ACA 2017: Grip Editing of a Roof Object Outline

It is that time of year again, when the new releases of Autodesk software come out. One of the new features you can look forward to in AutoCAD^® Architecture is the ability to grip edit a Roof Object's outline, allowing you to modify it after the original placement.

As you can see in the image above, in 2016, all of the grips on a Roof are single-function square stretch grips. In 2017, the grips on the Roof outline are enhanced, multi-function grips. Hover over the round vertex grips or the rectangular mid-segment grips to get a pop-up menu offering several grip-edit options.

Vertex Options
For a vertex grip, the Move option is the equivalent to the grip behavior in 2016 and prior. Moving the corner grip moves just the corner point; the other vertices remain in place.

The Remove option does just that, it deletes the vertex.

Of the two roof edges that are deleted, the resulting roof edge will assume the properties of the lowered numbered edge. To see what those properties are, on the Roof contextual ribbon tab, on the Modify panel, select the Edit Edges tool and select the edges on either side of the vertex you plan to remove. The properties in the top row (edge "0") will be applied to the resulting roof edge when you remove that vertex.

The Offset Edges option also allows you to move the vertex, but, unlike the Move option, when you use the Offset Egdes option, the two adjacent edges will remain parallel to their original orientation, and the vertices at the far ends will move as required to allow that.

Mid-segment Options
The Offset option offers the equivalent of the 2016 and prior stretch grip. Selecting this option will allow you to move the entire edge, which will remain parallel to its original orientation. The vertices at either end will move as needed, maintaining the line of the adjacent edges.

To add a new vertex to the Roof, choose the Add Vertex option. The two new Roof edges will inherit the edge properties of the edge they replace.

The Convert to Arc option will convert that roof edge to an arc, and the arc edge of the Roof will be approximated by six straignt segments with the segment endpoints on that arc. (You will not get a conical Roof.)

The arc segment will continue to be treated as one Roof edge; if you desire a different number of segments on the arc, on the Roof contextual ribbon tab, on the Modify panel, select the Edit Edges tool and select the arc edge. In the Roof Edges and Faces dialog, change the value in the Segements column to the desired number of edges.

As with other enhanced grips, in addition to selecting an option from the pop-up menus as noted above, you can select the grip and then, before selecting a new point, tap the CTRL key to cycle through the available options. Preview graphics will show the effects of the currently active option, and, for the mid-segment grip, with ORTHO or POLAR active, if you stop moving the cursor, you will get a tool tip with directions for the current option and a listing of the other options. (For POLAR, a tracking vector must be active for the tooltip to show.)

The brief Screencast below shows the various Roof Object outline grip options in action.