How to suppress zeros in dims, when feet, inches, and fractions are present.

Okay. I should state that I'm looking for a workaround for the way autocad works.

If I use a linear dimension, and the value works out to something like 4'-1/2", Autocad will display 4'-01/2".

This is the documented behavior per autocad documentation:

Link to Documentation

"If feet are included with a fractional inch, the number of inches is indicated as zero, no matter which option you select. Thus, the dimension 4'-3/4" becomes 4'-0 3/4"."

It is also an extraordinarily silly behavior. How can I force my dims to display 4'-1/2" other than exploding them and editing by hand? ( or by using the "text override" feature )

Thanks.

You need to edit your dimension style. Type dimstyle in the command line or just click the format tab and select dimension style if your running the classic interface like me. This will bring up the dimension style manager. The standard style will be highlighted, click modify then set your units. Take a look at your leading zero suppression the changes you make will be reflected in the box to the upper right. If you place your dims in model space then they need to be annotative if you place your dimensions in paper space they need to be non-annotative.

@Ski_Me, those dimstyle settings are ignored by autocad if the result is a combination of feet and fractional inches. This is the documented, expected behavior.

I feel that it is the incorrect behavior, and I'm looking for a way to override the extra zero without resorting to using the "Text Override" field, and typing the correct value in by hand.

It is the accepted format standard for the Architectural Dimension (feet and inches) style. In the fractional style the zero inches is suppressed, however. Don't waste time changing it. If I were reviewing a drawing and I found a dimension changed like this, it would be red lined, and quite likely a remark noted about exploding dimensions, and overriding dimensions for no reason being hazardous to one's likelihood of promotion.

The world needs the zero there. 9'-7/8" looks just like 9 7/8" at a glance. Yes, of course. The physical distances are visually much different, but the old guy in the basement office doing the concrete foundation take-off is only looking at the numbers, and reading really fast while using an Inch-Mate calculator. And, no, they don't have Revit upstairs. If the old guy misses more than 8 feet of a 10 foot high by 12 inch thick basement wall, and all the rebar in it, and all the weeping tile and bank run gravel next to it, and the 12" x 24" footing under it simply because there was no zero, he may not make bonus.

The world needs the zero there.

Well put.

x2

Well put.

 

x2

X3

Please explain your reasoning for NOT wanting the zero, I'm curious.

Yeah, I'm curious, too. I agree Dana W did put it very well. It's not at all silly. Convention, whether 'right' or 'wrong', speeds things up, as long as people follow it. We use the zero in the dimensions AND in the BOM. It is expected, so if not shown, it will slow things down. Is your discipline's conventional way different?

Whether it is a carpenter framing a house, a welder fabricating a pipe run, or a tool and die maker creating a part for a machine there should never be any ambiguity about the architect's or engineer's design intent. To paraphrase Henry Cecil Spencer, Our drawings must be so clear and complete that every one of a thousand users arrives at exactly the same interpretation."