What is the difference between "Working Units" and "Calculation Units and Rules"?

[4hotshoes]

They look pretty much the same to me.

And there is the "Project Preferences" in general. It is as though his box was a leftover of generic stuff the programmers didn't know what to do with. Like a pile of papers on my desk that will eventually age enough that they will be thrown out, but not important enough to create a new file in my filing cabinet. Could each item in the list (Dimensions, Calculations Units & Rules, Reference Levels, Zones, Legacy, Stair Rules and Standards) be placed in with something else?

The Dimensions could be a tab in the Dim tools
The Calc Units and Rules is a duplicate of Working Units (right?)
Reference Levels could be a tab for Story Settings or part of Story settings but with an option to "see" them.
The Zones could be a tab in the Zone tool (along with "Zone Categories")
Legacy? eh, I don't know. (That is the aging paperwork on my desk that is not worth creating a file for it.)
Stair Rules and Standards could be a tab in the Stair tool.

This is all too complex to make a suggestion. Although it should be. But since I do not have much experience with all of the above, I would welcome any discussion that would correct my suggestions. Archicad is complex enough for new users to know how to find all of the many locations for settings. It would seem to me, that Tools and Settings should be grouped with the tool it serves.

[Erwin Edel]

Working units are the units you model 'in'. For example, we model in mm with 1 decimal accuracy just to make it very obvious when you've made a mistake (we don't work in 10ths of a mm precision, thank you!).

Everything else has to do with how your model and the dimensions etc you use for annotation are displayed.

We have a few sets of dimension rules set up that get us through pretty much every project. These are part of the template, I haven't touched them in 10 years. If it works, it works.

Legacy has to do with backwards compatibility for older versions.

As for things being in the right or wrong place. I hardly ever touch these settings. Ever. So I'm more than fine with them being tucked away in a dark corner of ArchiCAD. Even more so when novice users aren't likely to stumble in there and mess things up.

[4hotshoes]

Not being fully satisfied with the answer provided, I looked up "Calculation Units and Rules" in the help center https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/user-guide/77386/

Which says that the "Calculation Units and Rules" controls the display of numbers in interactive schedules, lists created with the calculation function and Autotext Labels.

And I disagree with the idea that if located in the "Tools" a novice could mess things up. Yes, they could unknowingly mess things up whether they are in the "Calculation Units and Rules" or the "Tools", but if they are easier to find, they are easier to fix and learn how to use all of Archicad faster. We do not need to live in an environment of fear, but one that promotes learning. By the way, I am a novice, but I am also the only one in my office to mess things up and to fix things. Easier would be better. The idea of "hiding" features from novices for fear of messing things up is narrow minded thinking and should not be allowed if a business is to grow successfully. My $0.02.

[Erwin Edel]

As a novice, get a good template and stick to it until you are familiar enough with the toolset at hand to make an informed call about adjusting things

If you're 'lucky' your reseller will have provided you with a template meeting national standards and some set of instructions to implement a few 'house style' changes. The Dutch reseller is doing a more than excellent job in this regard, but I think not every version of ArchiCAD is as lucky with the local support.

You are correct about calculation rules, sorry for not clearing that up, but those settings I do not have to touch either, when working from our template.

I get that some people want to know HOW things work, but ArchiCAD is a very complex piece of software, so to get productive fast, embrace quality of life things like a good template, a good set of favourites for the most commonly used modelling elements and documentation and whatever support your local reseller offers. The Graphisoft YouTUBE videos are excellent for in depth looks at some tools, but for a novice I'd say there's a bit too much tech-talk going on about obscure settings.