Topic: DIST command results different than Dimension ...

[Hangman]

Good afternoon,
I have run into a unique situation & am wondering if anyone can help me out with this problem.
I have a pic of the drawing I'm working on (attached).
So I have my dimensions (ft & in) and the secondary (centimeters) below the primary.  And these dimensions are reading properly, anotherwords, the box they are dimensioned to is 9'10 / 299.83 cm (+/-, I know it's showing an 1/8", blame it on the architectural plans)
My units are set to Centimeters with (4) decimal places.

My dilemma is this; when I run the distance command, I get 118.04 cm (as seen in the pic, the coords is circled at the bottom)

Can anyone explain the discrepancy & what I can do to correct this 'cause I'm at a loss with this one?

[BKT]

Hangman,

299.83 cm = 118.04 inches

I believe what you're seeing is the measurement in "inches".  I'm not where I can check this so can't be certain, but is the Drawing Units -> Length set to decimal?  Maybe change that to Architectural for feet and inches if that's what you want to see using distance.

[Matt__W]

Check rounding/precision of both units and dimensions??

[Hangman]

Hey guys, thank you for your thoughts, here's what I'm using;
  My drawing Units are set to Decimal w/ a Precision of 0.0000 ((4) decimal places) w/ the insertion scale set to Centimeters.
  My Primary dimensions are Architectural w/ a Precision of 1/8", scale factor of 1.0000.
  My Secondary dimensions are Decimal w/ a Precision of 0.000, multiplier for alt units @ 2.5400 (Centimeters)

Using the Convert tool (https://joshmadison.com/convert-for-windows/), I have the following (pic attached)
As you can see, 9.8333 feet (9'-10") is 299.7199 centimeters (my drawing shows 299.726 (fractions of an inch difference))

The Primary dimension scale factor of 1.0000 controls the overall dimension scale so the Secondary dimension still uses the scale factor of 1.000 & multiplies the alt units of 2.54 to get the centimeters, correct?

Perhaps I am seeing this incorrectly & my drawing units & distance are correct & my dimensions are wrong?

[Hangman]

Hangman,

299.83 cm = 118.04 inches

I believe what you're seeing is the measurement in "inches".  I'm not where I can check this so can't be certain, but is the Drawing Units -> Length set to decimal?  Maybe change that to Architectural for feet and inches if that's what you want to see using distance.

You are correct, I am seeing decimal inches !!!
I want to see decimal centimeters when running the Distance command ...  so how do I do that then if not by the drawing Units?

[BKT]

It looks like this drawing was created in Imperial, so to get the Distance command to work the way you want it to would mean either recreating the drawing using Metric units or scaling the drawing up by 2.54 and changing the Dimstyle settings to reflect the change.  I don't really think there's an easy way around that, but maybe somebody else will have another solution.

Do you have to get the Metric equivalent when using Distance or could you just convert it using a calculator (or LISP)?  I'm betting somebody here has a LISP that would give the distance in both.

[BKT]

It looks like this drawing was created in Imperial, so to get the Distance command to work the way you want it to would mean either recreating the drawing using Metric units or scaling the drawing up by 2.54 and changing the Dimstyle settings to reflect the change.  I don't really think there's an easy way around that, but maybe somebody else will have another solution.

Do you have to get the Metric equivalent when using Distance or could you just convert it using a calculator (or LISP)?  I'm betting somebody here has a LISP that would give the distance in both.

Quick caveat - can't tell for sure, but if you're using a vertical product (Civil3D, LDT, etc.) there may be another way out of this but I don't have access to these.  Maybe somebody else can help?

[Hangman]

It looks like this drawing was created in Imperial, so to get the Distance command to work the way you want it to would mean either recreating the drawing using Metric units or scaling the drawing up by 2.54 and changing the Dimstyle settings to reflect the change.  I don't really think there's an easy way around that, but maybe somebody else will have another solution.

Do you have to get the Metric equivalent when using Distance or could you just convert it using a calculator (or LISP)?  I'm betting somebody here has a LISP that would give the distance in both.

Quick caveat - can't tell for sure, but if you're using a vertical product (Civil3D, LDT, etc.) there may be another way out of this but I don't have access to these.  Maybe somebody else can help?

No, these are not vertical.  I'm just trying to keep from putting a stickyback on the edge of my monitor to remind me to convert the distances from Imperial to Metric & I'm not going to recreate these just for this purpose.
So, I'll deal with (and perhaps the Swamp as well) the mishaps & screw-ups I make from my forgetfulness to convert these numbers & I'm sure I'll come meandering in here again asking the same question.   

[BKT]

Gotcha!   

Here - tape this to the edge of your monitor: 

Code - Auto/Visual Lisp: [Select]

1. ;; Get Distance and show both Imperial and Metric.
2. ;;
3.  
4. (defun C:gds (/ dist1 imp1 met1)
5.  
6. (setq dist1 (getdist "First Point: "))
7.  
8. (setq imp1 dist1 met1 (* dist1 2.54))
9.  
10. (print (strcat (rtos imp1) " in. [" (rtos met1) " cm]"))
11.  
12. (princ)
13.  
14. )

[RC]

ok ... this may be a stupid question but ....

If you have the dimension displayed why would you need the DIST command at all??  Don't you believe your dimensions???

[BKT]

I figured using a dimensioned distance was just an example of what he was seeing.  Maybe he was hoping to check other distances and see them in centimeters...

[Hangman]

Yeah, this metric shtuff is screwing with me head.  I have several drawings (Mech, Elec, Plmb, etc.) all at different scales & as I'm trying to bring them all into one drawing, needing to scale each one to fit the main, and my incessant habit of using Distance, makes for a rather difficult conversion.  I'm just blessed I have a common point in which to connect every drawing.
And I have to use Metric for the drawing & measurements, on a drawing that was created with Imperial in mind, using Google translate & have both languages (English & the native tongue of the project location) on all my notes.

So yes, I do trust my dimensions, but I was confusing myself (which isn't difficult under my current condition) & wasn't sure if my dimensions were setup wrong or my cad file was wrong or perhaps my system was going haywire.  It seems ... neither.  It was my brilliant stupidity after all.   

[RC]

Are you required by contract to use BOTH Metric and Imperial dimensions??? 
If not I would ditch the Imperial altogether and draw/annotate everything in Metric, MUCH easier and no need to convert anything

[Hangman]

Are you required by contract to use BOTH Metric and Imperial dimensions??? 
If not I would ditch the Imperial altogether and draw/annotate everything in Metric, MUCH easier and no need to convert anything

Yes, hence the quest for madness ... I mean sanity.