Decimal point has changed from '.' to ',' on MacOS X.

[alexliz24]

For some weird reason, in the middle of a running project, the decimal point for dimensions I enter as well as for the co-ordinates box has switched to the comma (",") as opposed to the period (".") which it had been until now.

Apart from the fact that my dimensions look funny (especially since most of them now already had been entered in the drawings and included the period), it confuses me when I have to enter manual co-ordinates, since my fingers are used to hitting the period instead of the comma. For example, when I want to enter 1.35 for X, I end up typing 135 (since the period "." is not recognised anymore).

I have played around with all the International preferences in System Preferences, and the number formats in the Format tab shows the proper syntax (i.e. €1,350.00). Why then does it not work within ArchiCAD 9 and Plotmaker 9?

[Aussie John]

You used to be able to have no period or comma for the thousands but you dont seem to be able to stop that now. I think it is an OSX thing.

[alexliz24]

Hi John. Have no doubt it's an OS thing. Any ideas how to fix it? My ArchiCAD dealer here in Athens is shut until Monday, Jan 9.

[alexliz24]

Just to add that I was able to rectify this in NeoOffice/J by tweaking its set of Preferences/Locale.

Still can't figure what to do for ArchiCAD and PlotMaker 9.
I just know that it's funny for me to have to type the comma instead of period for the decimal point in the co-ordinates boxes, and totally unacceptable for the printed documents to have half their dimensions (i.e. those which I have already entered so far) with the period as decimal, and the other half (those entered after the problem manifested itself) with comma instead.

Please, help!

[Ralph Wessel]

alexliz wrote:
I just know that it's funny for me to have to type the comma instead of period for the decimal point in the co-ordinates boxes... Please, help!

Might you have changed the input settings (i.e. keyboard type) or selected language in the International settings? This can have the effect of swapping keys around, although it doesn't explain the change in existing drawings.

Is this problem evident with different fonts? Does it occur with other applications too?

Ralph.

[alexliz24]

Might you have changed the input settings (i.e. keyboard type) or selected language in the International settings?

Language is set to Greek, then English (if I set it the other way around, then ArchiCAD and PlotMaker don't use the fonts properly and I can't type in Greek; what's more, if I try and edit an already entered greek text block, the moment I exit the text window, the text turns into gibberish). This has always been the case and it has worked fine.

Input layouts (i.e. the little flags on the top bar) has always been set to US english/Greek. No problems there.

No other problems are experienced in any other software suite. As I state in my previous post, the NeoOffice/J 1.2 beta problem (with the decimal point, I mean) has now been fixed by changing the Locale setting in the NeoOffice/J options.

So, it remains a mystery to me what exactly changed in my ArchiCAD 9 and PlotMaker 9 to cause this shift from period to comma as the decimal point.

The problem affects the co-ordinate boxes and dimensions in the project. Once again, dimensions which were already entered still display the period, but if I select a linear dimension, and then add a few nodes on it (by means of CMD-clicking on various points on the project) then the newly added sections of the pre-existing dimension line will employ the comma instead of the period. The resulting dimension will thus contain a few segments with the period (correct) and a few with the comma (wrong).

I'm bummed...

[Ralph Wessel]

alexliz wrote:

No other problems are experienced in any other software suite. As I state in my previous post, the NeoOffice/J 1.2 beta problem (with the decimal point, I mean) has now been fixed by changing the Locale setting in the NeoOffice/J options.

Did the appearance of this problem coincide with the installation of the NeoOffice/J beta?

[alexliz24]

Hi Ralph. I wish it did. The problem had nothing to do with NeoOffice/J 1.2 Beta whatsoever. Have had the problem since my new Tiger installation (Erase & Install, not Archive). Installed Tiger, ran the 10.4.3 Combo, installed apps, ran ArchiCAD, bam! ','s instead of '.'s.

I am pretty sure that the reason why I hadn't seen this problem before my Erase & Install (which, by the way, I did to get rid of a few minor problems with other software, not with ArchiCAD!) is that my powerbook had been just bought brand new, and I used the Account Migration Assistant from my older TiBook running Panther 10.3.9. In Panther, the International settings are slightly different to Tiger's: you can interfere with number, curency etc. formatting much more than Tiger will allow. So, I guess that my Panther settings translated nicely when I first set up my account in Tiger. When I Erased and Installed, however, I just copied my documents from backed up DVDs, setting a brand new, Tiger-only account on the powerbook.

That's the only reasonable explanation I can think of right now. I've bumped into a couple of threads in the Apple Discussion Area, and they all seem to agree that Tiger has taken out some of the customization in the International Preference Pane, compared to what Panther allowed. Some even suggest a way to modify the .xml .plist file, using Property List Editor from the XCode Tools Installation of Tiger, which I did, to no avail.

I have put the problem to the ArchiCAD dealers in Athens, and they seem to be working on it, although I am not too hopeful. First reply I got was to check/fiddle with my Currency formatting (there is no leeway with Currency Formatting in Tiger-you can only select which Region's preset you want to use, as well as the unit, but that's about it).

[Eduardo Rolon]

FWIW have you already tried setting up another user account to see if it has the same problems?

[alexliz24]

I just did. Same problem in the new account.