"Join" Function - Joining Wrong End
Is there a way to specify which end of a line to attach when using this function? Just curious, because this seems to come up a lot for me but I haven't found others with the same issue. Thanks!
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Comments
8 comments
We have made some changes to the Transform -> Join feature. I think you will find it solves many of the issues that have been outlined in this thread. Today (Aug 28, 2025) it is web only but will be in the next version of the Mobile App (1.22)
Not visually through the GUI to my knowledge, but I'm pretty sure that Line A will always join to your specified Line B at the ends where the two lines are closest to each other, and that the only workaround is to split (or extend) one or both lines to create new end points that meet the proximity requirement.
Join will connect the end of one line to the start of the other. Change the lines to arrow so you can see the start and end. You can use the Modify - Reverse to turn a line around so the correct end is where you want it.
S. Chan
OCSD SRRU
Sam, I've been noodling around with this, and it's not always intuitive! But I can confirm that Join only works to connect the two lines at their closest termini. Reversing the direction of one or the other line to change their "start" or "end" makes no difference. If the end of Line A is closest to the end of Line B, the two lines join at these locations. If the end of Line A is closest to the start of Line B, then it's the same result. In fact, the Join tool will actively force the reversal of one or the other track if it needs to in order to accomplish the task at hand.
I've always used the workaround that Brett mentioned - just got to wondering if there was a better way. Seems like that's the way to do it for the time being - primarily an issue on out-and-back routes where the origin and destination are the same (but mirrored) for both lines. I'll generally draw the route out and then just Copy and Reverse it. As things work at the moment now, it seems the best way to force the Join to occur where I want is to manually move one (or both) of the origin vertices to "force" the join to occur at the apex (summit) of the route instead of the origin (trailhead). Thanks for the feedback!
I just confirm that Brett is correct in that it does join at the nearest end. In the past, I've had strange results when using join and my work-around was the result.
S Chan
OCSD SRRU
Hey guys, I think I figured it out - if its the same issue I was having. I have two lines because my Garmin died mid way, then I started tracking on CalTopo. I imported my Garmin line into CalTopo, then Joined them from the end of Garmin line to start of CalTopo, but this caused my start point from the CalTopo line midway.
I deleted everything and re-imported both lines into CalTopo. From the start of my Caltopo line, I Extended backwards to the end of my Garmin line, then Joined the Garmin/Start to CalTopo/End and now it runs in the proper direction. Hope that helps.
My experience with JOIN has been quite erratic. Rather than join 2 end points that are separated by only a few hundred feet, it prefers to join one subject track with another miles away. Doesn't matter which ends are selected and which direction the tracks are headed.
My solution is to manually enter EDIT mode for the desired tracks and simply drag the end points together.
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