Settings

AFDIM keeps its options in one dialog, the settings dialog. Open it in either of two ways:

• Click Settings on the AFDIM ribbon tab in AutoCAD®.
• Type S at the AFDIM selection prompt. When you close the dialog, you return to the prompt.

The dialog stays in front of AutoCAD until you close it. Three buttons are at the bottom:

• Save settings stores your changes and closes the dialog.
• Cancel closes the dialog and stores nothing.
• Restore defaults sets the options on the General and Drafting standard tabs back to their defaults. It keeps your language, your theme and your Check for updates automatically choice. Nothing is stored until you choose Save settings.

AFDIM reads the settings again at the start of every AFDIM run. A saved change applies to the next run, and you do not need to restart AutoCAD.

Language and theme

The header of the dialog shows these items, from left to right:

• The AFDIM logo, the name and the subtitle Automatic Feature-based DIMensioning. Click them to open the afdim.com homepage.
• The version chip.
• The theme switch for the dark or light theme. Its tooltip reads Switch to dark theme or Switch to light theme.
• The language drop-down.

The language drop-down lists 56 languages. Each language appears under its own name, for example “Deutsch” or “日本語”. The list is sorted A–Z by the English name of the language and has no flags. For screen readers the drop-down is named Change language, and its tooltip shows the full name of the selected language.

The dialog changes language as soon as you choose one, and Save settings stores the choice. A fresh install starts in English, or in Vietnamese when Windows is set up for Vietnam (its display language, regional format or country).

The chosen language applies to the dialog, to the windows that AFDIM opens (for example the licence window, the new terms of an update and the support windows) and to the command-line messages. Text that is not translated yet appears in English. Vietnamese command-line messages are written without accents. The two ribbon buttons, Dimension and Settings, stay in English in every language.

Translations other than English and Vietnamese are drafts. The installer wizard and its licence agreement are in English, and the AFDIM Help page is in English or Vietnamese.

The version chip shows the installed version, AFDIM <version>. When an update needs your attention, the chip turns orange, shows a dot and reads Version <version> available or See updates. Click the chip to open the About tab. During an update, the chip shows Checking…, Downloading <percent>%, Installing… and then Updated — restart AutoCAD. After you go back to the previous version, it shows Back on <version> — restart AutoCAD. See Updates.

General tab

The tab has five groups, in this order: Dimensioning, Centre marks and centrelines, Callouts (chamfer, slot, hole…), Shape recognition and Recognition tolerance. Each setting is a row with its label on the left and its control on the right. The pictures on this tab zoom in the same way as the pictures on the Drafting standard tab.

Dimensioning

• Drawing units: the unit in which the part is drawn. The default is Automatic (from the current drawing). Below the row, the dialog says “Select the units used for the part in this drawing.” See Drawing units.
• HeightDim (× HeightText): the gap from the part to the first dimension line, as a multiple of the dimension text height. HeightText is the text height of your current dimension style (DIMSTYLE). The same value sets the spacing between further rows of dimensions. The default is 4.
• Chain dimensions: how AFDIM treats a row of dimensions along the part.
  • Drop one redundant dimension (tolerance is absorbed by the unshown span) is the default. AFDIM leaves out the one dimension that the others already imply, so the accumulated tolerance falls in the span that is not shown.
  • Show the full chain (inspection dimensions): AFDIM shows every span, so that an inspector can read each one directly.
• Repeated pitch on a bolt circle: Follow the selected standard, Always state one pitch or State every space. Under ISO/TCVN, a closed ring of evenly spaced holes has no pitch dimensions. AFDIM writes only one angle dimension that locates the ring relative to an axis. Set the standard on the Drafting standard tab.
• Dimension layer: where dimensions and callouts go.
  • From AutoCAD’s DIMLAYER variable (the default): AFDIM uses the AutoCAD variable DIMLAYER, or the current layer when DIMLAYER is not set.
  • The current layer.
  • A layer from this drawing: choose a layer from the list From the drawing. AFDIM remembers its linetype, colour and lineweight, and creates the layer in drawings that do not have it.

The result line of every run names the layer: [AFDIM] Wrote <n> dimension(s) + <m> callout(s) on layer "<layer>". Here <n> is the number of dimensions, <m> is the number of callouts and <layer> is the layer name. AFDIM prints the reason for the choice of layer only when the run created the layer.

Drawing units

Drawing units tells AFDIM which unit the part is drawn in. The row has three choices:

• Automatic (from the current drawing): the default. AFDIM reads the drawing at the start of every run.
• Millimetres (mm): the part is drawn in millimetres.
• Inches: the part is drawn in inches.

The choice only tells AFDIM how to read the coordinates that already exist. AFDIM never scales or changes the drawing. The choice is global: AFDIM saves it in the settings file, not in the drawing, so it applies to every drawing that you open.

Leave the row on Automatic unless AFDIM reads a drawing wrongly. Choose Millimetres (mm) or Inches when a message tells you that the unit is unclear.

Automatic reads the drawing unit that AutoCAD records (INSUNITS) and the height of the dimension text. It looks at the height set in the dimension style and at the height after DIMSCALE or the annotation scale. Inside an activated viewport on a layout, it uses the text height as it prints through the viewport. AFDIM decides as follows:

INSUNITS is	And	AFDIM uses
Millimetres	Any text height	Millimetres
Inches, or no unit	DIMLUNIT is engineering, architectural or fractional	Inches
Inches, or no unit	Text is under 1 unit high in the style and after scaling	Inches
Inches, or no unit	Text is under 1 unit high in the style but 1 unit or more after scaling	Millimetres, with a message
Inches, or no unit	Text is 1 unit or more high in the style	Millimetres
Another unit, for example metres	Any text height	Millimetres, with a message

AFDIM prints a message on the command line in these cases:

• The drawing declares no unit, and AFDIM takes inches from the dimension text size.
• The unit is unclear, and AFDIM takes millimetres.
• The drawing declares a unit other than millimetres or inches, and AFDIM processes it as millimetres.
• You chose a unit that the drawing clearly contradicts.

Each message names Settings > Drawing units. AFDIM prints each message once for each drawing in an AutoCAD session. When the unit is clear, or you chose the correct unit, AFDIM prints no unit message. The exact lines are in The AFDIM command.

Dimension text on an inch drawing follows DIMSTYLE and DIMLUNIT. This includes the decimal, scientific, fractional and feet-and-inches formats.

AFDIM keeps these values separately for millimetres and inches:

Setting	Millimetres	Inches
Point tolerance	0.1	0.004
Fixed centre-mark extension (Centerexe set to A value I type)	3.5	0.12

Each field shows the value for the unit in use, with the suffix mm or inch. When you change Drawing units, the field shows the value of the other unit. AFDIM never converts one value into the other. With Automatic, the fields follow the drawing that is open when you open the dialog. Angle tolerance is the same for both units.

Restore defaults sets Drawing units back to Automatic and resets both point tolerances and both centre-mark extensions to the values in the table.

Centre marks and centrelines

A picture at the top of the group explains Centerexe. Its legend reads “Centerexe = how far a centre mark and a centreline extend beyond the part.”

• Centerexe: how far a centre mark or centreline extends beyond the feature.
  • From AutoCAD’s CENTEREXE variable: the same value that the AutoCAD command CENTERMARK uses.
  • A value I type: a fixed length. The row Value shows the number with the suffix mm or inch for the unit in use. See Drawing units.
  • From the DIM text height (the default): a Factor times the dimension text height (× HeightText). The default factor is 1.5.
• Centreline layer:
  • From AutoCAD’s CENTERLAYER variable.
  • A layer from this drawing: AFDIM remembers its look and creates the layer where it is missing.

A centreline must not look like part geometry. If the chosen layer does not have a broken linetype, AFDIM draws the centrelines on its own layer, AFDIM_CENTER, instead. The run that creates that layer says so on the command line.

Callouts (chamfer, slot, hole…)

• Draw callouts with:
  • Classic LEADER (follows the current DIMSTYLE + DIMSCALE)
  • MLEADER (follows the current MLEADERSTYLE)
  • QLEADER (follows the drawing’s own Leader Settings)
• Group equal-radius labels and Group equal-chamfer labels: Separate inner and outer contours, One shared label or One dimension per feature.

Shape recognition

• Faceted runs (an arc or circle drawn as many short straight segments): Reconstruct them as arcs / ellipses, or Off — dimension the drawing as drawn.
• Bend-line detection:
  • Automatic (AFDIM detects them; some may be missed)
  • By layer (pick them below): choose the layers that contain bend lines under Layers containing bend lines.
  • Off

Recognition tolerance

• Point tolerance: two points that are closer than this value count as one point. The field shows the value for the unit in use, with the suffix mm or inch. The default is 0.1 mm or 0.004 inch. See Drawing units.
• Angle tolerance (degrees): two directions that differ by less than this value count as one direction. The default is about 0.573 degrees.

Increase the values if the drawing has small gaps at corners or if near-parallel walls are missed. Decrease them if very small details are merged. These values are not a tolerance that is printed on the drawing. Dimension text follows your dimension style.

Drafting standard tab

A drafting standard decides how AFDIM words the callout text that it writes itself, such as hole counts, slot sizes and chamfers. Values that AutoCAD measures, such as the number in a linear dimension, follow your dimension style.

The built-in standards are:

• ISO 129-1:2004 / TCVN 7583-1:2006
• ISO 129-1:2018
• ASME Y14.5-2018 / ANSI
• JIS B 0001:2019

Choose one under Drafting standard. The list on the left has one entry for each feature family and shows a preview of its callout text. For the selected family, the right side shows a diagram, a Display style drop-down, the Template text box, a live preview and the Supported parameters that you can use in the template. After you edit a template, the standard shows Templates edited.

Type a name in Name, then use these buttons:

• Save: stores the current templates. With a built-in standard selected, it creates your own standard under the name that you typed.
• Restore original templates: puts the templates of the selected standard back.
• Delete: removes one of your own standards. The button is available only when one of your own standards is selected.
• Import… and Export…: read or write a standard as a .json file, for example to share it with another computer.

Click a diagram to zoom it. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and move the pointer away to exit.

Quick guide tab

The tab shows a short summary in three groups: Three steps (how to run AFDIM), What AFDIM reads from your drawing and When the result is not what you wanted.

About tab

The groups, from top to bottom:

• Product: the version and a short description of the product.

• Updates: Check for updates automatically, the update status, and these buttons:

  • Update now: only when an update can be installed. AFDIM installs it while AutoCAD stays open, and the new version runs from the next AutoCAD start. Your settings are kept.
  • Check now.
  • Go back to <version>: only after an in-app update, while the previous version is still on disk.
  • View changes.

  While an update needs your attention, an orange dot shows on the About tab title, on the Settings ribbon button and on the version chip in the header. See Updates.

• Licence: the Status, who the licence is issued to, the plan and the expiry date. The buttons are Start 7-day trial, Enter licence key…, Request licence, Load licence… and Buy / Renew. Start 7-day trial appears only while no valid licence is installed, and it is dimmed when the trial on this computer has expired. Request licence shows the request code of this computer, with Copy code and Send via afdim.com. Move licence to another computer… also appears on this tab and moves a licence that was activated with a key. See Move to another computer. Activate in the AFDIM is not activated window opens the dialog on this tab. See Activate a licence and Start a 7-day trial.

• Support: Create support zip… and Export the last run’s geometry…. Each button shows what the file will hold and asks before it writes anything. Nothing is uploaded. After a file is written, Open the file’s folder opens the folder. See Support bundle.

• Remove AFDIM: Remove AFDIM from this computer… lists where AFDIM keeps files and explains how to uninstall. It deletes nothing. See Uninstall.

Where settings are stored

What	Where
Settings	%AppData%\AFDIM\settings.json
Your saved standards	%AppData%\AFDIM\standards\

The settings file also holds the drawing-unit choice, both point tolerances and both centre-mark extensions. Because the choice is global, it is not stored in a drawing.

Next to settings.json, AFDIM can keep these files:

• settings.json.bak: the save before the last one.
• settings.json.corrupt: a copy of a settings file that could not be read.
• settings.json.reset: a reminder that AFDIM removes after you press OK in the AFDIM settings were reset to defaults window.

See When the settings file cannot be read.

Settings belong to the Windows user. They stay in place when AFDIM updates. They also stay when you uninstall AFDIM, unless you tick the delete box in the uninstaller. See Uninstall.

The file is stored outside your drawings. Nothing in a drawing records which settings produced its dimensions.