[BUG?] Negative numbers in feet/inches interpreted wrong

[metatheorem]

I am seeing some strange behavior when working in feet and inches in the "Building US" units.

FreeCAD is interpreting combined foot/inch values that are negative as expressions and this is giving me incorrect results.

For example, say I want to move an object one foot and four inches in the negative X direction. If I use the Draft Move tool and type this in: -1' 4" for the second point, the program will add these numbers together (-12" + 4"), moving only eight inches (-8"). I can even observe this happening by moving the focus to/from the entry field.

Is this a known issue? Is there a way to force the program not to interpret these entries as expressions?

Thanks

OS: Linux
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.18.Unknown
Build type: Unknown
Python version: 2.7.15
Qt version: 4.8.7
Coin version: 3.1.3
OCC version: 6.9.1.oce-0.18
Locale: English/UnitedStates (en_US)

[openBrain]

Confirmed here with latest 0.18 under Windows 7.
This behavior exists :

• Whatever is the base unit selected => You can enter -1'4" value when working in mKs, you'll get the same result
• Whatever is the unit used in the value => You can enter -1m500mm and get same kind of result

The only way at now is entering -1'-4" but doesn't sound very natural.

@metatheorem : as a sidenote, you can read from this thread if you'd like to compile with Qt5 and OCCT7+

[chrisb]

The only way at now is entering -1'-4" but doesn't sound very natural.

This doesn't work either, because it is parsed twice: once when entering the value and a second time when confirming the dialog.

[openBrain]

]This doesn't work either, because it is parsed twice: once when entering the value and a second time when confirming the dialog.

Ouch. I admit that I just tried by changing a position in the comboview. Indeed the case described by OP is another one.
I can't try now but what about using something like -(1'4") ?

[chrisb]

I can't try now but what about using something like -(1'4") ?

I see you had all the ideas which I had , but no, brackets are not accepted by the input field .

[openBrain]

I tried some various things and can't find a decent workaround. Definitely sounds as a real bug...

[Geoplace]

Here is the same discussion:

https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic. ... 67#p299167

[metatheorem]

I've opened a bug for this: https://www.freecadweb.org/tracker/view.php?id=3925.

@openBrain: Thanks, I'm working off of a repo build right now, but will probably build if I find the time soon...

[realthunder]

The problem is resolved by this PR. When you type the text, remember to separate the unit string and the following number with a space. This is crucial, or else and string and number together will be recognized as an identifier. For example 1m10mm, will be recognized as 1 and m10mm.

unit.gif (205.4 KiB) Viewed 1409 times

[openBrain]

The problem is resolved by this PR.

Hi @realthunder. Actually I have a doubt that your PR solves the exact problem discussed here. Could you have a look at this thread (and maybe if you're comfortable with parser things you can be of help there) ? Thanks.