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Delete Polyline Vertices (windowed)

Window an area: the vertices inside it go away. The window-based version of picking vertices off one at a time in the grip editor: set the scope once, then window areas one after another; each pass is one undo step. VDCDELVERTS edits polylines (lightweight / heavy 2D / 3D, plain AutoCAD too); VDCFLDELVERTS deletes feature line PI and/or elevation points (Civil 3D).

Command VDCDELVERTS VDCFLDELVERTS · VDC Utilities tab › Drawing Tools panel
Window an area: the vertices inside it go away. The window-based version of picking vertices off one at a time in the grip editor: set the scope once, then window areas one after another; each pass is one undo step. VDCDELVERTS edits polylines (lightweight / heavy 2D / 3D, plain AutoCAD too); VDCFLDELVERTS deletes feature line PI and/or elevation points (Civil 3D).
Window the over-noded stretch. Vertices inside the window are deleted; the polyline re-spans across the gap. BEFORE, over-noded stretch the window AFTER, windowed vertices gone, one clean span Scope polylines picked first (default) or all in window Too few vertices left? erase the polyline (default) or leave + report Feature lines (VDCFLDELVERTS) PI and/or elevation points; never erased, keeps the minimum valid PI count (2 open / 3 closed) Window after window, U undoes one at a time.

What it does

  • Repeat windows: two corners per pass, ENTER/ESC finishes; each pass is one transaction, so U steps back one window at a time.
  • Every polyline flavor: lightweight, heavy 2D, and 3D. Curve/spline-fit heavies are skipped and reported (PEDIT Decurve first); locked layers are skipped and counted.
  • Degenerate handling: a polyline that would be left with fewer than 2 vertices (3 closed) is erased (default) or left untouched + reported.
  • Feature lines are never erased: VDCFLDELVERTS keeps each line's minimum PI count and reports any windowed PIs it kept; elevation points inside the window always all delete. Elevation points are deleted first, from pre-edit positions.
  • Arc segments next to a removed vertex re-span between the remaining vertices, check curved stretches after heavy trims.

Workflow

  1. Type VDCDELVERTS (polylines) or VDCFLDELVERTS (feature lines).
  2. Pick the scope, picked-first (safe default) or all-in-window, and the per-command options. OK.
  3. Picked-first: pick the objects one after another, ENTER to finish.
  4. Window areas one after another; each pass reports its counts. ENTER/ESC finishes; read the summary.

Settings

  • %APPDATA%\VDC\VertexDelete\settings.json (env VDC_VERTEXDELETE_SETTINGS). Both commands share the file.

Dialog

Delete Polyline Vertices (windowed) dialog
Delete Polyline Vertices (windowed), VDCDELVERTS
Delete Feature Line Points (windowed) dialog
Delete Feature Line Points (windowed), VDCFLDELVERTS

When to use it

  • A digitized boundary or lidar-traced contour came in over-noded and needs whole regions of vertices gone.
  • Survey linework imported with vertex clusters at every shot - clean a stretch in one window instead of one grip at a time.
  • A polyline detail was absorbed by a design change and the extra vertices now fight offsets and labels.

How to run it

  1. Run VDCDELVERTS; pick the scope (picked-first is the safe default in a busy drawing) and the too-few-vertices handling; click OK.
  2. If scoped to picked polylines, pick them one after another; ENTER to finish picking.
  3. Window the area - two corners; the vertices inside are deleted and the pass is reported. Keep windowing; ENTER or ESC to finish.
  4. Review the summary (vertices removed, polylines edited / erased / skipped). U undoes one window at a time.

Options

  • Scope: only polylines picked first (default), or every polyline with a vertex inside each window.
  • Too few vertices left: erase the whole polyline (default - you windowed essentially all of it) or leave it untouched and report it.

Watch out for

  • All-in-window scope edits EVERY polyline the window touches - lot lines, contours, curbs included. Use picked-first unless the area really is all cleanup.
  • Arc segments next to a removed vertex re-span between the remaining vertices - check curved stretches after heavy trims.
  • Curve-fit / spline-fit heavy polylines are skipped and reported - PEDIT Decurve first if you really want them edited.
  • Feature lines are not polylines - use VDCFLDELVERTS (Civil 3D) for those.

Related: Delete FL Points · Clean DWG · Smooth Surface · Export CAD