Explode a multipatch feature

In the Modify Features pane, Explode Explode separates a multipatch feature into its individual 3D faces. Feature attributes from the multipart feature are not copied to the new features. You can choose to keep or discard the original multipart feature.

Exploding a multipatch feature is commonly used to edit a feature before merging the remaining faces back to a single multipatch feature.

For steps to merge the remaining faces, see Merge features into one feature.

  1. On the Edit tab, in the Features group, click Modify Modify Features.

    The Modify Features pane appears.

  2. Expand Divide and click Explode Explode.

    The tool opens in the pane.

  3. Click the Features tab.
  4. Click Active Select Active Select and select the multipatch feature you want to explode.

    The selection appears as a list in the pane.

  5. To refine your selection, right-click a feature in the list and use the following commands on the context menu:
    • Flash Flash—Flash the selected features on the map.
    • Zoom To Zoom to Selected—Zoom the view to the selected features.
    • Pan To Pan to Selected—Pan the view to the selected features.
    • Only Select This Unselect—Remove all other features from the selection.
    • Unselect Clear Selected—Remove the feature from the selection.
  6. To preserve the original feature and copy the parts, check the Keep original feature after explode check box.
  7. In the pane, click Explode.

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