Rules for entering American units

Note: To get the same results as in these examples, set the length to Feet and inches, the format to Fraction or decimal and the precision to x/8.

1. Unit

• You can enter values with or without units.
• You can add the unit to the value with or without a space in between.
• You can combine different units.
• If you do not add a unit, the program uses the current unit.
• If you do not add a unit, the program interprets values you enter in Feet and inches as inches.

  Enter	Internal value in [mm]	Result
  2.54 cm	25.4	1''
  69''	1752.6	5' 9''
  1.5	38.1	1 1/2''

2. How to apply units

• The unit applies to all the values that are to the left of it as far as the next unit.

  Enter	Values	Result
  3 4' 2.54 cm 3 1/2''	3'+4'+1''+3''+1''/2''	7' 4 1/2''
  3 4' 2 3 1/2	3'+4'+2''+3''+1''/2''	7' 5 1/2''
  3 4 2 3 1/2	3''+4''+2''+3''+1''/2''	1' 1/2''

3. Operators

• You can use the following arithmetical operators: +, -, *, /,(),(()),^,e (= power of ten for floating point representation)
• You can add an operator to a value with or without a space in between.
• The program uses the "+" operator if you do not specify an operator at the beginning.
• If there are no operators between successive values, the program will use the last "+" or "-" operator to the left.

  Enter	Values	Result
  -4+2 1' - 12''+1	-4'+2'+1'-1'+1''	-1' 11''
  14/2' - 6*10 '' 8 1/4	+7'-5'-8''-1''/4''	1' 3 3/4''
  -1 2 3 ' (2^3)	-1'-2'-3'-(+2^+3)''	-6' 8''

4. Miscellaneous

• You can use a point or a comma for the decimal separator.
• You can enter values in any sequence.

  Enter	Values	Result
  5'0,5 – 1.125	5'+1''/2''-1''-1''/8''	4' 11 3/8''
  -3''+6' 0,381dm	-3''+6'+1 1/2''	5' 10 1/2''