TYPE: SOP
TITLE: Profile SOP

The Profile operation extracts a 3D curve from a spline surface profile or
changes the mapping of the profile within the surface domain. The term "profile"
is synonymous with "curve-on-surface".  The result of extraction is a spatial,
free-floating curve. Use the Delete operation to remove a profile from the
surface.

Examples of profiles include 0.5, 1.2-3.9, 5.*. All the profiles will be
affected if none specified.

Parameters:

    Group    - Subset of profiles to extract or manipulate.

Extract
    Overview - Extract a stand-alone 3D curve as the world or parametric image
               of the profile. The non-parametric option will yield a curve
               whose shape and position in space are identical or very similar
               to those of the chosen profile. The parametric option will
               produce a planar, XY face whose vertices and type will be
               identical to those of the profile in 2D; also, if the profile is
               a spline it will have the same basis as the extracted curve.
       
    Parametrically to XY   - Extract the profile's parametric image as a 3D face

               A profile extracted parametrically can be reapplied to the
               surface identically with the Project operation by choosing the
               Parametric option with no Mapping to Range. Use this method to
               extract the profile, pull its points or edit it as you would any
               3D face, then re-project it on the surface at the same location.

    Smooth Curve           - Fit a spline through the extracted points or don't.
                             This option is disabled when extracting the profile
                             parametrically. Turn it off to bypass the fitting
                             process which might be both expensive and 
                             unnecessary when extracting profiles produced by
                             boolean operations (see Surfsect).
Fitting
    Divisions Per Span     - Number of 2D points evaluated in each span  /sdivs
    Tolerance              - Precision of 3D fitting algorithm       /tolerance
    Order                  - Spline order of resulting spatial curve     /order
    Preserve Sharp Corners - Enable or disable fitting of sharp turns in curve

    Keep Surface           - Keep or remove the owner surface after extraction
    Delete Original Profile - Remove the profile from its owner surface

Remap
    Overview	- Reposition and scale an existing profile to fit within the
               specified domain range. It is a good means of bringing invisible
               profile into view by setting the mapping range between 0 and 1
               in the U and V parametric directions. A profile mapped outside
               the unit domain becomes invisible but is not removed from the
               surface. Other ways to change a profile are available through
               the Primitive operation.

    U Range                - Area of the unit U domain to be mapped on /urange1
                                                                       /urange2
    V Range                - Area of the unit V domain to be mapped on /vrange1
                                                                       /vrange2
See also: Project, Trim, Surfsect, Primitive
