do you mean point count and degree? because if you do, yes.
if you type in "rebuild" and select your curve, you will be able to change the degree and point count of the curve. beside each field is the number you currently have. and if you actually want to see the nurbs, you have a choice between edit points and control points. one is on the Main 1 toolbar, and the other is on the Main 2 toolbar.

um... no.

inflection points, as in where the slope is = 0 relative to the xy plane.
best thing i've come up with is doing a bounding box and then snapping to the intersection with the curvature command... but it misses local max points and mins...

um, do you mean turning the points on? for that, just hit F10.

no. because control points don't necessarily imply the maximum and minimums of a curve... and i don't want to rebuild as that just add points and the deformation gets all screwy... e.g.:

the local min point of the curve (and an inflection point) lies between the 3rd and 4th control point from the left. i want to be able to essentially be able to at least snap to this point. and i want the point ON the curve anyway...

ah, i see. sorry, i didn't get you the first time.

shit, i have no idea. you think maybe it would work if you built a InterpCrv instead of a CV curve? just a thought...

it's awful cause you can do all sorts of analysis on surfaces, but not on curves... very strange.

interp curve would work except we're taking these as section slices and it generates regular curves....

in maya, i think it works if you use EPs instead of CVs...is that what you want to do?

well i don't see why this is more important than site-visit, but maybe this will help: http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2658150

Inflection points are not the points where slope equals 0. They are the points olong the curve where the rate of change, or curve changes direction - i.e., from concave to convex, or whatever.

Inflection points:
As you mentioned, you can see the inflection point by turning the curve graph on - that is the point where the graph intersects the curve. I would recommend just using "near" under osnap, and get as close as possible. Unless your curves are really shallow - in that case, if precision is of the utmost importance, try non-uniform scaling to exaggerate the curve's amplitude and find the intesection and add a point, or split, or what ever at the intersection and scale it back down.

Local max/min
Now if you really meant local max/min, take your curve into CAD. Be sure to export as Spline, otherwie the polyline will be an inaccurate representation. Once in cad turn on ortho and type "l" for line (not "pl"!!!). Then type "tan" (for tangent). Then draw a line tangent to the max/min you want. There's your local max min.

I just re-read my post. I wasn't clear on the order of operations for local max/min.

1. ortho on
2. type "line"
3. type "tan"
4. click on the curve, close to the max/min you desire
5. draw a line tangent to that max/min
6. have a tiki drink

Uh...

tan doesn't seem to work on my CAD (2005). Sorry. This is interesting, so I'll keep trying. Just to be clear, you want local max/min?

Ok. Another solution. Split you curve to isolate that max or min. Use bounding box as you describe. Works great here.

This sounds like a job for Bob. I'd call McNeel and ask them. Never needed to myself, but i've been told they like to talk.

Yup, if you ask over in the Rhino forum someone might even write you a script to do exactly what yo want. Nice group of people over there.

I'd say ask the forum, or break the curve up and use bounding box on each hump and valley - both mentioned above.

try: insert a knot, set snaps to quad.

should be able to create a knot on the min point of curve

would using the curve to create a surface, then using the surface analysis tools work?

I think playing with analyze-->curvature circle may get you what you want

turn your pencil over and rub

ACFA, This is way way too late I am sure, but I feel like an idiot. If you set the OSnap to Quad, it snaps to the max/min everytime. Doing it now...

holy crap. that's awesome. thanks. too late for the last project, but will definitely come in handy in the future.

I realized it when I was using quad to snap to the, well, quad points on circles. I moused on the slightly rotated egg-shaped thing and realized it wasn't clicking on an end or mid but rather the top (globally speaking). Then it clicked in my head... Oh yeah! Quad.