Configure
UnitsConfigures your preference for the units to be used within the system.
Distances, angles, areas, volumes and co-ordinates will be input, displayed on the screen, and output according to the selections made in the Units Configuration dialog box.
The Configure/Units command is selected from the Utilities task.
Units Configuration dialog box
| Item | Used to configure |
| Angular:- | |
| North Azimuth | Angular units as sexagesimal North Azimuth format. Degrees, Minutes and Seconds clockwise from north. E.g.23° 30' 00" 225° 30' 00" |
| South Azimuth | Angular units as sexagesimal South Azimuth format. Degrees, Minutes and Seconds clockwise from south. E.g.23° 30' 00" 225° 30' 00" |
| Output Label | Place NAZ at the front of all North Azimuths output, and to place SAZ at the front of all South Azimuths output. |
| N Bearing E | Angular units as sexagesimal quadrant format. Degrees, Minutes and Seconds measured from the north or south toward the east or west. e.g.N23° 30' 00"E S45° 30' 00"W |
| Bearing NE | Angular units as sexagesimal quadrant format. Degrees, Minutes and Seconds measured from the north or south toward the east or west. E.g.23° 30 00"NE 45° 30' 00"SW |
| NE Bearing | Angular units as sexagesimal quadrant format. Degrees, Minutes and Seconds measured from the north or south toward the east or west. e.g.NE23° 30' 00" SW45° 30' 00" |
| Quadrant Coding | Select quadrant coding for angular entry. This check
box is only available if N Bearing E, Bearing NE, or NE Bearing radio
buttons are selected. If quadrant coding is selected, then numbers are used to identify the quadrant of the angle being entered and automatically generate the required cardinal direction letters (N,E,S,W). The required number is pressed immediately prior to keying in the angle as follows. 1 for a NE angle; 2 for a SE angle; 3 for a SW angle; 4 for a NW angle 5 for an NAZ (Azimuth from North) 6 for a SAZ (Azimuth from South) |
| Decimal Degrees | Angular units as decimal degree North Azimuth format. Decimal degrees measured clockwise from the north. E.g. 23.5° 225.5° |
| Gons | Angular units as decimal gons North Azimuth format. Decimal gons measured clockwise from the north. Also referred to as grads. E.g. 26.11111 gons 250.55555 gons |
| Linear:- | |
| Metres | Distance units as metres |
| SI Feet | Distance units as International decimal feet. |
| US Survey Feet | Distance units as US Survey decimal feet. |
| Links | Distance units as links. |
| Azimuths:- | |
| Local Bearing | Directions as the user definable local bearing rotation selected in the 'Rotation' field. |
| Rotation: | This field is used to select the local bearing rotation
to be applied when "Local Bearing" is active. Local Bearing = Plane Bearing - Rotation Note: The rotation unit correspond to the Angular unit selected. If the Angular unit is changed this field will be updated. |
| Manage: | This button displays the Manage Local Rotations
dialog used to create or edit local rotations. Local Bearing = Plane Bearing - Rotation Note: The rotation unit corresponds to the Angular unit selected. If the Angular unit is changed this field will be updated. |
| Plane Bearing: | Directions as plane bearings. |
| Grid Bearing: | Directions as Grid Bearings This option is not available if the currently open data base was created as a local plane projection. |
| Azimuth: | Directions as azimuths. This option is not available if the currently open data base was created as a local plane projection. |
| Distances:- | |
| Local: | Distances as the user definable local scale factor selected in the "Scale Factor" field. |
| Scale Factor: | This field is used to select the local scale factor to
be applied when "Local" distances is active. Local Distance = Grid Distance / Scale Factor. |
| Manage: | This button displays the Manage Local Scale Factors
dialog used to create or edit local scale factors. Local Distance = Grid Distance / Scale Factor. |
| Grid (Distance): | Distances as local plane or projection distance. Corrections for Sea Level, Geoidal separation and scale factor have therefore been applied. |
| Ground: | Distances as ground distances. A ground distance is actual length at ground level reduced for slope correction only. Corrections for Sea Level, Geoidal separation and scale factor are not applied. If a point does not have an elevation, then the ground distance is calculated as being at the Average Elevation set in the Earth Constants command. Refer to the Utilities/Configure/Earth constants command for further details. |
| Ellipsoidal: | Distances on the Ellipsoid. This option is not available if the currently open data base was created as a local plane projection. Corrections for Sea Level and Geoidal separation are applied but scale factor is not applied. |
| Co-ordinates Grid: | Co-ordinates as grid eastings and northings. |
| Geographical: | Co-ordinates as geographical latitudes and longitudes. This option is not available if the currently open data base was created as a local plane projection. |
| Area:- | |
| Hectares/Sq. M: | Area units as hectares and square meters. |
| Acres/Sq. Feet: | Area units as acres and square feet. |
| Volume:- | |
| Cubic Metres: | Volume units as cubic metres. |
| Cubic Feet: | Volume units as cubic feet. |
| Cubic Yards: | Volume units as cubic yards. |
| Grade:- | |
| Percent: | Grades as percentages Example 6% is a rise of 6 units for a distance of 100 units. |
| Ratio: | Grades as ratios Example 1:10 is a rise of 1 unit for a distance of 10 units. |
| System: | Save the changes for use as default settings when a new project is created. |
| OK: | Save any units configuration changes with the currently open project. |
| Cancel: | Close the dialog box without saving any changes to the units configuration. |
You may change the Units Configuration at any time. This enables you to view any data base with different Unit Configurations or to switch between unit types when creating data. For example you could create some data using meters as the linear units, and then change Units Configuration linear option to feet to create more data from a source which is in decimal feet.
The currently active angular, linear, co-ordinate, direction and distance unit configuration settings can be displayed in the status bar. Refer to the Configure/Status Bar command on how to display these items.
The following relationships apply to the direction options.
Grid Bearing = Plane Bearing + Arc to chord correction
Azimuth = Grid Bearing + Grid convergence
The following relationship applies to the distance options.
Ellipsoidal distance=Grid distance / Line scale factor