Work with Line Feature Definitions

You can create a unique feature definition for each type of feature a user may need to record in the field. There are four types of feature definitions available: point, line, polygon , and block.

A line feature is made up of two or more points that define a line, such as a fence or path. A line feature definition is represented by the icon in the Explorer pane. Line features can also include line control codes that are used to further define linear features (for example, add lines, curves, and arcs between points).

To create a line feature definition:

Note: If you want to create a new feature definition that will share properties with an existing definition, you can, as an alternative to the instructions presented here, copy the existing definition and then modify the copy as necessary (including assigning it to a different category) using the instructions below. See Create a New Feature Definition Based on an Existing Definition for additional information.

In the Project Explorer, right-click the node representing the feature definition category to which you want to assign the new line feature definition and select New Line Feature Definition.
A new Line Feature Definition node displays nested beneath the selected Category node in the Project Explorer. In addition, the Line Feature Definition Properties pane displays.
Complete the fields as described in "Properties" below.
To assign an attribute to the new line feature definition, see Work with Feature Definition Attributes.
To assign an offset line to the newline feature definition, see Work with Offset Feature Lines.

To edit or delete a line feature definition:

In the Project Explorer, right-click the node for the line feature definition you want to edit or delete and do either of the following:

Select Properties to display the Line Feature Definition Properties pane. Then make any necessary edits as described in "Properties" below. Your changes are saved automatically.
Select Delete.
Note: If you delete a feature definition that has been assigned to a point in your project and then reprocess the feature codes, the deleted definition will no longer be recognized and will be reported as "Unknown" in the Feature Code Processing Report.

Properties:


Feature
Name	Enter a unique name for the line feature definition. Duplicate feature definition names cannot be used in the same Feature Definition (.fxl) file.
Code	Enter a code for the line feature definition. Typically, the code is an abbreviation for the feature definition name that can be easily assigned to a point in the field. Duplicate feature definition codes cannot be included in the same Feature Library for the same feature definition type. For example, the same code cannot be used for two different point feature definitions or two different line features definitions.
Category	Select the category to which you want to assign the feature definition. Categories are used to organize feature definitions into sets of similar definitions. For instructions on creating categories, see Work with Feature Definition Categories.
Style
Layer	Select an existing layer on which the line feature will display. Or, select <<New Layer>> to create a new layer for the feature. For additional instructions, see Manage Layers.
Color	Select the color to use for the line feature. Or, select By Layer to use the color specified for the layer on which the line feature displays.
Line style	Select the line style to use for the line feature. Or, optionally: Select By Layer to use the line style specified for the layer on which the line feature displays. Select By Block / Feature to use the line style specified for a CAD block, if the line feature is included in it. You can also select this option to indicate that the line style be specified after the feature is processed. Select <<Import line styles>> to import a line style. For instructions, see Manage Line Styles.
Line style scale	Enter the scale factor to apply to the line feature. The higher the number, the larger the scale. If, for example, you have a dashed line with 12 dashes and you change the line style scale from 1 to 2, the line will then have 6 dashes.
Field line style	Select the line style to display for the line feature in the field software.
Label style	Optionally, select a predefined line label style that specifies the following: Label content type (for example, the line length) Label text prefix (optional) Units suffix Decimal precision Angle display format Offset position of the label above or below the line Placement of the label along the line Or, select <New Label Style> to create a new label style for the feature. See Create and Edit Label Styles for more information.
Point
Include in surface	Select Yes to specify that a point to which this feature definition is assigned, along with the resulting line feature, can be included as a member in a surface. Note: If multiple features are assigned to a point, only the first feature code displayed in the Feature code field in point's Properties pane (the "primary feature") will use this setting to determine if the point can be included as a member in a surface.