Default to Metric

[Engineer_learning]

Hi All,

 

I am an engineer new to civil 3D trying to figure it out!

 

We work in Canada and almost all our jobs are in metric. I can open a template file in metric no problem, but when I try and open an existing AuctoCAD file that I want to use to make a surface the default is always units of feet???

 

Can someone please point me in the right direction on how to set the default to metric??

[Dana W]

The command is -DWGUNITS. The leading dash is REQUIRED.

 

(This is not the same as the UNITS command which only changes the system of measurement inside the drawing, not the scale of the objects, nor the actual drawing units. One can measure the same object in modelspace with either feet or millimeters and get the correct measurement, just like in real life, but 12 inches is not the same size as 12 millimeters. And there's the rub. Inside AutoCad, and its vertical cousins program code it only cares how many units long a line is, not what they are named. So, the command -DWGUNITS can rescale all your objects to fit the new, different sized units.)

 

There is a small bit of a learning curve, but nothing a good half hour of due diligence can't fix.

 

I can't get into my AutoCad program right at the moment so I won't try and remember all of the steps to -DWGUNITS. I think there are about 4 or 5 multiple choice questions then done. The trick is knowing what the terminology in the questions mean, so, make good use of the F1 Key to search -DWGUNITS up, and practice on a copy drawing. NOT an original. Once you get it, save as... to put ISO (International Organization for Standards) in the drawing file name to distinguish it from the Imperial version you just copied it from.

 

What the command will do for you is walk you through changing the current default drawing units, and it will rescale the objects in the entire drawing to fit the new units so the layout scaling factors will work properly.

 

Speaking of the layouts, it will change the units of your title block/border too. I don't know what it does to viewport scale factors so those results will be a fun surprize for you.

 

What it does not do, is change your physical printer paper sizes to ISO standards. If you also need to change to ISO Standard paper sizes, you will have to do that yourself.

 

Good luck.

Edited December 10, 2016 by Dana W

[BIGAL]

Check also your desktop icon properties on the right end it should be /P > not C3D_imperial.

[Dadgad]

I would suggest enlarging your commandline history window while using this command, as it enables you to better see all of the available options, and gives you an overview of what is being done.

 

in this thread...

 

http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/showthread.php?70908-Converting-Imperial-to-Metric-and-Metric-to-Imperial

 

...you can see what to expect when using the command.

As per Dana's suggestion, use a COPY, read the commandline carefully, and go slowly.

[BIGAL]

Once you work out what has to be changed you an do it transparently on open a dwg via a lisp or by manual loading a lisp. You could check a couple of variables and if wrong then run. Post what you change.