045] Global Mapper - Shortest Path from Point to Line: Chainage - Connect Selected Points to Selected Lines with New....

Today, we will learn how to create the shortest line segments that connect points to nearby lines. It appears this feature was added recently, as it wasn't available in older versions.

This function can be used to measure how far a specific point is from a river or road in a straight line, to determine the distance of an intersection from the start or end of a road, or to identify the best location when branching water and sewage pipelines.

Let's get started.

"Before we begin, if you missed the previous session, check it out here:"

[044] Creating Lines at Regular Intervals: Create Perpendicular Lines Spaced Along Selected Line/Area....

First, draw some points and lines on your screen.

[img 1 : Initial points and lines drawn in Global Mapper]

Select both the points and the lines.

[img 2 : Selecting Advanced Feature Creation Options from the right-click menu]

Right-click and select Advanced Feature Creation Options -> CHAINAGE - Connect Selected Points to Selected Lines with New Lines.

A settings window will appear.

[img 3 : Chainage Options dialog box for setting offset and start point]

A new attribute called CHAINAGE is added to the newly created line segments. This attribute indicates the distance from the starting or ending point of the original line to the intersection point where the new shortest line meets it. If you enter '50' here, 50 will be added to the CHAINAGE value. This is useful when you want to set a starting point at a specific distance from the actual start or end of a road.

Checking 'Start Chainage from End of Line Rather than Start' will generate the CHAINAGE value based on the end point of the line segment.

When you click OK:

[img 5 : Shortest lines generated connecting the points to the target lines]

Yes, the shortest lines connecting the points and the main lines have been generated.

Next, let's adjust the Labels to find out the distance of the intersection from the starting point and the length of the new line segments.

[img 6 : Vector Options and Custom Label Setup to display Chainage and Length]

Double-click the generated line layer to enter Vector Options.

Select the Labels tab -> select Use Custom Format String -> click Setup, then enter the following:

Chainage: %CHAINAGE%
Length: %LENGTH%

After entering this, click OK and Apply.

[img 7 : Final map display showing distance from start and segment length labels]

The distance from the starting point (CHAINAGE) and the length of the line segment (LENGTH) are now displayed.

Now, go back and try creating the result again after giving about a 50-meter offset in the Chainage options, and compare the values.

That's all for today!

"In the next session, we'll dive deeper into more advanced features. Stay tuned!"

[046] Parallel Line Offset: Create Parallel Lines Spaced from Selected Line Feature(s)