Chain Offset Dialog Options

The Chain Offset dialog box contains the following selections for chain offsets:

Dialog Options:

Method

The method is the process the program uses to specify the Offset Distance, Draft Angle, and Offset Depth. For example, if you know the distance and depth at which you want the offset to be created, you can input those values and the Draft Angle will be determined for you.

The Offset Distance is the distance at which you want the offset created from the original geometry. The Draft Angle is the angle that is drawn from the original geometry to the offset geometry. The Offset Depth is the depth at which you want the offset created from the original geometry. A positive depth indicates that the offset lies on a plane parallel to the construction plane at a distance "depth" from the construction plane in the direction of the construction view Z axis.

When creating offsets, it is important to keep the following in mind:

• Offset chain entities whose length is smaller than the Offset Distance may result in an incorrect offset chain result.

• An offset is based on the following formula: Offset Distance = Offset Depth x Tangent of the Draft Angle

The following options are available under Method in the "Chain Offset" dialog box:

• Angle-Depth - If you select Angle-Depth, the offset will be calculated using the Draft Angle and Depth values that you enter.

• Distance-Angle - If you select Distance-Angle, the offset will be calculated using the Distance and Draft Angle values that you enter.

• Distance-Depth - If you select Distance-Depth, the offset will be calculated using the Distance and Depth values that you enter.

• Distance - Enter an offset distance value to be used when calculating the offset. The Distance field will be grayed out if Angle-Depth is selected above.

• Draft Angle - Enter a value for the draft angle to be used when calculating the offset. The Draft Angle field will be grayed out if Distance-Depth is selected above. You can enter any Draft Angle value from -90 to +90 degrees, but you cannot have a Draft Angle if you specified an Offset Depth of zero. The depth is relative to the original geometry. For example, if the base is created at a depth of -4 and the offset is 2, then the depth should be -2.

• Depth - Enter a value for depth to be used when calculating the offset. The Depth field will be grayed out if Distance-Angle is selected above.

Create join lines between profiles (check box)

Activates or deactivates join lines. If you activate Join lines, the end points of the original geometry connect to the end points of the corresponding entities in the offset chain.

Delete original entities (check box)

Selecting this check box will delete the entities selected for chain offset after chain offset entitites are created.

Cornering

The options under the Cornering heading in the "Chain Offset" dialog box allow you to select how to display offset corners when consecutive, non-intersecting offset entities are created. The available cornering options are: Linear, Fillet Arc, and Fillet Chamfer.

• Linear - The Linear option is used to create a trimmed linear corner.

• Fillet Arc - The Fillet Arc option is used to create a trimmed, arc-shaped (fillet) corner.

• Fillet Chamfer - The Fillet Chamfer option is used to create a trimmed fillet chamfer corner.

Entity Types for Conics/Splines

When working with conics, splines, and arcs that are out of view, you must specify whether the offset will be represented by Points, Lines, or Splines.

• Points - When selected, the offset will be created of points.

• Lines - When selected, the offset will be created of line entities.

• Splines - When selected, the offset will be created of splines.

Chord Tolerance

A Chord Tolerance specifies the maximum distance between the true mathematical offset and the approximating offset of a conic, spline, or arc skewed to the construction plane. The smaller the chord height tolerance, the closer the approximating offset is to the true offset.

• Enter a chord height tolerance value in the Chord Tolerance field. The default value is 0.01.

• You cannot enter a value of zero for a chord height tolerance. The smallest value that you can enter is 0.000001.

OK

Accepts the information in the dialog box and allows you to select the entities to chain.

RESET

When selected, whatever values you may have entered will be lost, and the settings will revert back to their previous values.