Boundary : BOUNDARY

()

Toolbar: Draw > Boundary

Ribbon: Home > Boundary (in Draw), Draw > Boundary (in Draw)

Menu: Draw > Hatch > Boundary

Keyboard: _BOUNDARY, or -_BOUNDARY for command line version

Alias: BPOLY

Experience Level: Advanced

With the Boundary command, you can designate a specific area of a drawing for operations such as hatching and dimensioning. You create a boundary polyline by selecting an area inside a closed loop. The area you select can be bounded by a single closed entity or by multiple entities that intersect.

In cases where entities intersect, CADdirect interprets the boundary as the closed loop closest to the point specifying the area. In the following figure, for example, the area point selected in the rectangle results in a boundary consisting of the closed loop nearest the point selection, as opposed to the closed loop formed by the rectangle itself.

Specified point (A) in area contained in rectangular polyline.	Resulting boundary (B).

To make boundaries more specific, you can create a boundary set. A boundary set specifies which entities are considered in determining the boundary path. This can make creating the boundary polyline faster if you are working with a complex drawing.

In the following figure, the circle and triangle are the selected entities. If you select an area anywhere inside the circle or the triangle, the result is a polyline that bounds the shaded area.

Triangle (A) and circle (B) selected as boundary set.	Point specified in the selected area (C), which results in a new boundary around the shaded area.

DIALOG BOX OPTIONS

Select Boundary Set Specify the entities that you want made available for the boundary polyline:

• Select All Visible Entities to have all entities in the drawing considered when creating the boundary hatch.
• Make a custom selection set to be considered when creating the boundary hatch using the Select Area button (not the Select Entities button). This makes the hatching process faster if you are working with a complex drawing. Click Select Boundary Set. In the drawing, select the entities individually or by choosing a selection method from the prompt box, and then press Enter. The Current Selection Set option becomes selected automatically, which indicates that the entities you selected with the Select Boundary Set button will be considered when creating the boundary hatch.

  NOTE You can alternate between All Visible Entities and Current Selection Set without having to select entities again using the Select Boundary Set button. The Current Selection Set option uses the last set of entities you selected with the Select Boundary Set button.

Boundary Type Select whether to create the boundary as a polyline or region.

Island Detection Options Choose Nested Islands and the outer entity and all its islands are considered for the boundary polyline. Choose Outer Only and only the outer entity and its outer island are considered for the boundary polyline. Choose Ignore Islands and only the outer entity is considered for the boundary polyline.

Select Area: To specify the enclosed area to be used when creating the boundary polyline, click the Select Area button, click inside the closed perimeter of a boundary, not on the boundary itself. If desired, continue clicking inside additional closed perimeters, and then press Enter when done.

Tell me about...

Hatch

How do I...

Create a boundary