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STACKED FRACTIONS


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To set a dimension standard as a default, go to File>Preferences>Document PReferences.

Click on the Diemnsions tab and select Dual side by side or dual stacked as the default.

Click on OK.

Now when you dimension, the dual dimensions are either stacked or side by side.

The first and second dimensions for dual dimensions are defined by the primary and secondary dimension options in Page>Units - Set Units For:

If you have dimensions already drawn that you want to be stacked - select the dimension and go to the Obj Info Palette. Select the ASME DUal Stacked from the drop down called "Dim Std".

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Stacked dimensions are one value or type of dimension over another type of dimension.

You can have imperial and metric units shown or you can have one fractional one rounded to no fractions .. the list goes on.

If you just click on it to try it, you'll see what i mean.

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Just to stick my nose in, I think the request is to have VW automatically substitute the current scheme where fractions are displayed using 3 or more font characters (number - slash - number) with a single font character that represents a quarter, half, three quarters.

HTH

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Seriously folks, does anybody understand this line of inquiry? IONW has a good point, I can understand that suggestion, and yep it's good. Reminds of the old A'cad text editor though. Could be a "one better" if could be set up as parameter, under some options method. Really though, is what we've got really broken/unwieldy? 6'73/4", get real, that follows no convention whatsoever. Is 73/4", does the writer not understand basic mathematics? Only a thought, sounds like poor communication, can't really mean what is written, can it?

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From the reference of "Stacked dimensions", I thought you were referrng to the ASME stacked dimension setting where you can have two different dimensions shown on one dimension line.

Some arch's need to show metric and imperial, or feet and inches and inches ..

Sorry for the confusion.

To have the fractions display as one character vs a series of text characters would require a font that has that built in as the character or placing a symbol from the character map.

I can add it to the wish list for a future version somewhere down the line.

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If a facility for displaying fractions is provided, it should not use miniature numerals, as in Runtime Error's post, with the entire fraction taking up as much space as one normal character. It should instead follow the old hand-drafting convention of the 3 in 3/4 being slightly higher than the other numerals, and the 4 slightly lower, but both of them the same size as the other numerals, so that they're legible.

But I don't think it's a high-priority addition, particularly if it's true that feet, inches, and fractions of an inch are only used in the US. This issue will not really be solved until we as a nation come to our senses and switch to the metric system.

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I would have to say there is absolutely nothing wrong with the way fractions are displayed. I make shop drawings for a cabinet shop which works in imperial units to 1/16 inch. Some of the things we build are very complicated and exact, and contain a lot of fractions. Not once has somebody on the shop floor had trouble reading the fractions correctly. VW always puts a space between the whole unit and the fraction. I guess what we're talking about here is more of a graphic design issue.

At any rate,if somebody got out a calculator to figure out what 73?4 is,they would be laughed out of the place. When I'm pushing hard,though,I often make this mistake when editing objects in the OI palette, so that instead of 7 3/4" the object mutates to 18 3/4.

BTW this is in Canada where in my trade we use both at times. The stacked imperial/metric option is a godsend.

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Thanks for adding it to the wish list Katie. I didn't mean to stir up any anti-imperial sentiment. Living in Vancouver we often have the metric system shoved down our throats, its refreshing to work in imperial once in a while. Thus the single-character fractions would be handy. In the mean time I can pick them out of the Windows character map up to 3/4", but a tolerance of up to 1/16" would be preferred :-)

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  • 14 years later...
Guest Blars

Nothing works better than a picture...

5aa1417d89dd3_ScreenShot2018-03-08at8_57_22AM.thumb.png.37db879fc22f41b2f8ca0a9249f11dbb.png

This is what Architectural fractions should look like.  Both column A (diagonal) and B (vertical) are acceptable Stacked fractions.  Column A is my preference, however that is certainly not the case for everyone.  Vectorworks should recognize that when we type "AA/BB" it should automatically stack according to a preference setting in the program regardless of the values used for 'AA' and 'BB.'  ... If i want to type 32/16, for example, VW should keep my input and not reduce it to 2.  Or if I have completely lost my marbles and want to use letters in a fraction, VW should assume I know what Im doing and accept it. (or at least have a way to edit the fraction once its created)

 

The VW Preference setting might look something like this... 

 

[] Stack Fractions

  -  Diagonally  (this is the column A option)

  -  Vertically  (this is the column B option)

 

If you check the parent setting "Stack Fractions" then VW will stack them according to your next child setting "diagonally" (or) "vertically."  VW automatically does this in its Dimensions... why cant it do it in regular text?

 

Typing 3 1/2" and not seeing VW recognize it / convert it... Well its just one little straw on the camels back from another one of VW's half followed through functions.

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On 3/8/2018 at 3:31 PM, Blars said:

Typing 3 1/2" and not seeing VW recognize it / convert it... Well its just one little straw on the camels back from another one of VW's half followed through functions.

I've made a request to support OpenType features in VW, which include custom fractions like 17/43 if the font supports this. Not all fonts do this as they don't have numerators and denominators or OpenType Layout Features making such fractions possible.

 

IMHO support for these OpenType features should be the preferred way as that will work across all programs supporting them instead of having to rely on each programs interpretation of how to create fractions. Especially when you copy/paste texts with fractions across different programs you can see the mishaps if they don't do fractions the same way.

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  • 1 year later...

Ha ha.  I thought I had a solution using Apple's "Character Viewer," which let me insert stacked (aka "vulgar"?) fractions right in Vectorworks.  I printed a PDF, no problem.  But, when I published the drawing, the stacked fractions were replaced with question marks.  Good old VW: gets you 98% of the way there... Sigh.  VWIS160

 

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