System-wide understanding of coordinate units across all tools

Question

Posting my response to the following ArcGIS ideas request as others may not visit the ideas section:
[INDENT]Idea Title : Add support for DMS, MGRS, UTM, etc. in Add XY Data and the link is : http://ideas.arcgis.com/ideaView?id=08730000000bmhi[/INDENT]

MY Response:ESRI - When XY (and Z) coordinates are used for input values - ALL tools should understand the various coordinate units.  The "Go To XY" tool (in ArcGIS Desktop) understands multiple coordinate units, so it makes sense that ALL other ArcGIS tools should too.

So, what are your thoughts?

BruceLang · Answer

What tools don't accept UTM coordinates?

I don't know about UTM coordinates - My primary XY format is degree minutes seconds (DMS.)  I'm saying that if the "go to XY" tool understands DMS (plus other formats) then other tools like "XY to Line" and "Make XY Event Layer" should too.  Converting DMS to decimal degrees should NOT be necessary.

MathewCoyle · Answer

What tools don't accept UTM coordinates?