CenterStage Object Class: RuledSurface Subclass of: SurfaceFromCurve Requires reference to a Curve object The RuledSurface class builds a ruled surface from a given Curve object using a function that determines the ruling direction at each point along the curve. This direction can be given in terms of aboslute coordinates, or in terms of the Frenet frame for the curve. The first parameter in the domain for the ruled surface represents the parameter along the rulings, while the second represents the position along the curve. The RuledSurface class supports all the directives of the SurfaceFromCurve class (other than the Function directive), plus the following: Vector param func [-frame | -absolute] Here the "param" is the same as in the Curve class's Function directive, and the "func" is a TCL script whose result is interpreted as a vector that determines the direction of the ruling for the surface at this parameter value. If -frame is specified, the vector is in terms of the Frenet frame (i.e., the x, y and z coordinates give distances along the tangent, normal and binormal directions), while if -absolute is specified (the default), then the vector's coordinates are in the coordinates of the original curve. The default Vector function yields the tangent developable surface for the given curve. The normal and binormal developable surfaces are also easily produced. For a plane curve, the normal developable can be used to view normal lines to the original curve (using the DOMAIN/LINES menu and selecting the first parameter) or a series of offset curves to the original curve (by selecting the second parameter in the DOMAIN/LINES menu).