Change the direction-distance tool to geographic angles instead of arithmetic angles

739
1
08-05-2011 02:09 PM
Status: Open
ChrisStarbird1
New Contributor III
The way it is now, the direction-distance tool in the editor toolbar (little circle with a line through it) uses arithmetic angles instead of geographic angles (ie azimuth).  This seems silly to me because ArcGIS is a geographic information system.  It seems far more likely that I would be using the direction-distance tool to calculate an offset based on a compas heading (azimuth) and distance.  Instead, I have to first convert the azimuth to and arithmetic angle... which is a total drag.  At least give me the option to choose between the two angle systems!
1 Comment
ChrisFox
Thank you for posting your idea, you can set this from Editor > Options > Units. The default direction type is Polar, but you could set it to North or South Azimuth based on your needs. More information on this is available in the help topics below:

http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#/About_direction_measuring_systems_and_...
http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#/Setting_the_direction_type_and_units_u...