Metric - Imperial

[Johann_P]

Firstly, I've been posting here now for only a couple of days and the Archicad community seems amazing.
Thanks for all the help!

Secondly, I work in Canada thus sitting firmly with one foot in imperial and the other in metric, so this is probably not an issue countries who predominantly work in one or the other unit.

It is however a function or Revit that our office has come to really enjoy:
When working and moving elements in Revit, one can simply type in the unit of measure, regardless of the units the project is set to.

As an example:
I can set my project to metric millimeter, and dimensions etc are all shown in mm.
But I can move a door 1 foot by just typing in 1' and it will move the door accordingly.
Similarly when moving 1meter I can just type 1m.

Does Archicad have a similar setting that I cant find?

Archicad does have the amazing function of showing a secondary dimension unit, which the version of Revit I'm working does not have.

[Christophe Fortineau]

Johann.P wrote:
Does Archicad have a similar setting that I cant find?

Of course !
To work : https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/user-guide/88365/
And
To communicate your work : https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/user-guide/128969/

Have a great day !

[Karl Ottenstein · Accepted solution]

Johann, Christophe has pointed you to the articles covering the options available in AC... Working Units and Dimension settings and styles.

The specific answer of being able to dynamically enter units in either metric or imperial while working is that it is not possible. You must switch the working units.

But there are some tricks that may help you, as a new user:

First, note that the Tracker (the pop-up data entry box) is customizable in the Work Environment.

Also, note that when drawing something with linear length, for example a Wall... tapping the "d" key highlights the distance (length) entry field of the tracker, immediately ready to enter the wall length. Or, you can change your Tracker settings (Work Environment) to 'prefer polar coordinates' - in which case the distance field is already highlighted, ready for you to simply type the length.

When Working Units are set to Imperial, there are shortcuts for data entry - especially useful if you have a numeric keypad on your keyboard. You do not need to use the feet (') and inches (") marks, although you can:

Examples:

10 is the same as entering 10'

10/ is the same as entering 10"

5-4 is 5'-4"

3/4 is 3/4"

AC has no punctuation that lets you enter metric while in imperial mode. (E.g., you can't enter 10mm)

When in metric mode... the imperial shortcuts (including ' and ") above are not allowed.

If you need to switch back and forth between metric and imperial working units often - you can minimize your pain by assigning a keyboard shortcut to the Working Units menu item. In the attached screenshot, I'm about to assign the 'u' key (for units?) to the Working Units dialog. Afterwards, one keystroke brings it up for switching. About the best I can think of if you have to go back and forth... Note: it is essential to click the "Assign" button before OK--ing out of the Working Environment > Keyboard Shortcuts.