Fill Holes Command

Sometimes, small holes can exist within polygons when importing polygonal models from other applications or exporting a generated flood map in shapefiles. These holes keep the polygons from forming a continuous coverage and should be identified and corrected where possible.

In CivilGEO’s software, the Fill Holes command can be used to fill interior holes within selected polygons. This command will basically merge the holes contained within the selected polygons to eliminate the selected holes.

The Fill Holes dropdown combo box comprises two commands: Fill By Hole Size and Fill By Hole Selection.

Fill By Hole Size

The Fill By Hole Size command allows the user to fill holes contained in polygons by defining the maximum hole fill area.

Follow the steps below to use the Fill By Hole Size command:

1. From the Map Edit ribbon menu, click the Fill Holes dropdown menu, and select the Fill By Hole Size command.
   
2. The Fill By Hole Size dialog box will be displayed.
   

The following sections describe how to use the Fill By Hole Size command and interact with the above dialog box.

Selecting Polygons to Fill

The Select Polygons to Fill section allows the user to select the polygons that have interior holes to be filled from the Map View.

To select the polygons, follow the steps below:

1. Click the [Pick] button adjacent to the Pick polygons read-only field.
   
2. The Fill By Hole Size dialog box will temporarily disappear, and a prompt will be displayed on the status bar instructing the user to select polygons with interior holes from the Map View.
3. Click the polygons that have interior holes on the Map View to select them.
4. When finished, press the [Enter] key or right-click and select Done from the displayed context menu.
5. The Fill By Hole Size dialog box will be redisplayed, and the total number of selected polygons will be displayed in the Pick polygons read-only field, as shown below.
   
   Note that if the polygons have been preselected before running this command, the same number of selected polygons will be displayed in the Pick polygons read-only field.
6. The user can click the [Clear] button to cancel all the previous selections and redo the entire process.

Polygon Fill Options

This section allows the user to define the maximum hole area to fill polygon holes.

The Maximum hole fill area input field allows the user to define the area to fill polygon holes. The user can either enter the area manually or click the [Measure] button to measure the fill area from the Map View.

Filling Polygon Holes

When all the options have been defined, click the [OK] button. The software will then fill all holes that are equal to or smaller than the maximum defined fill hole area contained in the polygon.

Note that the [OK] button is disabled until all options have been defined.

Fill By Hole Selection

The Fill By Hole Selection command allows the user to fill holes contained in polygons by manually selecting the holes from the Map View.

Follow the steps below to use the Fill By Hole Selection command:

1. From the Map Edit ribbon menu, click the Fill Holes dropdown menu, and select the Fill By Hole Selection command.
   
2. The Fill By Hole Selection dialog box will be displayed.
   

The following sections describe how to use the Fill By Hole Selection command and interact with the above dialog box.

Selecting Polygons to Fill

The Select Polygons to Fill section allows the user to select the polygons that have interior holes to be filled from the Map View.

Note that this section is similar to that of the Select Polygons to Fill section of the Fill By Hole Size command. Hence, refer to the first section of the Fill By Hole Size command to learn more about it.

Polygon Hole Selection

This section allows the user to select the hole where the polygon filling is to occur.

To select the holes, follow the steps below:

1. Click the [Pick] button adjacent to the Select hole to fill read-only field.
   
   Note that the [Pick] button is disabled until the user has selected at least one polygon.
2. The Fill By Hole Selection dialog box will temporarily disappear, and a prompt will be displayed on the status bar instructing the user to select the polygon holes from the Map View.
3. Click the polygon holes on the Map View to select them.
4. When finished, press the [Enter] key or right-click and select Done from the displayed context menu.
5. The Fill By Hole Selection dialog box will be redisplayed, and the total number of selected polygon holes will be displayed in the Select holes to fill read-only field, as shown below.
   

Filling Polygon Holes

When all the options have been defined, click the [OK] button. The software will then fill the selected holes contained in the polygons.