Simplify Wizard

The Simplify Wizard dialog is used to reduce the complexity of line or polygon shapes. The overall shape will be retained while smoothing out corners and consolidating points. This is a good wizard to use if your data is rendering slow due to very complex shapes with many vertices.

This dialog consists of 4 steps:

• Step 1 - Choose Layer to Simplify
• Step 2 - Set Simplification Tolerance
• Step 3 - Set Simplification Method
• Step 4 - Save the Results

Step 1 of the Simplify Wizard allows users to select which layer to simplify. The Layer to Simplify select box displays all line or polygon layers available in the current project. After selecting a layer, the user can then press the Next button.

If your layer has certain features that have been selected on the Select Features tab, you may also check the Only simplify the currently selected features on this layer checkbox.

Step 2 of the Simplify Wizard allows users to set the desired Distance to use as the Simplification Tolerance.

Distance is the distance used to control the minimum distance between any two points in your simplified shape. It consists of a numeric value and a unit (meters, miles, etc.) selected from the unit select box. In general, larger values equal greater simplification.

Step 3 of the Simplify Wizard allows users to select the method used to simplify the shape. There are two options:

• Standard - Uses the common Douglas-Puecker algorithm to simplify shapes. This method simply reduces the number of vertices to simplify shapes and does not concern itself with the overall topological integrity of the shapes.
• Preserve Topology - Performs additional checks to prevent lines from crossing, shapes from disappearing, polygons from splitting or other geometric changes that can alter the topological relationship between features. Selecting this method can cause the simplification operations to complete more slowly.

Like other Tools wizards, this step allows users to choose how they want the wizard results to be saved. Users can choose to Add to Map and specify the desired layer name, or choose to Output to File. If Output to File is chosen, the user must select an existing or new file to save the results into.