Drawing Units Dialog Box

Quick Reference

See Also

Determine the Units of Measurement

Controls the displayed precision and format for coordinates and angles.

Access Methods

Button

Menu: Format

UnitsNot available in menus in the current workspace

Command entry: units (or 'units for transparent use)

List of Options

The following options are displayed.

Length

Specifies the current unit of measurement and the precision for the current units.

Type: Sets the current format for units of measure. The values include Architectural, Decimal, Engineering, Fractional, and Scientific. The Engineering and Architectural formats produce feet-and-inches displays and assume that each drawing unit represents one inch. The other formats can represent any real-world unit.
Precision: Sets the number of decimal places or fractional size displayed for linear measurements.

Angle

Specifies the current angle format and the precision for the current angle display.

Type: Sets the current angle format.
Precision: Sets the precision for the current angle display.

The following conventions are used for the various angle measures: decimal degrees appear as decimal numbers, grads appear with a lowercase g suffix, and radians appear with a lowercase r suffix. The degrees/minutes/seconds format uses d for degrees, ' for minutes, and " for seconds; for example:

123d45'56.7"

Surveyor's units show angles as bearings, using N or S for north or south, degrees/minutes/seconds for how far east or west the angle is from direct north or south, and E or W for east or west; for example:

N 45d0'0" E

The angle is always less than 90 degrees and is displayed in the degrees/minutes/seconds format. If the angle is precisely north, south, east, or west, only the single letter representing the compass point is displayed.
Clockwise: Calculates positive angles in the clockwise direction. The default direction for positive angles is counterclockwise.

When prompted for an angle, you can point in the desired direction or enter an angle regardless of the setting specified for Clockwise.

Insertion Scale

Controls the unit of measurement for blocks and drawings that are inserted into the current drawing. A block or a drawing that is created with units that are different from the units specified with this option is scaled when inserted. The insertion scale is the ratio of the units used in the source block or drawing and the units used in the target drawing. Select Unitless to insert the block without scaling it to match the specified units.

NoteIn the Options dialog box, User Preferences tab, the Source Content Units and Target Drawing Units settings are used when, either in the source block or the target drawing, Insertion Scale is set to Unitless.

Sample Output

Displays an example of the current settings for units and angles.

Lighting

Controls the unit of measurement for the intensity of photometric lights in the current drawing.

NoteIn order to create and use photometric lights, a unit other than Generic must be specified from the list of options. If Insertion Scale is set to Unitless, a warning message is displayed informing you that the rendered output might not be as expected.

Direction

Displays the Direction Control dialog box.