Unit Settings

Enter the character or word to display in a unit control when the value has not yet been defined.

What you enter here will display as the default in many boxes when you run commands.

Coordinate

Select the order in which you want to import, enter, and display coordinates. See Enter a Coordinate for additional entry options.

These settings are essential when you use coordinate controls, import point files, create points and coordinates, specify local site settings, and create planar surfaces.

Enter the character or word that you want to use to indicate that a coordinate you are entering is relative to the last coordinate and not absolute.

Examples of how a relative character can be used to place the next coordinate 20 units away along the x axis and 40 units along the y axis from the current location:

• @20,@40
• @20 @40

Yes - Select this to display horizontal standard errors as northing and easting coordinates (when available).

No - Select this to display horizontal standard errors as a single root mean square (RMS) value.

For marine and other applications, select this to specify that elevations below zero/sea level be displayed and plotted as positive numbers. Conversely, elevations above zero will be displayed as negative numbers.
Note: Regardless of this setting, objects that you import will retain their original elevations.

Select decimal precision levels for latitude/longitude, coordinate, and elevation values. Then opt whether to display trailing zeros and decimals.

Examples for a coordinate elevation of 21.0301:

• Decimal precision to three places: 21.030
• The above value without trailing zeros: 21.03

Examples for a coordinate elevation of 10.000

• The value without trailing zeros: 10.
• Without trailing decimal: 10

Select whether to add a unit suffix (m or ft) to a displayed coordinate. If Yes, select whether to add a space between the coordinate and the suffix.

Note: In some commands and reports, this setting is overridden by a contextually-logical default.

Select a degree or decimal degree format in which to display latitudes and longitudes, and whether to include a directional label and zero minutes and seconds.

Examples:

• Decimal degrees: N50.00000, E 75.00000
• Degrees minutes: N50°00.00000', E 75°00.00000'
• Degrees minutes seconds: N50°00'00.00000", E 75°00'00.00000"
• Without zero minutes and zero seconds: N50°, E75°
• Without latitude/longitude: 50°, 75°

Distance

Select whether to work in feet or meters. If feet, specify whether they are US survey feet or International feet. See Enter a Distance for additional entry options.

• 1 US survey foot = 0.3048006096 meters
• 1 US survey foot = 1.000002 International feet
• 1 International foot = 0.3048 meters
• 1 International foot = 0.999998 US survey feet
• 1 meter = 3.280833 US survey feet
• 1 meter = 3.280839 International feet

These settings are essential when you use distance controls, import georeferenced images, import planar surfaces, and offset lines.

For Decimal precision, Trailing zeros, and Trailing decimal, see above.

For Rounding mode, specify whether to round numbers, and if so, whether to round them up or down to the nearest whole number.

Examples for rounding a line length of 5.20051:

• Decimal precision to three places with Normal rounding: 5.201
• With Up rounding: 5.201
• With Down rounding: 5.200

For Automatic rounding, select Yes to use the previously set decimal precision. Select No to manually specify a decimal precision in the Round to nearest list. The rounding method will be used in either case.

Select whether to include a unit suffix (m or ft) after each displayed distance value. If Yes, select the Abbreviation for the suffix and whether to add a space between the unit and the suffix.

Note: In some commands and reports, this setting is overridden by a contextually-logical default.

Optionally, select an alternate unit to display for distances in certain reports, commands, and graphic displays. For example, in addition to displaying distance in meters, you can select to display the distance in feet or chains: "711.884 m (2335.573 ft)" or "146.423 m (7.279 ch)." Read-only alternate distance units can be displayed in the single- and double-proportioning commands and reports, labels, label tables, measurement commands, parcel and linestring properties, scale bars, and the Map Check report.

Also, select the unit abbreviation and decimal precision to display for the alternate unit.

Angular

Select whether you want to enter and display angular units in degrees, grads, or radians (or a sub-unit of any):

• Degree (3 formats) - 360 degrees in a circle, each divided into 60' (minutes), and each minute divided into 60" (seconds)
• Grad - 400 grads in a circle, each divided into 100 centigrads, and each centigrad divided into 10 milligrads
• Mil - 6,400 milliradians in a circle
• Milligrad - see Grad above
• Minute - see Degrees above
• Radian - See Mil above
• Second - see Degrees above

These settings are essential when you use angle controls.

Specify the default chord length to use for chord-defined arcs and spirals, such as those used when creating alignments for railroads.

1. Arc-based stationing (measured using arc > spiral out > spiral in > arc lengths)
2. Chord-based stationing (measured using simplified chord lengths in red)

Figure: Arc- versus chord-defined stationing

See Formatting above.

See Suffix above.

If you selected degrees, minutes, seconds as the angular unit type, select the format and rounding mode described in Formatting above.

Azimuth

Select whether you want to enter and display horizontal angles in North azimuth, South azimuth, or Bearing format. See Enter an Angle for additional entry options.

If you select Bearing, the Bearing settings below become available.

Figure: Azimuth angles

A. North azimuth system

B. South azimuth system

Figure: North azimuth and south azimuth

These settings are essential when you use angle controls.

Specify whether to include an indication of the azimuth type (NA, SA, etc.) after displayed azimuth values. See Enter a Bearing for additional azimuth type abbreviations.

Note: In some commands and reports, this setting is overridden by a contextually-logical default.

Select whether to include a suffix after each displayed azimuth unit. If Yes, select whether to add a space between the unit and the suffix.

These settings are only available and applicable if you select Bearing for the azimuth Unit above.

Select whether to Always show north or Always show south bearings. Then select a bearing format.

Note: Selecting Yes for one setting will select No for the other. If you select No for both settings, the displayed bearing defaults to showing from north.

Examples for a 90° bearing:

• Always show north: N90°00'00"E
• Always show south: S90°00'00"E

Figure: Bearings

See Degrees, minutes, seconds above.

Vertical angle

Select whether you want to enter and display vertical angles in Zenith angle, Horizon angle, Nadir angle, Vertical distance, Percent slope, or Slope ratioformat.

A - Zenith (the direction opposite of the nadir)

B - Horizon

C - Existing ground

D - Nadir (determined by a plumb line)

Figure: Zenith angle

Figure: Horizon angle

Figure: Nadir angle

Select whether to display a slope ratio as Run to rise (horizontal distance followed by vertical distance; 20:1) or Rise to run (vertical distance followed by horizontal distance; 1:20).

Also, select the limit at which a slope equal or greater will be displayed as a slope ratio instead of percent slope in reports and graphic views.

These settings are essential when you use vertical angle controls, or create a surface tie.

Select whether to include an indicator of the vertical angle type (Z, H, N, etc.) after each displayed vertical angle unit.

Select the decimal precision to use when vertical angles are shown as angles, ratios, percents or distances.

See Suffix above.

See Degrees, minutes, seconds above.

Pressure

Select the unit type to use for atmospheric pressure values displayed in the Propertiespane for total stations.

Select how you want to format the atmospheric pressure value.

Select whether to display the atmospheric pressure unit abbreviation after the unit value and whether to include a space before the abbreviation (for example, 1013.2 mb (hPa)).

Temperature

Select the unit type to use for temperature values displayed in the Propertiespane for total stations.

Select how you want to format the temperature value.

Select whether to display the temperature unit abbreviation after the unit value and whether to include a space before the abbreviation (for example, 8.9 C).

Velocity

Select the unit type to use for ground velocity values of compactors (or other machines) as displayed in machine data overlays.

Select how you want to format the velocity value.

Select whether to display the velocity unit abbreviation after the unit value and whether to include a space before the abbreviation.

GPS time

Select a format to use to display GPS-related time (for example, in occupation and vector Property panes and the Time-Based View tab).

• Local - The time associated with a specific time zone or region.
• UTC (Universal Time Coordinated) - The local solar mean time at the Greenwich Meridian.
• Offset from UTC - Use in conjunction with the Time offset field to display a time that is earlier or later than UTC by a specified amount (for example, 1 hour).
• GPS - A measure of time used by the NAVSTAR GPS system.
• Offset from GPS - Use in conjunction with the Time offset field to display a time that is earlier or later than GPS time by a specified amount (for example, 1 hour).

Note: Other general references to time zone in Trimble Business Center come from your operating system: Start > Control Panel > Clock, Language, and Region > Date and Time.

Station

Select the format in which you want to enter and display stations and station equations.

If you select the User Interval option in the Station format box, enter the distance that is represented by a stationing of 1+00 in the Station interval box. For example: A distance of 50 meters will display a station of 1+00 at 50 meters along the alignment and a station of 2+00 at a station of 100m along the alignment.

These settings are essential when you use station controls, create and edit horizontal alignments, enter station equations, label horizontal alignments and run corridor reports.

See Suffix above.

Area

Select whether to work in feet, yards, or meters.

See Formatting above.

Select whether to display the area unit abbreviation after the unit value and whether to include a space before the abbreviation (for example, 120 m²).

Select an alternate unit (acres or hectares) in which to report calculated areas.

This setting is used when you run an Earthwork Report on a surface area within a boundary. The alternate units are shown in parentheses after your project units.

Example:

• Area within boundary: 43,207.9 m² (4.3 HA)

Volume

Select whether to work in cubic feet, yards, or meters (or acre feet).

See Formatting above.

Select whether to display the volume unit abbreviation after the unit value and whether to include a space before the abbreviation (for example, 120 m³).

Mass - Weight

Unit

Select the unit type to use for weight values of dynamic compaction tools as displayed in as-built drop location properties.

Formatting

See Formatting above.

Suffix

See Suffix above.

Energy

Unit

Select the unit type to use for energy for dynamic compaction drops.

Formatting

See Formatting above.

See Suffix above.

Roughness Index

Unit

Select the distance unit type to use for road segments analyzed in roughness index reports.

Formatting

See Formatting above.

Suffix

See Suffix above.