Automatic scaling clipboard operations.

Greg Skelhorn

I know this has been discussed before here but I have to say I really dislike clipboard paste operations applying an automatic scaling! There really should be a set
once-and-forget-about-it user configuration to disable this behaviour.


Sorry for the rant, it's been like a wee thorn that just keeps pricking me...

Louis_Verdonck

Dear Greg

Please check the INSUNITS settings in both the source and the target drawing. If the value of INSUNITS is undefined the values of INSUNITSDEFSOURCE and/or INSUNITSDEFTARGET are used to scale the pasted entities. INSUNITS should never be undefined. It is a matter of good practice to make sure that the value of INSUNITS equals 1 drawing unit.

Kind regards

Greg Skelhorn

Hi Louis, thanks for the input but I understand INSUNITS. I create and work with information from different sources using different units and coordinate reference systems and am most comfortable having to perform conscious operations to those coordinates being under my control. I am in a business where I am simply not comfortable with implicit changes to coordinates.

And in putting this much thought into the issue I guess I will have to modify my startup scripts to ensure INSUNITS, INSUNITSDEFSOURCE, INSUNITSDEFTARGET  are all set to undefined.

I want to use Bricscad to make useful graphical representations of my information but it is seldom the tool I use to define or alter my coordinates, however, it is important for me to know I can rely on the values in the file. Perhaps I am simply a square peg... I would never ever consult the value of INSUNITS to make a reliable interpretation of the coordinate information in a DWG.

Note the help file has not been updated to indicate actions taken by PasteClip, PasteOrig and friends are dependent upon the value of INSUNITS. Also, I a search through the help file provided no information on the values being used for the implicit scaling. Most likely the values are those found in the default.unt file?

@Louis Verdonck:

Dear Greg

Please check the INSUNITS settings in both the source and the target drawing. If the value of INSUNITS is undefined the values of INSUNITSDEFSOURCE and/or INSUNITSDEFTARGET are used to scale the pasted entities. INSUNITS should never be undefined. It is a matter of good practice to make sure that the value of INSUNITS equals 1 drawing unit.

Kind regards

Roy Klein Gebbinck

@ Louis:
Just a small correction. INSUNITS=1 does not mean that the INSUNITS setting equal 1 drawing unit. It means that INSUNITS is set to inches.

@ Greg:
The default.unt file is unrelated. You can use the same values (0 - 20) for INSUNITSDEFSOURCE, INSUNITSDEFTARGET and INSUNITS. But the first two settings are not stored in the dwg but in the registry.

Greg Skelhorn

Hmmm... lets see if I can get the post formatted properly first go!

@Roy Klein Gebbinck:

@ Louis:
Just a small correction. INSUNITS=1 does not mean that the INSUNITS setting equal 1 drawing unit. It means that INSUNITS is set to inches.

I think Louis was advising of the importance of ensuring INSUNITS is set such that it indicates the world length unit one drawing unit represents. i.e.: 1 metre or 1 foot (likely international foot being 0.3048m)
...but not one chain and who uses those anymore but perhaps a North American surveyor working with historical documents ;-)

@ Greg:
The default.unt file is unrelated. You can use the same values (0 - 20) for INSUNITSDEFSOURCE, INSUNITSDEFTARGET and INSUNITS. But the first two settings are not stored in the dwg but in the registry.

But still, the relationship between units must be either defined in a config file or hard-coded into the application. i.e.: 1 foot = 0.3048 metres. I was guessing the relationship is read from the default.unt file but it is just a guess.

INSUNITSDEFSOURCE and INSUNITSDEFTARGET, these two animals are simply evil. If one has the presence of mind to set INSUNITS to 0 (undefined) why still have another layer of application "intelligence" to outwit the silly user?

Don't get me wrong, I can see the usefulness for someone whose working environment is not significantly affected by some miniscule error in an applied scale factor. This becomes problematic when the working coordinates are in the millions or even larger magnitudes. Seemingly miniscule differences in scale factor applied to the coordinate value becomes very significant.

Anyway, I am sure most of you understand and I should stop rambling on!

Have a nice weekend.

Greg Skelhorn

Well, I did botch the formatting. :-( There was supposed to be a normal text portion between two quoted segments.

Roy Klein Gebbinck

Greg, you are right. I have misinterpreted Louis' comment regarding INSUNITS.
INSUNITSDEFSOURCE and INSUNITSDEFTARGET are probably (?) there for historical reasons to handle older drawings that predate the intoduction of the INSUNITS variable.