Edit Tools

This page describes Map 2D Edit Tools and concepts of creating & editing Spatial Component of Vector Objects.

Map 2D > Tools > Edit

New Object Functions

• New Objects are created in the Recorded Dataset Model
  New objects created by any function (e.g. create new object, duplicate, cut/copy & paste, …. ) are added to the Recorded Dataset Model.
  If there is no Recorded Dataset Model, create new object functions will be disabled.
• New Objects are automatically selected for immediate editing of spatial and attribute component.
  Newly created objects are automatically selected to enable any Spatial Edits (Edit Object or Edit Vertex) function or to complete directly the Object's Attribute Values using the Object Inspector.

Edit Object Functions

• Edit Object operates on all Selected Objects.
  All Edit Object functions operate on all selected objects if possible. Pay attention to select the required objects only when using the Edit Object functions.
  Documentation on how to select objects and manage object selection, see Select Objects & Object Inspector.

Edit Tools General

• Snap to Objects or Constructions
  Snapping is the action which fits a newly created or an edited object vertex exactly onto a nearby reference position. This reference position can be another object or construction. More information, see Snap function.
• Active Edit Function
  All Edit functions remain active and can be (re)-used until another Edit function is activated. Most edit function allow object selection as well to select and edit quickly other objects.
  Check the currently active edit function in the left side of the map statusbar or by the the appearance of the cursor when hovering above the MapCanvas.
• Advanced Edit Functions
  Edit functions may have a slightly different behavior depending the spatial object type (point, line, area) or when combining with <Shift> and <Ctrl> buttons, see edit sidebar.
• Cut/Copy & Paste Objects
  The Map 2D Edit menu provides direct access to cut or copy and paste the selected objects into the recorded dataset.

Save Edits

• Save Dataset Edits
  The dataset save indicator appears automatically to the left of the dataset name in the dataset list if there are unsaved dataset edits (structure, spatial or attribute component edits). Click this indicator to save all edits of the dataset or use the “Save All” button from the main toolbar to save edits for all datasets.

Vector Data

• Vector Data Structure and Concepts
  More information on Vector Data Concepts, see Orbit Vector File.

The control functions include Select Object, Undo/Redo Edits and Delete selected Objects.

Function	Object	Use	Description	Shortcut
Select objects	point line area	normal	click an object to select	S
		shift	Objects are added to the selection list.
		control	Alternating selection mode: When already selected, objects are cleared out of the selection list. Not yet selected objects are added to the selection list
Deselect objects	point line area	normal	Clear selection	Ctrl + C
Undo last action				Ctrl + Z
Redo last action				Ctrl + Y
Delete object	point line area	normal	Delete the selected objects.	Ctrl + X

When selecting objects and opening this toolbar, the selected objects are displayed with a selection box :

Function	Object	Use	Description	Shortcut
Move Objects Resize Objects	Point Line Area	Normal	Click and drag inside the Object Selection Box to replace the Selected Objects. Click and drag on one of the Object Selection Box handles to resize the Selected Objects.	M
		Shift	Resize Objects : Retain Selection Box Center.
		Control	Replace Objects : Replace Focus Object only. Resize Objects : Resize Focus Object only.
		Alt	Replace Objects : Click and drag outside Object Selection Box to replace the Selected Objects.
Merge Objects	Point Line Area	Normal	Merge the Selected Objects of the Dataset Model of the Focus Object into a single Multi Part Object. The Attribute Value Sets of each Selected Object are added to the Merged Object.
Merge and Dissolve	Line	Normal	Merge Objects (see above) and dissolve Object Parts if the Line Start Vertex of one Object Part coincide with the Line End Vertex of another Object Part.
	Area	Normal	Merge Objects (see above) and dissolve Coincident Segments.
Explode	Point Line Area	Normal	Explode the Selected Objects having multiple Object Parts into individual Objects. The Attribute Value Sets of the initial Object are added to each individual Object.
Erase within Fences	Area	Normal	Erase Object Partitions of Selected Objects inside Fence Areas. The Map CRS and Dataset CRS of Selected Objects must be the same.
Square Objects	Area	Normal	Square all corners of Selected Objects. If one Object Corner cannot be squared, no Object Corners are squared. A projected Dataset CRS is required to operate this functions.
Square Objects to Construction Line	Line Area	Normal	Square corners of Selected Objects referenced to the Selected Construction Line. If some Object Corners cannot be squared, other Object Corners might still be squared. A projected Dataset CRS is required to operate this functions.
Rotate Objects	Point Line Area	Normal	Click and drag inside the Object Selection Box to rotate the Selected Objects. Click and drag on the Object Selection Box rotation handle replace the rotation center.	R
		Shift	Click on the Object Selection Box rotation handle to recenter the rotation center.
Rotate to Construction Line	Point	Normal	Update the rotation of a Dynamic Symbol to the orientation of the Selected Construction Line.
Duplicate Object	Point Line Area	Normal	Duplicate Selected Objects. The Dataset Model Spatial Component of Source and Target Dataset Model must be the same. The Dataset CRS of Source and Target Dataset must be the same. The Attribute Values are copied if the Attribute Names of Source Attribute component are available in the Target Attribute Component.
Create Parallel by Map reference	Line Area	Normal	Create new Parallel Objects of the Selected Objects by defining the Parallel Distance in reference to one of the Selected Objects via a click on Map. The Attribute Values are copied if the Attribute Names of Source Attribute component are available in the Target Attribute Component.
Create Parallel by Distance	Line Area	Normal	Create new Parallel Objects of the Selected Objects by entering the Parallel Distance. The entered Parallel Distance is relative to the Object Editing Direction. A positive distance is left, a negative distance creates a parallel to the right. The Distance Unit is defined by the Dataset CRS.
Rotate Clockwise	points line area	normal	Rotate selected object(s) 90 degrees clockwise over center of object.
Rotate Conterclockwise	points line area	normal	Rotate selected object(s) 90 degrees counterclockwise over center of object.
Flip Object	point line area	normal	Flip or mirror selected object(s) over the selected Construction Line.
Rescale Object	points line area	normal	Rescale object(s) using free scaling centerpoint Resize : Click and drag selection box to resize object(s) relative to resize center. Move resize center : Click and drag resize center to new location.
		shift	Reset resize center : Shift-click on the resize center to reset resize center to center of the selection box.
Fit In new reference points	point line area	normal	Fit selected object(s) in new reference points Moves, rotates and rescales object(s) to fit in a new location specified by 2 points : - click reference point 1 - click target for reference point 1 - click reference point 2 - click target for reference point 2	F

The Edit Vertex functions apply only on the focus object in the Object Inspector.

When selecting objects and opening this toolbar, the selected objects are displayed with a selection handle on each vertex :

Function	Object	Use	Description	Shortcut
Move a point	point	normal	Click and drag a point.	E
	line area	normal	Move vertex : click and drag a vertex. Move segment : click and drag a segment.
		shift	Move part instead of only the vertex or segment.
		control	Move vertex or segment and keep orientation of adjoining segment(s).
Add a point	point	normal	Click to add a new part to the focus object.	I
	line	normal	Insert between 2 vertices : click on a segment and drag the new vertex to its correct position. Add at end of line : click on an end-vertex and drag the inserted vertex to its correct position.
		control	Click on a segment and drag the inserted vertex perpendicular to the clicked segment.
	area	normal	Insert between 2 vertices : click on a segment and drag the inserted vertex to its correct position.
		control	as Line
Remove a point	point	normal	Click a part to remove it from the selected object.	D
	line area	normal	Click a vertex to remove it from the selected object. A line has at least 2 vertices, an area at least 3.
Create area from lines	line	normal	1) Select a point object within an area that is closed by line objects. Make sure that the line intersections have common vertices. 2) Activate the dataset that contains the surrounding line objects. 3) Tick the record indicator of the area model in which the new object will be added. 4) Activate tool. The attributes of the point feature will be copied to the attribute component of the created area, if both attributes from the point and area dataset are similar.
Delete Segment	line area	normal	Click 2 vertices to delete the intermediate segments. In case of an area object the deleted segment has contain at least two sides.
Add a part	point	normal	Click to add a new part to the focus object.
		shift	Click on a part to remove it from the selected object.
	line area	normal	Click to start drawing a new part of the focus object. Continue clicking to add points to the line or area. End by a right-click to open the context menu and choose “Stop”. During drawing from the 3rd point on, use <Shift> to create a new line perpendicular to the previous line.
		shift	as point
Remove a part	point line area	normal	Click on a vertex or segment to remove the part from the selected object. An object had at least 1 part.
Add a part from other object	point line area	normal	Activate the dataset of the focus object. Click on a vertex or segment from an other object to add the part to the focus object. Orbit will duplicate the part into the focus object.
Cut Objects	line	normal	Click on a segment to cut the object in 2 objects on that position.	C
		control	Click on a segment to cut the object in 2 parts on that position.
	area	normal	Click on a segment or vertex to start drawing a cut-line. Continue clicking in the object to add points to the cut-line. End the cut-line by clicking again on a other segment or vertex from the selected object. During drawing from the 3rd point on, use <Shift> to create a new line perpendicular to the previous line.
Cut line objects	line	normal	Cut all selected line objects at their intersections. Orbit creates common vertices on the intersections of the lines. Line vertices within a margin smaller than 1 unit on scale will snap to the suppositional intersection point.
Duplicate Segment	line area	normal	Duplicate selected segments(s) as new object(s) within the same model, make an exact copy. Click 2 positions on an object to specify the segment(s) to copy as new object. Attributes are copied. The new object is automatically selected.
		control	Duplicate selected segment(s) as new object(s) in the specified editable dataset model. Click 2 positions on an object to specify the segment(s) to copy as new object. Spatial types of source and destination model must match to succeed this copy. Attributes are copied as far as they are compatible.
Create Free Parallel Segment	line area	normal	Create new objects(s) parallel to the selected segment(s) at a free, clicked, distance : - Specify the segment(s) by clicking 2 positions on the object - Specify the distance by clicking the position through which a parallel of the selected segments(s) must run. The nearest line of the selected segments(s) will be used as reference to determine the distance of the parallel. The attribute component is copied.
Create Parallel Segment at Distance	line area	normal	Create new object(s) as parallel to the selected segments(s) at a specific, entered, distance : - Specify the segment(s) by clicking 2 positions on the object. - Specify the distance by entering it and click the icon. The attribute component is copied.
Enter distance	line area	normal	Enter the distance required by the function above, “Create Parallel Segment at Distance”. The entered distance is relative to the edit-direction, the sequence of points of the object. A distance to the left is expressed as positive, to the right as a negative distance. The unit of the entered distance unit corresponds the dataset coordinate reference system.
Spatial Join parts	line area	normal	Merge adjoining parts of one object into a single part. Merge adjoining parts of one object into as few as possible parts, based on shared points and/or lines.
Connect parts	line	normal	1) Select multiple line objects 2) Activate tool 3) Click on a end-segment to connect that segment to another segment from any selected object.
		control	Click on an object to let other end-segments of selected objects connect to this object.
Reverse	line area	normal	Reverse the edit-direction, the sequence of points.
Optimize	line area	normal	Optimize the object by reducing the amount of points required to represent the object (colinearity)
Explode line	line	normal	Explode line object (on vertices) into multiple line objects Each new object will contain all attributes from the parent object.

Open Place symbol window :

• from Main Toolbar : Tools > Edit > New symbol
• to make a Dynamic Symbol dataset : see Dynamic Symbols

Function	Description
Small icons	Display symbols as small icons
Large icons	Display symbols as large icons
Create new objects	Create new symbols enabled
Change selected objects	Change the symbol of the selected object enabled
Rotate symbol	Rotate te symbol to the orientation of a selected construction line
Size	Fill in the size of the symbol you want to create ( in unit )
Select symbol	Select the symbol you want to create or change for the selected object, from the list