_Length macro - help needed

Rhino Rhino for Mac
1

i can’t seem to make an alias for getting length in units other than the model units.

say my model units are inches… how would i write a macro to get the _Length return in millimeters?
thanks

[edit]… oh, if possible, i’d want it to work regardless of whether or not the curve is preselected
thanks

2

It works here:

_Length _Units=Millimeter Pause

3

thanks Vitaliy…
how about if the curve is preselected though? can you get it to work that way?

4

It looks like with preselected objects _Length fires up with model units or previously selected units without stopping.

5

That is 100% correct… All of the measuring tools work this way with a “hidden” agenda. We’ve had many discussions on why this is or is not a good idea - my opinion is it’s not, but changing it would require an extra Enter for everyone - the command would let you choose units before finishing. The extra Enter could of course be macroed in toolbar buttons/aliases, but it wouldn’t work for people who type or use the menus. So I never got my way.

The only thing I could offer here wouuld be a few Python scriptlets that you could paste under toolbar buttons. Otherwise, with the macro ! _Length _Units=_Whatever , you just need to remember to always post select…

–Mitch

6

thanks Mitch.

no need for a python script (for me at least)…
I was just messing around and bumped into this.
my normal way of doing this is to set _Length to an alternate format and I just use _Line to get my normal measurements. (maybe a bad habit since forever but that’s just how I do it :slight_smile: )