Multi-format drawings quandry

Throw away the inch files.

Tell everyone that you've voluntarily converted to metric. After all, that's what U.S. law encourages, voluntary conversion--whatever the hell that means.

Stick to SI.

Gene Nygaard

It doesn't seem to mean the same thing as "voluntary" income tax, that's for sure.

Geez, I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner. I didn't realize that nobody would give you good feedback on a series of simple and straightforward questions. Your questions are fine . . . it's the feedback that's lacking.

Obviously the problem with separate Drawings is that at least ONE drawing will not be named the same as your Part or Assembly, which means if you right click in the file and choose Open Drawing you'll only get one of the two. Maybe not a big deal to you, but when you start to pile up a number of different designs it can get a bit confusing. I try to avoid that kind of scenario whenever possible.

There IS an easy way to duplicate everything on sheet 1 onto sheet 2 of a multi-sheet drawing. Simply select all the views (and notes, if you like) while holding the Ctrl key down, hit Ctrl-C, go to the second sheet, pick a point approximately in the middle of the sheet and hit Ctrl-V. The normal Windows Copy and Paste functions do work quite well for that. On the 2nd sheet you'll have to select all the dimensions and change them to metric (from inch) or inch (from metric), but that's easily accomplished. In fact, if you just click and drag a window encompassing all views it will select all dimensions and annotations -- not the views themselves.

'Spork'

Adam Reif wrote:

Oh, come now! The feedback was just fine. Every once in a while, somebody needs to state the obvious.

The pressure was really on to get it right in the first place, since I'd already been thanked for my wisdom.

You always lose something when you do conversions. Guaranteed. It's best to avoid them--and there is only one sensible way to accomplish that.

Gene Nygaard

*************************************************** At the present time, however, the metrical system is the only system known that has the ghost of a chance of being adopted universally by the world. -- Alexander Graham Bell,1906

Well you're quite correct that you always lose something in conversion. Doing a drawing so that it's perfectly usable either way is often a nasty job and compromises end up being made. Don't like it and don't want it. However, many companies both stateside and elsewhere really don't have a reasonable choice. If a US company wants its parts made in the US, and especially when a US company has sister companies which use their drawings, they often must use Imperial measures -- and if it's supplying to companies overseas it really must use metric as well. The inverse is true for companies overseas. If they want to sell in the US they're almost forced to provide data in Imperial measures, whereas they'd be silly to expect overseas manufacturers to always use Imperial measures because of it. Your advice would be great in a world that had gone entirely metric (and of course the world SHOULD go entirely metric, but then the world SHOULD be many things that it is not), but that advice is worthless in the world that actually exists.

'Spork'

Gene Nygaard wrote:

I was starting to wonder that my own self - thanks for stepping up.

How silly after all these years of using SWX that I've never ever tried to copy a view. Certainly that gets the job done easily enough, and is the best solution for my requirements.

I'm dealing with people in the US and in Japan... if I submitted metric drawings to some suppliers in the US, I'd end up with parts 25.4x too big - don't laugh... it has happened before! Certainly, any US company *should* be able to deal with Metric units... but that is simply not reality. And I've got too much respect for the folks in Japan to insult them with drawings in Imperial units.

Spork, thanks again...

Adam.