given set of lines.
Triangulation	Create a Delaunay triangulation consisting of both lines and areas for the selected point set.
Triangulation Lines	Create a Delauney triangulation consisting of lines for the selected point set.
Triangulation Areas	Create a Delauney triangulation consisting of areas for the selected point set.
Union	Combine all areas in the target set into one area object.
Voronoi Diagram	Create area, line and point objects for each Voronoi cell.
Voronoi Lines	Create line objects for each Voronoi cell.
Voronoi Areas	Create area objects for the Voronoi diagram.
Voronoi Points	Create point objects for the Voronoi diagram.

Automatic Normalization

This is an advanced subject that assumes the reader is fluent with the internal topological structure of objects.

Manifold maintains automatic cleaning of object metrics. Automatic normalization occurs for those transform operators that require clean object metrics. Before any such Transform toolbar operator begins operation, Normalize Metric automatically will be run on all objects that need to be cleaned.

The automatic normalization is an internal Manifold function that occurs whenever it is required during transform toolbar operation. Due to the caching behavior of Normalize Metric the amount of time for cleaning (if required) will vary depending on whether or not objects in the drawing are marked "clean" or not. A particular transform operator might run very rapidly and then just after Location Precision has been changed suddenly run much more slowly during the next run. The slower run occurs because all of the objects have had their "clean" flag cleared as a result of the precision change, so Normalize Metric will have more work to do for that run.

When dealing with imported drawings that may contain specific features of the metric that are to be preserved, users will often choose to begin operations by running the Normalize Topology transform operator on all objects in the drawing. This will clean object metrics while preserving redundant coordinates that are co-located with other objects, and it will mark all objects as having clean metrics. This avoids a situation where Manifold is compelled to run Normalize Metric even though we do not want it run.

When in doubt run Normalize Topology once before running other transforms. This can be very time consuming for large drawings, but it is a prudent and necessary step experts will take if they wish to preserve specific metrics.