Part Design Grid Units

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FreeCADnewb!
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Part Design Grid Units

Post by FreeCADnewb! »

Hello,

I'm a FreeCAD newb using version 0.20.1 on Linux Mint 21 and was trying a YouTube tutorial when I noticed the units were in mm. I typically use inches to 4 decimal places. I went to Edit > Preferences and General and found the Units tab and chose US customary (in/lb); I also chose Number of decimals to 4.

I noticed that when I created a design in Part Design, in the bottom right of the screen the units show inches in 2 decimal places and the Grid coordinates still show in mm.

How do I get my design to show 4 decimal places and the Grid coordinates to show inches? I can't seem to locate where to configure this and the Google wasn't helpful.

Thank you.
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Shalmeneser
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Re: Part Design Grid Units

Post by Shalmeneser »

:idea:
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FreeCADnewb!
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Re: Part Design Grid Units

Post by FreeCADnewb! »

When I create a part, when moving the mouse around the Grid coordinates still show in millimeters and not in inches. As well, I would like to use 4 decimal places for dimensions such as 11/16 inches which equals .6875 inches. Anyone else have an idea where I can correct this? Thank you.
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wandererfan
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Re: Part Design Grid Units

Post by wandererfan »

FreeCADnewb! wrote: Wed Aug 24, 2022 8:29 pm When I create a part, when moving the mouse around the Grid coordinates still show in millimeters and not in inches. As well, I would like to use 4 decimal places for dimensions such as 11/16 inches which equals .6875 inches. Anyone else have an idea where I can correct this? Thank you.
decimal places: Edit > Preferences > General > Units > Number of decimals
FreeCADnewb!
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Re: Part Design Grid Units

Post by FreeCADnewb! »

@wandererfan Thank you for the reply. I already have that setting set to 4, see the image below, with no joy as demonstrated by the mouse Grid coordinates still being displayed in millimeters and not inches to 4 decimal places. Is this an undocumented feature that there is no setting for?
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GeneFC
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Re: Part Design Grid Units

Post by GeneFC »

US Customary is an obsolete system that has several quirks when used for CAD. I recommend switching to Imperial Decimal. Your choice of decimal places should be honored.

Gene
FreeCADnewb!
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Re: Part Design Grid Units

Post by FreeCADnewb! »

@GeneFC Thank you for replying. I changed to your suggestion, Imperial decimal, and nothing has changed. The mouse Grid coordinates are still displayed in single decimal millimeters instead of 4 decimal inches.
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Any other ideas?
GeneFC
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Re: Part Design Grid Units

Post by GeneFC »

FreeCADnewb! wrote: Thu Aug 25, 2022 2:22 am The mouse Grid coordinates are still displayed in single decimal millimeters instead of 4 decimal inches.
* Did you close and restart FreeCAD?

* I am aware of Draft grid and Sketcher grid. What is the "mouse grid" you reference?

Gene
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wandererfan
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Re: Part Design Grid Units

Post by wandererfan »

GeneFC wrote: Thu Aug 25, 2022 2:31 am * I am aware of Draft grid and Sketcher grid. What is the "mouse grid" you reference?
I believe this is referring to the small test beside the cursor when moving sketch objects. It appears to always display internal units (mm).

My guess is that this is going to require a feature request to make the text unit aware.
openBrain
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Re: Part Design Grid Units

Post by openBrain »

FreeCADnewb! wrote: Wed Aug 24, 2022 8:29 pm Anyone else have an idea where I can correct this? Thank you.
Here : https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD/blob ... r.cpp#L496
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