CLI Architectural Input - Is there no way to input Imperial like (5'-10 1/2",2'-3")?

Hello there, I would like to thank the LibreCAD team for their fantastic open source tool. As a landlord and open source enthusiast who needs some basic floorplan blueprints using measurements I've taken myself, LibreCAD is ideal.

Unfortunately, there is one big problem using LibreCAD for this purpose. Constantly having to scale and zoom around with the mouse so I can place a rectangle within my precise measurements wastes a lot of time for me. Luckily, LibreCAD prominently features Command Line input as an alternative - which, as I know all too well for an Arch Linux poweruser, would substantially automate the process for me.

Or at least, it would, if command line input wouldn't stop spitting syntax errors at me. I've tried every kind of syntax I could think of, before giving up and Googling it. There's exactly one thread on this very forum inquiring about this pretty basic feature you would come to expect from a CAD suite. Apparently, it's impossible. From what little I understand of computer programming, whichever libraries the embedded CLI in LibreCAD depend on do not allow for this kind of input.

I guess I could multiply every foot by twelve and add that, as well as converting any fractions to decimal, but I shouldn't have to use this kind of workaround. I'm just making this thread for confirmation... is Imperial Architectural input in CLI indeed impossible in the current build without workarounds? That's really disappointing for a CAD suite so great at 2D drafting. In my opinion, adding CLI Architectural input should be a priority feature to implement in the next major release.

Thanks anyway for this invaluable open source tool. I really hope the best for the LibreCAD project.

Hi GnosticTemplar,

This is a community driven project. While we need more help from developers, we also need help from users.

For example, what types of input should be supported. Keep in mind the developers may not be CAD users themselves, and may not know what seems to be obvious for CAD users. For example, it took me a while to know what 5'-10 1/2" stands for.

It helps to build a list of desired features, starting:

5' - 10 1/2" : 5' , plus, 10 and 1/2 "

Thanks!

GnosticTemplar wrote

Hello there, I would like to thank the LibreCAD team for their fantastic open source tool. As a landlord and open source enthusiast who needs some basic floorplan blueprints using measurements I've taken myself, LibreCAD is ideal.

Unfortunately, there is one big problem using LibreCAD for this purpose. Constantly having to scale and zoom around with the mouse so I can place a rectangle within my precise measurements wastes a lot of time for me. Luckily, LibreCAD prominently features Command Line input as an alternative - which, as I know all too well for an Arch Linux poweruser, would substantially automate the process for me.

Or at least, it would, if command line input wouldn't stop spitting syntax errors at me. I've tried every kind of syntax I could think of, before giving up and Googling it. There's exactly one thread on this very forum inquiring about this pretty basic feature you would come to expect from a CAD suite. Apparently, it's impossible. From what little I understand of computer programming, whichever libraries the embedded CLI in LibreCAD depend on do not allow for this kind of input.

I guess I could multiply every foot by twelve and add that, as well as converting any fractions to decimal, but I shouldn't have to use this kind of workaround. I'm just making this thread for confirmation... is Imperial Architectural input in CLI indeed impossible in the current build without workarounds? That's really disappointing for a CAD suite so great at 2D drafting. In my opinion, adding CLI Architectural input should be a priority feature to implement in the next major release.

Thanks anyway for this invaluable open source tool. I really hope the best for the LibreCAD project.

The program's own syntax for displaying Imperial Architectural coordinates is something like [F'-I n/d"],[F'-I" n/d"] - sans brackets, of course. Where F = feet, I = inches, and n/d is fractions of an inch. The space and n/d are omitted for whole numbers, e.g. 2'-3". The space between " and n is important, although it might be better replaced with an underscore. Feet are written with an apostrophe/singlequote character [ ' ] whereas inches are written with a doublequote character [ " ].

Personally, I would also remove the dash between 5'-10 1/2", instead use 5'10 1/2", because the dash could get confusing when working with negative coordinates: -5'5-10 1/2",-3'2" would be a mess to work with, not even factoring in relative zeroes like @-5'5-10 1/2",-3'2" to -24'-3 15/16",8'-1 2/3". Confused yet? :^)

Not saying it's the best syntax for this kind of input, but it's a start. Thanks for the swift response. If I knew how to code anything other than bash scripts, I would lend a helping hand, but I'm still training for my first sysadmin cert right now. (My dad's the landlord, not me. :P)

And yes, if I ever needed a wake up call on why Americans like myself need to switch to metric, it's now. Nice clean powers of 10 would've saved me hours of frustration. Dad asked his tech-savvy 20y/o son for Imperial unit floorplans a client of his needs to see - what am I supposed to do?

This feature is to be more generic than being specific for british units.

to make it more interesting:

1'2" could be 1 foot 2 inches, or 1 minute 2 seconds for angular.

metric input could be 1m 2cm, or 1m 3/4

GnosticTemplar wrote

The program's own syntax for displaying Imperial Architectural coordinates is something like [F'-I n/d"],[F'-I" n/d"] - sans brackets, of course. Where F = feet, I = inches, and n/d is fractions of an inch. The space and n/d are omitted for whole numbers, e.g. 2'-3". The space between " and n is important, although it might be better replaced with an underscore. Feet are written with an apostrophe/singlequote character [ ' ] whereas inches are written with a doublequote character [ " ].

Personally, I would also remove the dash between 5'-10 1/2", instead use 5'10 1/2", because the dash could get confusing when working with negative coordinates: -5'5-10 1/2",-3'2" would be a mess to work with, not even factoring in relative zeroes like @-5'5-10 1/2",-3'2" to -24'-3 15/16",8'-1 2/3". Confused yet? :^)

Not saying it's the best syntax for this kind of input, but it's a start. Thanks for the swift response. If I knew how to code anything other than bash scripts, I would lend a helping hand, but I'm still training for my first sysadmin cert right now. (My dad's the landlord, not me. :P)

And yes, if I ever needed a wake up call on why Americans like myself need to switch to metric, it's now. Nice clean powers of 10 would've saved me hours of frustration. Dad asked his tech-savvy 20y/o son for Imperial unit floorplans a client of his needs to see - what am I supposed to do?

Just as a point of interest the UK construction industry officially switched to metric in the 1970s.

The standard practice in UK architectural drawings is to show all measurements in millimetres. This applies to drawings at any scale. So you might see the overall length of a building expressed as say 10000mm on a floor plan and the thickness of a sheet of plasterboard expressed as say 10mm on a detail drawing.

The benefit is that there can never be any doubt or confusion about the intended unit of measurement irrespective of the scale of the drawing.

The output format could be independent of input format. For example, a drawing made in UK should be able to read in the American style.

It would be great, if we can integrate this type of knowledge into LibreCAD. A drawing can be updated automatically based on locales.

Mike Hayes wrote

Just as a point of interest the UK construction industry officially switched to metric in the 1970s.

The standard practice in UK architectural drawings is to show all measurements in millimetres. This applies to drawings at any scale. So you might see the overall length of a building expressed as say 10000mm on a floor plan and the thickness of a sheet of plasterboard expressed as say 10mm on a detail drawing.

The benefit is that there can never be any doubt or confusion about the intended unit of measurement irrespective of the scale of the drawing.