Background

Sometimes it may be desired to control what Working Units are displayed and available for use within files. For example, only having Meters and Millimetres as the available Working Units. 

Steps to Accomplish

This can be controlled using a combination of the variable MS_CUSTOMUNITDEF and the unit definition file, units.def. The units.def file is an ASCII text file located in the .../Workspace/System/Data folder by default. The variable MS_CUSTOMUNITDEF points to this file.

1. The available Working Units in a file can be found in Settings > Design File under the Working Units category
2. By default, the available working units can be seen in image 1 below
3. To edit the list of available units, browse to the units.def file (location pointed to by MS_CUSTOMUNITDEF)
4. Make a copy of the file units.def 
5. Open the copied file with a Text Editor
6. Add the hash/pound (#) symbol in front of any units that are not to be displayed/available
7. Save the file
8. Point the variable MS_CUSTOMUNITDEF to the newly created file
9. Restart MicroStation and check in Settings > Design File that only the desired Working Units are displayed (see image 2) 

Image 1 - Standard Working Units display

 Image 2 - Modified Working Units (Units.def), only Meters and Millimeters listed

See Also

Working Units [FAQ]

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