Unit conversion allows data values to be stored as different units without the loss of information when imported and/or edited in the geodatabase. Once unit conversion and rounding rules have been configured, the system needs to know how to use the rules. Different products can have different rules applied. A set defines a rule base for a product defined by a given product.xml file. For example, a charting product might require detailed rounding rules to produce sounding labels in a specific format, while for an ENC product, you might simply need to output values truncated to a certain number of decimal places.
To define how the unit conversion and rounding rules are applied for a given product definition (product.xml), the rules need to be associated for each HUNI, DUNI, and PUNI field (source field) and its associated converted unit fields (destination fields). When converting from each source unit to a destination unit, the system needs to know which rules to apply. For example, the source field DEPTH has four destination fields: DEPTH_M (meters), DEPTH_FT (feet), DEPTH_FM (fathoms; fathoms and fractions), and DEPTH_FF (fathoms and feet).
When converting from meters to feet, the system uses the METERS2FEET unit conversion rule.
- Start ArcMap.
- On the main menu, click Customize > Production > Production Properties.
The Production Properties dialog box appears.
- Click Nautical Properties.
- Click the cell next to Unit Conversion.
- Click the ellipsis button (...).
The Unit Conversion and Rounding Rule Configuration dialog box appears. Values for all supported nautical products are set to N/A by default, meaning no specific values are set. Your database administrator should have set the unit conversion values and rounding rules that are specific to your agency.
- Click Automatic Populate to change the N/A values to the ones set for your agency.
- Set the values for each product type by choosing the product from the Current Set drop-down menu and repeating step 6.
- Click OK when you are finished configuring unit conversion and rounding rules.