A measuring instrument (100, 300, 400) comprising: a spindle comprising a gauge head contacting an object to be measured; and a touch panel display unit (130, 330, 430) configured to receive an external input performed by physical contact of the measuring instrument (100, 300, 400) and to include a function to display a movement amount of the gauge head, the instrument being configured such that - the touch panel display unit (130, 330, 430) is arranged to display a plurality of operation icons (142, 143, 144) that are used to perform an input operation, and also displays a measurement result; - a plurality of measurement modes are prepared in advance according to a difference of an object to be measured or a difference of a measurement method; - the plurality of operation icons are grouped and hierarchized for each of the measurement modes, and a group of operation icons corresponding to a selected measurement mode are able to be displayed in a mode select menu screen of the touch panel display unit; the measuring instrument being further adapted for attaching various measurement jigs corresponding to one of the measurement modes; the measuring instrument further comprising an arithmetic circuit adapted for converting the movement amount of the gauge head according to the selected measurement mode corresponding to the attached measurement jig and for displaying the converted value on the touch panel display unit (130, 330, 430), wherein the measuring instrument is one of a dial gauge, a vernier calliper and a micrometer. a spindle comprising a gauge head contacting an object to be measured; and a touch panel display unit (130, 330, 430) configured to receive an external input performed by physical contact of the measuring instrument (100, 300, 400) and to include a function to display a movement amount of the gauge head, the instrument being configured such that - the touch panel display unit (130, 330, 430) is arranged to display a plurality of operation icons (142, 143, 144) that are used to perform an input operation, and also displays a measurement result; - a plurality of measurement modes are prepared in advance according to a difference of an object to be measured or a difference of a measurement method; - the plurality of operation icons are grouped and hierarchized for each of the measurement modes, and a group of operation icons corresponding to a selected measurement mode are able to be displayed in a mode select menu screen of the touch panel display unit; - the touch panel display unit (130, 330, 430) is arranged to display a plurality of operation icons (142, 143, 144) that are used to perform an input operation, and also displays a measurement result; - a plurality of measurement modes are prepared in advance according to a difference of an object to be measured or a difference of a measurement method; - the plurality of operation icons are grouped and hierarchized for each of the measurement modes, and a group of operation icons corresponding to a selected measurement mode are able to be displayed in a mode select menu screen of the touch panel display unit; the measuring instrument being further adapted for attaching various measurement jigs corresponding to one of the measurement modes; the measuring instrument further comprising an arithmetic circuit adapted for converting the movement amount of the gauge head according to the selected measurement mode corresponding to the attached measurement jig and for displaying the converted value on the touch panel display unit (130, 330, 430), wherein the measuring instrument is one of a dial gauge, a vernier calliper and a micrometer.