AbstractA method for solving cylindrical electromagnetic boundary‐value problems is presented. The method is semidiscrete. The wave equation is written in cylindrical coordinates and a differential‐discretizing process is used in angular direction, and in the radial direction the analytic solutions are used. The new method is called the method of angular lines (MAL). To confirm the validity of MAL Dirichlet‐ and Neumann‐type boundary‐value problems of a two‐dimensional scalar wave equation are investigated. The results show good agreement with previously published results. Advantages and disadvantages of the method are discussed. © 1995 John Wil