The Explode command is, in a way, the opposite of the join command and using this command, you can convert a polyline into separate lines and arcs. To explain this command, I will use this drawing made with the Polyline command:

If you select any one of the segments of this drawing, the complete drawing will be selected because it is made with a polyline. Now, to break this drawing into separate lines and arcs, we will use the explode command:

Start the explode command from the Modify panel in the Home tab or use its command alias, X. Now, click on the polyline and press Enter.

The drawing is now exploded and if you select it now, all its lines and arcs will be selected separately:

Although in this case we used the explode command just to explode a polyline, it can be used in a variety of ways. For example, you can explode a hatch pattern and then all the lines of the hatch pattern will become separately selectable. Needless to say, the hatch will no longer work like a hatch pattern and will be converted to a simple object too. You can also explode other objects in your drawing, such as blocks, which we will discuss in chapter 5, Managing Drawings with Layers and Properties, and exploding them will convert them back to simple draw objects.