Using the number pad to key-in distances

[Scott D Davis]

When typing in distances, I was under then impression that the only way was to enter "1 <space> 6" for 1 foot 6 inches. I found out that the minus - on the 10-key number pad works as a space. So now I use the 10 key, and type 1-6 for 1'-6".

[Steve_Stafford]

Thank you, Thank you!!

[christopher.zoog51272]

Thank you, Thank you!!

yes good one scott :!: :!:
thanks :D

[Steve_Stafford]

I've been doing that dash thing for some time; I think I picked it up on alt.cad.revit. Before that, I was using the apostrophe. I sure like the fact that the default for integer entries is feet, not inches as in that other software.

The remainder of the post and the subsequent off topic replies were moved to "Thatsallottaposts" in the Out There forum... per the request of a moderator who shall remain named Scott. :D

If you want to read that thread CLICK ME! (http://www.zoogdesign.com/forums/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=596)

[John K.]

Anyone found a keyboard with the 10-key pad on the left of the alpha-keys? This would be a godsend as my mouse gets lonely without constant attention from my right hand... Damn, that sounds dirty... Here come the net-police... <<Cracking self up...>>

John K.

[Scott D Davis]

Can you get a USB 10-key by itself? That would be nice to move it to the left side, if I could get used to typing numbers with my left hand.

[Scott D Davis]

answered my own question! here's one in black....

http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.asp?edc=452400

[dfriesen]

ajholland wrote:
I sure like the fact that the default for integer entries is feet, not inches as in that other software.


I detest the feet input! I don't know about you, but I need to use inches WAY more often than I use feet - "move that door over 6", make that trim 8" wide, move that wall 42" to the left . . ." etc. After the initial (very quick) layout of the gridlines and walls (yes, using feet there is nice), MUCH more of the work consists of smaller numbers. The "other" software does have a few good points - if it had none, I don't think it would have become the industry standard - and I don't think that everything about it needs to be thrown out, trampled on, p****d on, and left for dead. Yes, Revit has changed very many things for the better (if not, I wouldn't be using it), but I would like to see the inches input method become *an option*. That should be possible, no? Then we could choose which method we'd like to use.

Okay, that's it for my rant - back to work. I think I'll go over to the Wish List forum and make sure this is on there.

[dfriesen]

Oh, and in the mean time, I'll run out and get one of the numeric keypads - great tip with the dash!

[Scott D Davis]

0-6 can be used for 6 inches....yeah its a couple extra keystrokes though. An option would be nice to use inches. Oh....also you might want to try decimals for inches. .5 is six inches .25 is 3 inches, etc.

[Scott Hopkins]

I have to agree. I would prefer inches for the basic unit as well. 90% of my measurement inputs are inches. I don't understand why feet are used in Revit. I thought it was designed for Architects.

I do like the idea of having a number key entry for my left hand. $42 for a 17-key number pad seems a little steep when you can get a 104-key standard pad for around $20.

[dfriesen]

Scott Hopkins says:
$42 for a 17-key number pad seems a little steep when you can get a 104-key standard pad for around $20.

Well, you know it's always cheaper to buy things in bulk. :)

[christopher.zoog51272]

uggg, I will never go back to typing inches. Feet work sooo much better for me. I think in feet as a designer, so it makes sense to me. Guess an option would be nice for the anti-feet types, but i would probably never use it. On second thought, i would probably switch it on when using the familiy editor, if at all.

[Taylor A]

Dam......just completed inputting a small hospital (existing imperial drawings). We us metric down here and the old drawings were half imperial and half metric.
What I liked though.....was the fact that you could start with the "units" set to imperial and then changed to metric...infact you could change back and forth, it didn't matter....very cool. With AutoCAD you had scale everything.

[ajayholland]

The "other" software does have a few good points - if it had none, I don't think it would have become the industry standard - and I don't think that everything about it needs to be thrown out, trampled on, p****d on, and left for dead.

All that for feet vs. inches??

-AJH

[David Conant]

There is no need to worry about or use the dash. Revit will interpret X SPACE Y as x'-y".

[Wes Macaulay]

All that for feet vs. inches??
-AJH

Production people are often used to having something like a controlled epilepsy attack on their keyboards to get the data in as fast as possible. The inches-vs-feet debate, which at first blush may look trivial, is a major issue for a lot of people. If they can't put in the data the way they're used to, it's a pain.

[Scott D Davis]

There is no need to worry about or use the dash. Revit will interpret X SPACE Y as x'-y".

The X SPACE Y is nice, except there is no SPACE on the number keypad. The use of the X DASH Y facilitates one-handed entry of distances from the keypad.

Now I gotta get a USB keypad to put on the left side of my keyboard. Mouse in the right hand, keypad in the left would make things very quick.

[brantf]

The real problem is not how to type it in but why imperial is still in use????? I mean really a number system based on !!! 12 !!! how ridiculious.

[Steve_Stafford]

ridiculious.

I agree it is ridiculeeus...but it's waht wegot... :D

[Scott D Davis]

I think I found the answer: left-handed keyboard! You can get a keyboard, designed for 'left-handers' with the keypad, arrows, page-up, page-down, etc, on the left side! Now I gotta find where to buy it....cheap!

[LMSmith]

I detest the feet input! I don't know about you, but I need to use inches WAY more often than I use feet

Anyone who wants to use inches can! Settings>Units>Length>Format Units (set to decimal or fractional inches)

If you still want to see dimensions in Feet and Inches, override the units settings in the Dimension type.

[GS Fulton]

Here is a product distributed by a local (Scottsdale) company. Kind of pricey but well thought out.

www.aclaunchpad.com

George F

[Scott D Davis]

George, I saw that yesterday and was really interested until I saw the price! almost $500 US.

Thier website shows that they are testing it for compatibility with Revit, but its not yet ready.

I think you could do almost the same thing with a number pad and Revit's keyboard key-ins. I could set my personal key ins to all be numbers...walls are 11, windows, 12, etc. Then put the keypad on the left, and you would never need to tounch the keyboard! (except for labels)

I'm gonna order a keypad, and I'll let you all know how it works out. Keypads are about $30 for a USB model.

[GS Fulton]

ya, guess I should've said VERY pricey. They have a tour thing on their website and it looks pretty impressive but I don't see spending that much for a numeric pad.

George F

[Henry D]

Here is a keyboard with a left numeric pad for about $80, it's wireless and includes a mouse. It's made by A4Tech.

http://www.a4tech.com/EN/product3.asp?CID=2&SCID=14&MNO=KBS-2548RP

[gregcashen]

That looks almost exactly like the Logitech Cordless Optical Duo...only mirrored! Cool, I love the one at home but would love it more if it were mirrored!!

[Simon.Whitbread]

Wake up! start using metric!!

[gregcashen]

Wake up! start using metric!!

Non sequitur? Tourette's Syndrome?

Ahhh, mind is making the connection slowly...metric requires no feet - inches input, so this would be irrelevant.

Methinks the local building dept. would take issue if I suddenly began submitting my plans/calcs in metric...still a colony I'm afraid.

[Simon.Whitbread]

You could always have the units set to metric while draughting, then set them back to Imperial when plotting. Bit slack but it would work if you're really desperate to use antiquated measuring systems.

Still, Colony maybe but...
UK - Metric
Mainland Europe - Metric
Asia - Metric
Pacific Rim - Metric
Oceana - Metric
South America - Metric

[Scott D Davis]

even for metric, I think it would be nice to have a numbered keypad for left hand data entry (for right-handers). Even metric right handers still have to let go of the mouse to use a right hand keypad.

[gregcashen]

I'm not arguing it's a better system...I just don't think it will take root in the states until [Caltrans] (<-- insert your DOT here) or the local building jurisdictions start requiring it.

[Kroke]

When typing in distances, I was under then impression that the only way was to enter "1 <space> 6" for 1 foot 6 inches. I found out that the minus - on the 10-key number pad works as a space. So now I use the 10 key, and type 1-6 for 1'-6".

SCORE!

I just went to some cheapy dollar type store, they had a bomb load of USB Numeric keypad deals for people like me on a laptop. Only $1.99! It came with a 3.5" floppy but XP picked it right up, now I have a numerical keypad, suhweet!

PS, works great for CounterStrike too, hehe. Rawk on!
http://users.pandora.be/ramones/emoticon/musicband.gif

[Nelson V]

Scott Davis Wrote:

George, I saw that yesterday and was really interested until I saw the price! almost $500 US.

Thier website shows that they are testing it for compatibility with Revit, but its not yet ready.

I think you could do almost the same thing with a number pad and Revit's keyboard key-ins. I could set my personal key ins to all be numbers...walls are 11, windows, 12, etc. Then put the keypad on the left, and you would never need to tounch the keyboard! (except for labels)

I'm gonna order a keypad, and I'll let you all know how it works out. Keypads are about $30 for a USB model.

I got my LunchPad at last year AU 2002. I got it for $100 US. It was on sale. They are trying to intergrate LunchPad with Revit, It might be ready by the end of this year. It also works with autocad and microstation. All my 2 key macros are on my LunchPad for autocad. I haven't tried it with microstation yet, one day if i have time i will play with it. 8)

[Vincent Valentijn]

When typing in distances, I was under then impression that the only way was to enter "1 <space> 6" for 1 foot 6 inches. I found out that the minus - on the 10-key number pad works as a space. So now I use the 10 key, and type 1-6 for 1'-6".

:lol: thank god for the metric system! no need for this...

[Nelson V]

George, I saw that yesterday and was really interested until I saw the price! almost $500 US.

Thier website shows that they are testing it for compatibility with Revit, but its not yet ready.

I think you could do almost the same thing with a number pad and Revit's keyboard key-ins. I could set my personal key ins to all be numbers...walls are 11, windows, 12, etc. Then put the keypad on the left, and you would never need to tounch the keyboard! (except for labels)

I'm gonna order a keypad, and I'll let you all know how it works out. Keypads are about $30 for a USB model.

LaunchPad Release D3 will support Revit right before AU 2003, check it out at the exhibit hall :wink:

[Tibor]

Still on the subject of keypads - Tiger Direct sells a "Sakar iConcepts Notebook Light and Numeric Keypad Combo" for $9.99. Here's the URL (though it may not post intact):

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=322954&Sku=S750-3020&CatId=142

[darylb1837]

You know you can go to Settings, Units and change your units to something else right? This change will effect the units you work with as well as the units displayed. In the case of the guy who hates feet-inch input format, he can simply change Units to 'Fractional Inches'.

[Steve_Stafford]

:lol: thank god for the metric system! no need for this... Not completely true...when you are thinking in meters...you still have to type out 1350 or 1.35m to get what you want, which isn't all that different from having to type 1(space or -) 6 or 1.5 or 18" in imperial. :)

[hugh.69031]

Er, why not put the mouse on the left side of the keyboard and drive it with your left hand?
Works fine for me. I switched the mouse to the left after my right hand and the backspace key wore eachother out and the extra mousing duty was too much. The numpad is still where I expect to find it at no extra cost. :mrgreen:

Hugh

[narlee]

I use 6" ENTER. The " symbol is so close to the ENTER key (and so is the ' symbol) that I've decided it's simpler to remember and the keystrokes are so local to each other. Yes, you have to use the SHIFT key to enter ", but that's what my left pinky is for.