diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'usr.bin/units')
-rw-r--r-- | usr.bin/units/units.1 | 86 |
1 files changed, 60 insertions, 26 deletions
diff --git a/usr.bin/units/units.1 b/usr.bin/units/units.1 index 8916052..eecd742 100644 --- a/usr.bin/units/units.1 +++ b/usr.bin/units/units.1 @@ -1,10 +1,10 @@ -.\" $Id: units.1,v 1.6 1996/04/06 06:01:02 thorpej Exp $ +.\" $Id: units.1,v 1.1.1.1 1996/06/08 03:43:43 alex Exp $ .TH UNITS 1 "14 July 1993" .SH NAME units - conversion program .SH SYNTAX .B units -[-f filename] [-qv] [from-unit to-unit] +[-f filename] [-q] [to-unit from-unit] .SH SUMMARY .TP 4 .B -f filename @@ -16,17 +16,14 @@ Suppresses prompting of the user for units and the display of statistics about the number of units loaded. .LP .TP 4 -.B -v -Prints the version number. -.LP -.TP 4 .B from-unit to-unit Allows a single unit conversion to be done directly from the command -line. No prompting will occur. The units program will print out -only the result of this single conversion. +line. The program will not print prompts. It will print out the +result of the single specified conversion. + .SH DESCRIPTION -The units program converts quantities expression in various scales to +The units program converts quantities expressed in various scales to their equivalents in other scales. The units program can only handle multiplicative scale changes. It cannot convert Centigrade to Fahrenheit, for example. It works interactively by prompting @@ -43,14 +40,27 @@ the user for input: * 0.00026417205 / 3785.4118 + You have: meters/s + You want: furlongs/fortnight + * 6012.8848 + / 0.00016630952 + + You have: 1|2 inch + You want: cm + * 1.27 + / 0.78740157 + .fi Powers of units can be specified using the '^' character as shown in the example, or by simple concatenation: 'cm3' is equivalent to 'cm^3'. Multiplication of units can be specified by using spaces, a dash or an asterisk. Division of units is indicated by the slash ('/'). Note that multiplication has a higher precedence than division, -so 'm/s/s' is the same as 'm/s^2' or 'm/s s'. -If the user enters incompatible unit types, the units program will +so 'm/s/s' is the same as 'm/s^2' or 'm/s s'. Division of numbers +must be indicated using the vertical bar ('|'). To convert half a +meter, you would write '1|2 meter'. If you write '1/2 meter' then the +units program would interpret that as equivalent to '0.5/meter'. +If you enter incompatible unit types, the units program will print a message indicating that the units are not conformable and it will display the reduced form for each unit: .nf @@ -60,7 +70,6 @@ it will display the reduced form for each unit: conformability error 2.7777778e-11 kg m^2 / sec^3 2.1166667e-05 kg^2 m / sec - .fi .LP The conversion information is read from a units data file. The default @@ -83,24 +92,49 @@ au astronomical unit .fi .in -4m -\'Pound' is a unit of mass. Compound names are run together -so 'poundforce' is a unit of force. British units that differ from their -US counterparts are prefixed with 'br', and currency is prefixed with -its country name: 'belgiumfranc', 'britainpound'. When searching for -a unit, if the specified string does not appear exactly as a unit -name, then the units program will try to remove a trailing 's' or -a trailing 'es' and check again for a match. +The unit 'pound' is a unit of mass. Compound names are run together +so 'poundforce' is a unit of force. The unit 'ounce' is also a unit +of mass. The fluid ounce is 'floz'. British units that differ from +their US counterparts are prefixed with 'br', and currency is prefixed +with its country name: 'belgiumfranc', 'britainpound'. When searching +for a unit, if the specified string does not appear exactly as a unit +name, then the units program will try to remove a trailing 's' or a +trailing 'es' and check again for a match. .LP -All of these definitions can be read in the standard units file, or you -can supply your own file. A unit is specified on a single line by -giving its name and an equivalence. One should be careful to define +To find out what units are available read the standard units file. +If you want to add your own units you can supply your own file. +A unit is specified on a single line by +giving its name and an equivalence. Be careful to define new units in terms of old ones so that a reduction leads to the primitive units which are marked with '!' characters. The units program will not detect infinite loops that could be caused -by careless unit definitions. +by careless unit definitions. Comments in the unit definition file +begin with a '/' character at the beginning of a line. .LP Prefixes are defined in the same was as standard units, but with -a trailing dash at the end of the prefix name. +a trailing dash at the end of the prefix name. If a unit is not found +even after removing trailing 's' or 'es', then it will be checked +against the list of prefixes. Prefixes will be removed until a legal +base unit is identified. +.LP +Here is an example of a short units file that defines some basic +units. +.in 17m +.ta +.ta 9m + +.nf + +m !a! +sec !b! +micro- 1e-6 +minute 60 sec +hour 60 min +inch 0.0254 m +ft 12 inches +mile 5280 ft +.fi +.in -17m + .SH BUGS .LP The effect of including a '/' in a prefix is surprising. @@ -119,6 +153,6 @@ The program should use a hash table to store units so that it doesn't take so long to load the units list and check for duplication. .SH FILES -/usr/share/misc/units.lib - the standard units library +units.lib - the standard units library .SH AUTHOR -Adrian Mariano (adrian@cam.cornell.edu or mariano@geom.umn.edu) +Adrian Mariano (adrian@cam.cornell.edu) |