C3D 2018 automatically switching to US Survey Foot

[Baker_ADG]

Is there a setting that will turn OFF the automatic switching the DRAWING UNITS from "FEET" to "US Survey Foot"

TIA

[BushW]

Hi @Baker_ADG

There is no system variable that will turn OFF this switching of the DRAWING UNITS from "FEET" to "US Survey Foot." 

Your Civil 3D template controls these setting for projects on startup until the user modifies this setting. If you have so, knowledge with lisp routines, you could write a lisp to do this on startup. 

Your Civil 3D template controls these setting for projects on startup until the user modifies this setting. If you have some knowledge with lisp routines, you could write a lisp to do this on startup.

You can have your Civil 3D template to synchronize AutoCAD settings with AutoCAD Civil 3D settings. 

To do this Select the Set AutoCAD Variables To Match check box to synchronize AutoCAD settings with AutoCAD Civil 3D settings. If there are no equivalent AutoCAD settings, a message is displayed asking if you want to match as closely as possible.

The AutoCAD settings that are synchronized to the AutoCAD Civil 3D settings include the AUNITS, DIMAUNIT, INSUNITS, and MEASUREMENT AutoCAD system variables (sysvars).

Hope this helps! 

Please select the ‘Accept as Solution’ button if my post solves your issue or answers your question so, other Community members may benefit.

[Baker_ADG]

Unfortunately; it does not matter what template i use. if i start Ctrl + N and select "Open with no template - Imperial" or i use the template i created in 2016, as soon as i set the drawing to a US Datum, the autocad units change to US Survey Foot. 

This did not happen in the previous version of Civil 3D i worked in, i am now finding this error in 2018. our site plan layouts usually are not drawn with a datum applied, so the Drawing Units stay in Feet. When i insert or import a survey file; the drawing is okay until i change the Zone & Datum. 

try these steps, 

Ctrl + N

Open with no template - Imperial

set your Drawing Units (insertion scale) to FEET

in toolspace, in the Settings tab, right click the drawing and select "edit drawing settings"

- in the first tab (Units and Zone) i make the drawing units feet, i check both boxes for scale objects and set autocad variables. I change the scale to 1" = 30'

- I set the Zone to USA, State, then NAD83 state plane, US foot

apply & close. 

re-open UNITS and they have changed to US Survey Foot. <--- i need this to stop. 😉 it did not do this in C3D 2016.

[jefflambert9091 · Accepted solution]

Its not when you change zones, its when you are on US Survey feet in the Imperial to Metric conversion and have the "Set variables to match" check on.

See below from help.

Set AutoCAD Variables to Match
Synchronizes AutoCAD settings with AutoCAD Civil 3D settings. If there are no equivalent AutoCAD settings, a message appears asking if you want to match as closely as possible. The AutoCAD settings that are synchronized to the AutoCAD Civil 3D settings include the AUNITS, DIMAUNIT, INSUNITS, and MEASUREMENT AutoCAD system variables (sysvars).

[Baker_ADG]

i have always had that checked in past releases.. 

[jefflambert9091]

Yea, US Survey feet was not an option in the insertion units in 2016.

[rkmcswain]

@Baker_ADG @BushW @ToddRogers-WPM

So what is the solution here?

We have a group "A" who has historically had the INSUNITS set to 2 (Feet). Another group "B" always had their files set to 2 (Feet) also.

Everything was fine. (this was pre-C3D2017)

Now both groups have moved on to C3D2017, and group "B" checks the toggle to "match AutoCAD settings" and this changes INSUNITS to 21 (US Survey Feet). Group "A" does not do this.

Then when "A" xrefs a drawing from "B" - we get the scaling issue.

Presuming all of our work is in US State Plane, and our real world units are US Survey Feet - should group "A" just set all of their files moving forward to INSUNITS 21 (US Survey Feet)??

If they xref in an old file, I guess they will have to go back and change its setting first (from Feet to US Survey Feet)?

------In the words of Rodney King ..... "Can we all get along... and use UNITLESS?!" 

[jefflambert9091]

UNITLESS!! Or... Gigameters (at least you will know something is off)

I think INSUNITS was a good system variable until you had the choice of setting units and zones in the Drawing settings tab.

It is not convenient anymore. Too complicated now. Maybe good for straight AutoCAD, but not C3D IMO.

[Anonymous]

My issue is the exact opposite. I cannot get my settings to remain on US SURVEY FOOT, as autocad continually wants to revert to the factory setting of INTERNATIONAL FOOT.

Oy!! The guys in San Francisco are working overtime to keep us all in modes we don't want to be stuck in.

[tdivittis]

Autodesk should be ashamed of themselves for letting someone make the decision to add the "US Foot" unit to Autocad, thereby making the traditional "Foot" unit in Autocad an international foot.  This creates the unfortunate circumstance (for us 'dirt people') where all of our drawings created in the past 20 years or so have had their unit changed from foot to international foot.  While this in itself would not be problematic (after all, what's in a name), the silly automatic scaling implemented within Autocad will cause a drawing inserted or XRefed to scale by 0.00005 (<-this is not the exact number, but is not much of an exaggeration, either).  This is not easily noticed, and has the practical effect, when working in a state plane coordinate system, of moving your entire XRef.  It is actually scaled, but when the scale factor is 0.00005 and you are 1.5 million units from the origin, the practical effect is that your data has moved......to make it even more fun, the distance could be a few feet, could be 10 feet, depends on how far you are from the origin point.

Fun stuff.  Just keep adding more graphical fluff, breaking historically solid functionality, and add more confusion to what should be very simple procedures.

Disgruntled user since Autocad 2.6................you know, before dialog boxes, even.  It really doesn't have to be this difficult.

[CADmgrMike]

@Anonymous , I'm having the same issue. I have some drawings that are switching to International Feet even though we have a US corridinate system set. Can't figure out where this is coming from

C3D 2019.2

[Pointdump]

Mike,
If you're still using 2016, you need to select US Survey Foot BEFORE assigning a Coordinate System, otherwise C3D will lie to you. I don't know if more recent versions fixed that.

Dave

[jefflambert9091]

A little off subject, but may want to vote for this. 

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/civil-3d-ideas/us-survey-feet-vs-international-feet-warning-prompt/id...

[CADmgrMike]

@Pointdump , I know about that one. This is something where the drawing has it's own behaviour. We have our drawing set to the coordinate system we work in, our survey database is set to the same coordinate system, and if we re-insert the survey points or figures, the drawing changes all of a sudden to International feet. 

[Anonymous]

Not at all off subject, Jeff, and while I appreciate the sentiment, it does little to actually help.

I sincerely hope that whoever approved the addition of US foot (as it was done) has been relieved of duty.  It is dreadful and inexcusable.

[Anonymous]

"It is dreadful and inexcusable."

Sure, except for those of us required, by law, to use the United States Survey Foot... which is merely a more exact conversion of the meter. When doing sectional surveys the difference begins to become apparent. A current small road job we are doing is only 8800' long, but the difference in a standard centimeter going from 30.48006 ft to 30.48 (as redefined in 1959, IIRC) can accumulate of long distances and in this case the difference is fairly small, but still measurable at 2682.24528m (vs 2682.24m) ... now imaging that tiny difference on a long stretch of interstate.

In our specific complaint, it really affects scaling on the State Plane Coordinates, with differences between 2 and 5 feet in our area (close to the SPC origin point) whereas further east in the same zone the error can exceed 15 feet.

[jefflambert9091]

The bigger the difference the better. At least you can catch it that way. It's about 3' in Ohio South. 

[Anonymous]

Most of our work area is 2.5 feet or so ... it's a huge pain the a** when we get files from other companies trying to get our coordinate systems to match up and we don't catch it at the beginning. Luckily WE haven't put a building in the wrong place yet!!

[Anonymous]

This comment illustrates the absurdity of it all.

I have been creating drawings in "US Feet" since 1990.  It has never been problematic until the nonsensical way in which this was handled.  All DWG files, set to feet, since 1990 (possibly earlier?), have all become international feet, like magic, with the introduction of 2017.  (This is amateur hour crap.)

Actually, I retract that.  There has always been an issue lurking with LDD/CV3D, just most people were lucky enough to not get bit with it.

My advice to any user would be fully understand what the autocad insertion scale setting does, what it does not do, and how it relates (or more precisely, does not relate) to the Civil 3D settings.  Make sure you are aware that any pre-2017 DWG file that was set to Feet, becomes international foot the moment you open it in 2017 and later product.  If you normally work in US Feet, and set your 2017 and later templates to use that unit (thinking that it makes perfect sense to do so), be aware that any pre-2017 drawings set to feet will now scale, automatically, upon insertion/reference.  You also have to be aware that many people you may pass drawings back and forth to may be ignorant of all of this, and may not have their files set appropriately.

My practical advice would be to work with autocad set to unitless, which will reduce (not eliminate....reduce) the chance of something scaling when it should not.

My characterization of this mess stands:  Dreadful and inexcusable.