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nexusformat / definitions

Definitions of the NeXus Standard File Structure and Contents
https://manual.nexusformat.org/
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units= vs. units= #1237

Closed sanbrock closed 1 year ago

sanbrock commented 1 year ago

As an xml tag, units= is used by NXDL to specify unit categories for Fields. units= on the other hand can be used by application definitions to specify enumeration for the dataset attribute @units which specify the actual unit of the data.
It is at least confusing in NeXus that both a unit category specification and a specific unit in a data file use the same plural form “units”.
Was it ever discussed?
Should not it be made clear: “units” for unit categories, and “unit” for the actual unit?

prjemian commented 1 year ago

There was a decision to use the plural form: units. Such a distinction between when to use one or the other form contributes to complexity in the standard. This decision might predate any meeting notes.