Drawing Chords

To draw a chord, select the chord button from the configuration toolbox or from the page context menu.

After selecting the Chord button, the arrow cursor will be replaced by a crosshair on the page. This is a prompt for you to indicate where the chord is to be drawn. Do not spend time attempting to be precise in locating the chord, as it is much easier to drop a chord of any size onto the screen, then adjust it later rather than attempt to locate it precisely when first drawing it.

 

Referring to the illustration below, the process is to pick two points on screen, which will create a bounding rectangle, within which the chord will be drawn.  To create a circular chord segment, hold the shift key down while you pick the two corner points.  Otherwise, you can create an elliptical chord segment by picking the corners of any arbitrary rectangle.

Step 1: Locate and size the chord

As soon as the two corner points have been drawn, you will be prompted for a start and end angle for the chord 's end points.  Note that the chord will be drawn counter-clockwise from the start point you indicate, towards the end point.

 

Step 2: Set the chord’s start and end angles

Step 3: Define the appearance using the VTS Graphic Editor

As soon as the chord has been placed on the screen, the VTS Graphic Editor will be displayed as shown below.  Simply selecting the box labeled "OK" will result in a chord of default color, line style and line weight being created. Please refer to Using the VTS Graphic Editor for instructions on using this dialog box.