Internal Accuracy

[defjef]

I am working on a VW 8.52 file I have been developing for several years. Today I change layer scales a few times... some layer scales had been changed... perhaps by accident.

Now when I put the scale back to where I want it 1/2"=1'0" I notice that the internal accuracy as displayed in the UNITS pull down is .0 and when I try to enter a circle with a diameter of 12.625" it shows the dimension in the OIP as 1'-1"

This "problem" seems to be in THAT file only. Can this be fixed? Has the file gone bad on me?

Can I copy and paste the layers to a new file and gain the precision back again?

[mclaugh]

Not familiar with 8.5, but have you checked the precision setting in the OIP? With that big a discrepancy, it sounds to me like it's set to "No Fractions."

[defjef]

mclaugh,

Yes I did fiddle around in the OIP and with the UNITS setting in the drop down menu. I noticed that if I copy a layer from the .0 precision file... the one with the trouble... to a new file... the precision is back to something like .0000... and works fine.

So the questions are:

What IS internal precision? Is it user programmable? If so, how is this done? If this is NOT user progammable, what causes it to change?

Thanks,

Jef

[defjef]

So what is INTERNAL PRECISION and is it user resettable? And if so how do you do it?

[Robert Anderson]

VectorWorks changed from a long-integer file format to full floating-point file format with VW 9. The best way to "fix" this is to upgrade, I think.

[defjef]

With all due respect Mr Andersen. That was not an answer to my question / problem.

Of course I can buy an upgrade... but what happens to THAT file? When you import /open it in a newer version does the internal precison "improve"?

If I don't buy an upgrade can this internal precision thingy be fixed. I notice now, when I look at some other files... many are .0000 some are .00... SO please explain why this changes and how it changes... Is it some command I use?

Thanks.

jef

[Andrew Bell@NV]

VW8 and before used (as Robert Anderson said) a long integer coordinate system. For this to work with different layer scales, VW coordinates actually were scaled by the layer scale. So changing the layer scale actually made minor changes in the coordinates, and the larger the scale, the less precision could be represented by those coordinates. (If the scale was later reduced, the precision could be higher, but it didn't automatically restore an original value.)

You said the precision in the units drop-down is .0. Did you try changing it? VW doesn't actually change the coordinate values to the specified precision, that's just what rounding it uses for displaying the coordinates.