CAD tip # 7329:QuestionCAD% platform categoryWith a simple LISP utility 3DPolyC, you can draw a 3DPoly by entering length (3D length), azimuth (in degrees, from North) and slope (in percents, plus/minus, 100%=45°) of its individual points (segments). This could be useful for piping, geology or similar applications.The triplets you enter for the individual vertices of the 3D polyline are not X,Y,Z coordinates but the values of length,azimuth,slope (e.g. 123.4,20,-50 - segment 123.4m, in the 20° direction, descending 50%).You can download the free 3DPolyC utility from, load it with and start it with the 3DPOLYC command.Since version 1.1 of the same utility you can also use the command 3DPOLYS, which is optimized e.g. For drawing sewer lines.
You will enter the initial elevation, the uniform slope (degrees, percent, promile, 1:X) and then just click the XY vertices (plan) - the polyline will draw in 3D with the given slope. The option 'S' allows to change the slope also during specifying the individual segments.If you've got standard angles of 3D segments (planar and vertical), you can also draw your 3D polyline using a simple script file (save to a.SCR file and run with the SCRIPT command) with data lines in the format @segmentlength.
Polyline Join. This program is effectively a wrapper for the standard AutoCAD PEDIT command, allowing the user to join multiple sets of lines, arcs & polylines without needing to traverse the various prompts issued by the standard command. Upon issuing the command syntax PJ at the AutoCAD command-line, the program will prompt the user for a selection of lines, arcs and/or polylines; following. MULTI-SECTION - a terrain & pipework longsection generator. Basically I draw a pipe route on a digital map using a polyline, select it and voila, a series of drawings each showing a plan (aligned to the pipe-route) and a corresponding long section beneath. This little baby can generate a dozen A1 drawings within a minute.