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  4. Buffer Polygons Command
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  3. GeoHECRAS
  4. Buffer Polygons Command

Buffer Polygons Command

The Buffer Polygon command of CivilGEO’s software allows the user to create new polygons around the selected polygon using a specified buffer distance.

Buffered features are stored in a user-specified target layer, which must contain either line or polygon features. For instance, the user might use buffers to show an ecological zone around a waterway or the area around a contaminated well. More than one feature can be buffered at once, but a separate buffer will be created around each feature.

Follow the steps below to use the Buffer Polygons command:

  1. From the Map Edit ribbon menu, select the Buffer Polygons command.
     Buffer Polygons map edit ribbon command
  2. The Buffer Polygons dialog box will be displayed.
    Buffer Polygons dialog box

The following sections describe the Buffer Polygons command and how to interact with the above dialog box.

Selecting Polygons

The Select Polygons section allows the user to select polygons to buffer from the Map View. The user can click the [Pick] button to select polygons from the Map View.
[Pick] button

After selecting the polygons, the number of selected polygons will be displayed in the Pick polygons read-only field. Note that if polygons were pre-selected prior to running this command, then the Pick polygons read-only field will display the number of selected polygons.

The user can click the [Clear] button to cancel any previous selection and redo the entire process.

Buffer Polygon Options

This section allows the user to specify the buffer distance and corner type of the polygons.
Buffer Polygons Options

The following entries are provided in this section:

  • Buffer distance
    This field allows the user to enter the buffer distance as a numeric value (applicable to all selected polygon(s)). Alternatively, the user can click the [Pick] button to measure the buffer distance from the Map View.

    Note that If the user enters a negative value, then it will reduce the area of the polygon feature by the specified distance. Moreover, if the negative distance is large, the geometry will be null, resulting in the creation of no element.
  • Corner type
    This dropdown combo box allows the user to select the shape of the buffer at the corners where two polygons join. The following options are provided.

    1. Bevel
      The buffer shape for inner corners will be squared while the outer corner will be cut perpendicular to the furthest point of the corner.
    2. Miter
      The buffer corner shape will be a square or sharp around corners.
    3. Round
      The buffer shape for the inner corners will be squared while the outer corner will be round. By default, this option is selected.
  • Dissolve (merge) overlapping buffered polygons
    On checking this checkbox option, the boundaries of the intersecting buffers will be dissolved. The original attributes will not be preserved if this option is used. This option will merge overlapping buffered objects into a single object.

Map Layer Details

This section is similar to what is provided in the Buffer Polylines command. To learn more about this section, refer to this article in our knowledge base.

GIS Layer Details

This section is similar to what is provided in the Buffer Polylines command. To learn more about this section, refer to this article in our knowledge base.

Creating Buffer Polygons

When all the data have been defined in the dialog box, the user can click the [OK] button and the software will create the buffer polygons around the selected polygons.

About the Author Chris Maeder

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