Longitudinal Markings (circles and rumble strips)

What it does

The command draws a longitudinal device — a stretch of marking that runs along the road rather than across it — in two shapes:

• Circles (Círculos): a staggered field of circles, used to mark alert areas and approach stretches.
• Rumble bars (Sonorizador): consecutive transverse bars, drawn as polylines with a constant width.

The input is always a path and a point on it. The path is the project's active alignment (the default) or an entity you select. With the active alignment, the clicked point decides which stretch of the alignment carries the set: CapCad looks for the nearest perpendicular foot and uses that element.

From there, three measurements define the set: the longitudinal length (how far it runs along the alignment), the transverse width (how far it reaches across it) and the radius of the circles or the thickness of the bars. Everything is a preview: each change erases the previous drawing and redraws it.

The form's title doubles as a status line: it becomes Longitudinais — 66 circle(s), Longitudinais — 8 strip(s), or the reason why nothing was drawn.

Workflow

1. Run CAPCAD_MARKING_LONGITUDINAL. The form opens beside the drawing.
2. Choose the input mode (1 or 2) and leave Usar Eixo ativo (3) on, or turn it off to select an entity.
3. Choose Círculos (5) or Sonorizador (6) and set Raio (7), Proporção espaçamento (9), Extensão longitudinal (11) and Largura transversal (13).
4. Click Selecionar / criar (the large button in the footer). The form hides; the command line asks for the path (if 3 is off) and for the point. In 2 pontos mode the second point measures the length and the set is centred on the middle of the span.
5. Adjust the rest: Afastamento (16), the longitudinal orientation (17 to 19), the transverse orientation (24 to 26) and Extra (27). Click Update (22) to redraw.
6. Choose the Layer (32) and click Aceitar (23) to keep the drawing. Reset (21) erases the preview and forgets the point; Zoom (20) frames the path.

The form

Numbers are the same in both pictures on this page. The form has no tabs; the only control that changes state is the Círculos / Sonorizador pair, which enables or disables Raio and Proporção espaçamento.

This form shows Portuguese captions in every language: every label is quoted below in Portuguese as the software shows it, with a gloss. The screenshots were captured in a Portuguese session; the control numbering is the same in both editions.

Opening state: 1 point and length, Usar Eixo ativo on, Círculos, radius 0.12, ratio 0.5, length 5, width 3.

Sonorizador mode: Raio (7, 8) and Proporção espaçamento (9, 10) are shown disabled — but they are still read, see Notes.

Input

What is drawn

Longitudinal orientation

Where the set starts relative to the clicked point.

Transverse orientation

Command links

Output and layer

The large Selecionar / criar button in the footer is what triggers the selection; it gets no number in the screenshots.

How the options combine

The figures below were produced by the command's own engine on a straight path, with the point in the middle. The dashed line is the path.

The grid is built like this: each row is a transverse line across the path, with circles every two diameters; the width is first reduced to a whole number of diameters (int(width / diameter) − 1), so the row always finishes flush. Rows repeat along the path every diameter × ratio, and alternate rows start one diameter further along — which is what produces the stagger.

Opening values — radius 0.12, length 5, width 3, ratio 0.5: 66 circles. With the ratio at 0.5 the pitch between rows (0.12) is smaller than the diameter (0.24), so the circles overlap into continuous beads.

Ratio 1.0: the pitch between rows becomes a whole diameter and the circles are tangent. 46 circles.

Ratio 0.2: rows closer together and more of them — 86 circles, almost touching.

Transverse width 1.5 with the other opening values: the width is reduced to 5 diameters (1.2) and the grid is half as tall. 27 circles.

Radius 0.25 (diameter 0.5): both the transverse pitch (1.0) and the longitudinal one (0.25) grow, and the circle count drops to 11. This is the value to use when the circles should read as separate.

The same grid on a curved path: each row is perpendicular to the tangent at its own station.

The rumble bars have no figure here. The arrangement is the one described in 6: transverse bars, transverse width long and radius × 2 thick, repeated every radius × 2 × (1 + ratio) along the length, starting half the length before the anchor point.

Remembered between sessions

Almost everything. When the form closes, every check box, radio button, text box and combo box is written to the user preferences and restored the next time it opens: input mode, Usar Eixo ativo, Círculos/Sonorizador, radius, ratio, length, width, offset, extra, both orientations, the output, In block, the layer, the action and the Zoom box. The spin buttons (8, 10, 12, 14) are not saved — but the summary text box (4) is, so the next session can open showing the description of the previous selection.

Notes

• The longitudinal length is not the length drawn (circles). It decides the number of rows: int(length / (diameter × (1 + ratio))) − 1, and the drawing spreads them every diameter × ratio. With the opening values (length 5, radius 0.12, ratio 0.5) the field measures about 1.5 units, not 5. To cover the 5, raise the radius or the ratio — or measure the result and adjust the length until it comes out where you want it.
• The width is rounded down too. int(width / diameter) − 1 diameters: with width 3 and diameter 0.24, the grid occupies 2.64.
• Radius and ratio still count in rumble-bar mode. Both controls appear disabled while Sonorizador is selected, but the drawing still reads their values: radius × 2 is the bar thickness and the ratio is the gap between bars. To change them, go back to Círculos, adjust, and select Sonorizador again.
• The default layer is the speed-reduction one. Change the layer before drawing if the device is not a speed-reduction line.
• The action does not reach the layer. Unlike other road-marking commands, the Ação box (33) does not add a keep/remove suffix to the layer name in this version.
• The point is always asked for. Even with Usar Eixo ativo on, the command asks for a point: it is the point that chooses the alignment element and the position of the set.
• The form's title, captions and status texts are in Portuguese in every language; the prompts and the title's status lines are in English.