Layout scale bar setting for automatic m / km units depending on scale
We develop organisational map layout templates that are designed to be used at a variety of scales. One issue is that we want maps to show scale bar units in metres when zoomed in beyond a certain threshold (which is generally when the scale bar is less than 1km in length) and otherwise use km units when zoomed out. This is undesirable because showing a full scalebar of decimal kilometres is less useful than showing it in whole number metres in this situation.
While it's possible for the user to manually specify the unit, we are constantly needing to remind them of the good practice to switch units when changing the scale of the map sub-kilometre.
Ideally, a scale bar item could have a simple, optional setting that sets a scale threshold for units (e.g. 1:25,000), and what the default unit should be above and below that threshold. That way, whenever a user loads our template, good practice becomes the default.
Below is a mockup of how the setting could look for what I'm after:
Have you tried using scale visibility thresholds for your scale bars? Introduced in ArcGIS Pro 3.3, you can add a scale range to scale bars. When set, the scale bar only draws on the layout if the map scale is within the specified range. For your scenario, you'd need to add 2 scale bars, one for each unit, and set the appropriate scale range for each. Then when the map scale changes, only the correct scale bar will draw.
