topic Re: Unit Problem in AutoCAD Mechanical Forum

Unit Problem

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 15:03:19 GMT

Suppose we say a drawing is in Inches unit and we insert a Millimetre drawing from another file. What will happen?

Re: Unit Problem

steve216586 — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 14:04:07 GMT

There is no one answer to that question. It depends on your host drawing settings. INSUNITS

A general statement though - 1 inch = 25.4 mm

Re: Unit Problem

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 14:36:45 GMT

Workspace is set to INCH and INSUNITS is set to yes. A drawing in INCH and a drawing in MM from another file is inserted into this workspace this is what I can see. How can this phenomenon be explained.

Re: Unit Problem

steve216586 — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 15:00:14 GMT

INSUNITS cannot be set to "yes"

INSUNITS - Specifies a drawing-units value for automatic scaling of blocks, images, or xrefs inserted or attached to a drawing.

Note: The INSUNITS setting is ignored when inserting annotative blocks into a drawing.

0 Unspecified (No units)
1 Inches
2 Feet
3 Miles
4 Millimeters
5 Centimeters
6 Meters
7 Kilometers
8 Microinches
9 Mils
10 Yards

Re: Unit Problem

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 15:12:27 GMT

Workspace is set to INCH and INSUNITS is set to no. A drawing in INCH and a drawing in MM from another file is inserted into this workspace this is what I can see. 7 IN and 7 MM are showing same size. How can this phenomenon be explained.

Re: Unit Problem

steve216586 — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 15:29:47 GMT

INSUNITS cannot be set to "No" either. It must be set to an integer which designates units for inserted objects as explained previously.

What you describe is that each object is 7 "units". Not 7 inches nor 7 mm. Just 7 Cartesian Coordinate units. They might as well be described as 7 miles or 7 nanometers.

Explore:

INSUNITS

Specifies a drawing-units value for automatic scaling of blocks, images, or xrefs when inserted or attached to a drawing.

INSUNITSDEFSOURCE

Sets source content units value when INSUNITS is set to 0.

INSUNITSDEFTARGET

Sets target drawing units value when INSUNITS is set to 0.

Re: Unit Problem

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 15:39:45 GMT

INSUNITS is asking to select Yes/No option. Screenshot is attached.

Re: Unit Problem

steve216586 — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 16:16:17 GMT

It is asking if you want to MATCH INSUNITS to drawing units.

You should answer that question dependent on how you have INSUNITS defined, and what purpose you are going to insert objects. Most times it will be "Yes".

Re: Unit Problem

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 18:25:55 GMT

Can you please explain the meaning of "Match INSUNITS to drawing units?" with example.

Re: Unit Problem

steve216586 — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 19:16:17 GMT

Ex. Using a drawing of a pencil as a block:

Drawing A settings:

-UNITS = 1 (inch)

INSUNITS = 1 (inch)

INSUNITSDEFSOURCE = 1 (inch)

INSUNITSDEFTARGET = 1 (inch)

Pencil = 8"

Drawing B settings:

-UNITS = 4 (mm)

INSUNITS = 4 (mm)

INSUNITSDEFSOURCE = 4 (mm)

INSUNITSDEFTARGET = 4 (mm)

Pencil = 203.2 mm

Drawing C settings:

-UNITS = 0 (unitless)

INSUNITS = 0 (unitless)

INSUNITSDEFSOURCE = 0 (unitless)

INSUNITSDEFTARGET = 0 (unitless)

Pencil = 1 unit

1. Working in Drawing A and inserting a block from Drawing B results in the block being scaled to inches (.03937).

2. Working in Drawing B and inserting a block from Drawing A results in the block being scaled to mm. (25.4)

3. Working in Drawing C and inserting a block from Drawing A results in the block being scaled by .125. (8 units)

4. Working in Drawing C and inserting a block from Drawing B results in the block being scaled by .00492 (203.2 units)

5. Working in Drawing A and inserting a block from Drawing C results in the block being scaled to inches. (8)

6. Working in Drawing B and inserting a block from Drawing A results in the block being scaled to mm. (203.2)

Ojects effected by INSUNITS will be scaled based on the units in the source drawing compared to the units of the target drawing. If a mm unit object is 7 mm in height, AutoCad will scale it by 25.4 to match the size of 7 inch units. And vice-versa. Once inserted into either of the drawings, if you use the MEASURE command, the objects should equate.

Re: Unit Problem

steve216586 — Fri, 20 Nov 2015 14:17:12 GMT

Does the example help explain the solution to your question? If so please "accept as solution". Others may have the same question.

Re: Unit Problem

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Nov 2015 14:55:45 GMT

There are many problems.

1)-DWGUNITS command popup a dialog box asking to select INSUNITS with Yes/No only.

2) INSUNITS command at command line is asking to select a number.

3) I usually go to the bar under FORMAT drop down menu I select Units. You are saying –Unit.

4) You are using INSUNITSDEFSOURCE and INSUNITSDEFTARGET I am not familiar with these.

I have to explore these thing and try to understand the example given by you.

Anyhow thank you for giving me example.

Re: Unit Problem

steve216586 — Fri, 20 Nov 2015 19:42:10 GMT

1)-DWGUNITS command popup a dialog box asking to select INSUNITS with Yes/No only.

As explained, this command line prompt is asking a question if you would like to match INSUNITS value to the current drawing unit. Requires "yes" reply if you do want to match and "no" reply if you do not want to match. It is not giving you the opportunity to assign INSUNITS a numeric value.

2) INSUNITS command at command line is asking to select a number.

INSUNITS is a System Variable. This value can be set in the attached picture dialog, when you enter UNITS in the command line. The pull-down labelled "Insertion Scale" = INSUNITS - requires an integer value.

-UNITS - Entered on the command line will open a dialog box. It will run through each setting individually. Inside this dialog you will be able to define the displayed units as well as displayed units for angular measurements.

-DWGUNITS is a completely different dialog box used to define drawing units.

Please see HELP to understand the difference in uses of each of these commands/system variables. I think you are confusing the application of one or more with the others.