New in MicroStation CONNECT Edition Update 5 - Solids Modeling Enhancements

In this update, two enhancements have been made to the Solid by Extrusion Along Path and Surface by Extrusion Along Path tools. First one is that you can now extrude a profile along a portion of the path element. With the second enhancement, you can reverse the curve direction of the path element. Two new settings, Extrude along a portion of path and Invert Path have been added for the same.

Following steps explain the use of the new settings.

1. Say you want to extrude a profile along a portion of a path indicated between Pt-1 and Pt-2 below.
   
   Start with the profile having coincident point on one of the ends of the path element.
2. Start the Solid by Extrusion Along Path tool with default settings.
3. Select the path element.
   
4. Select the profile element.
   
   Notice the arrow direction indicating the start point of the path element and its curve direction. This indicates that the profile is not located at the starting point of the path curve and to have extrusion along path it is mandatory to have the profile located at the start point of the path element.
5. In this case, choose the option Invert Path from the tool settings window.
   
6. This will preview the following extrusion along path.
   
7. Since we are interested in extruding along a portion of path, indicated between Pt-1 and Pt-2, you will have to also choose the Extrude along a portion of path option in the tool settings window.
   
8. Drag the edit handles present at each end of the path element to coincide on the points Pt-1 and Pt-2 respectively.
   
9. This will preview the following desired extrusion along a path.
   
10. Enter a data point to accept and create the desired extrusion along a path.