Set default map units in ArcMap

Summary

In VBA, default map units are set in the MxDocument object's NewDocument event using the MapUnits property of the IMap interface.

Procedure

1. Start ArcMap.
2. Open the Visual Basic Editor.
    
   In ArcMap, select Tools > Macros > Visual Basic Editor.
3. In the Visual Basic Project Explorer, select Normal > ArcMap Objects and double-click ThisDocument to open the code window.
   
4. In the Normal.mxt ThisDocument (Code) window, select MxDocument as the object and NewDocument as the event.
   
5. Add code to the MxDocument_NewDocument function to set the default map units to feet.

   Code:
   Dim pMxDoc as IMxDocument
   Set pMxDoc = ThisDocument
   	
   Dim pMap as IMap
   Set pMap = pMxDoc.FocusMap
   	
   pMap.MapUnits = esriFeet 

   Note:
   The default units can be set to any of ESRI's measurement units. For a complete list, see the ArcObjects Developers Help under esriUnits Constants. 

6. Close the Visual Basic Editor.
7. Back in the ArcMap window, double-click the dataframe to open the Dataframe Properties dialog box. Select the General tab. Note the map units.
8. Close the dialog box and click the New Map button.
9. Again, double-click the dataframe to open the Dataframe Properties dialog box. Select the General tab. Notice that the map units are now set to feet. Every time a new document is created, the map units are set to feet.

   Note:
   To remove this customization, either remove the code under the NewDocument event, or delete the normal.mxt.