Proofer found `Inches (Decimal)` section confusing

[mwmalinowski]

She found the entire section confusing and said it seemed to contradict the Length section.

I think we need to make it clear that the details of Inches (Decimal) apply only to that field. We cannot let the reader potentially infer that the Inches (Decimal) rules apply to measurements in other fields.

[mwmalinowski]

@sklar-sherryp If you're wondering, I did Inches (Decimal) by surrounding the phrase with backticks (the key above Tab: ` )

[sklar-sherryp]

Should we rename the cells as "Length (Inches)" and "Length (Decimal)"?

It has been my understanding that is essentially what we are entering in those fields - specifically, the overall length of the instrument.

[mwmalinowski]

Not all of our Length measurements are in inches, but we need all of our decimal values in inches so they can be sorted correctly. That's why we have Length and Inches (Decimal).

[sklar-sherryp]

The cells Length and Inches (Decimal) are always related to one another correct? Perhaps we need to rename the cells so more of a direct connection is implied?

[mwmalinowski]

I think I have a solution to the confusion.

• Length can be for the length (according to the existing rules we have) which can be any single measurement regardless of unit--e.g. feet, inches, millimeters, etc.
• _Sorting Length (Decimal Inches)_ can be for the length as expressed in decimal inches
  • If Length = 5 1/2" then Sorting Length (Decimal Inches) = 5.5
  • If Length = 6' then Sorting Length (Decimal Inches) = 72
  • If Length = 33cm then Sorting Length (Decimal Inches) = 12.993
  • When converting from metric I suggest that we round our inches value to 3 decimal places
  • If you didn't round then you would end up with 33cm => 12.99212598425196850393700787401574803149606299212598425196850...
  • If you round down to 3 places you get 12.992 and if you round up you get 12.993
  • Although the actual conversion is closer to 12.992 we prefer 12.993 because 12.992" is 32.99968cm and 12.993" is 33.00222cm which (at a glance) appears visually closer to 33cm (our original value)

[sklar-sherryp]

1. Removed the confusing explanation regarding Length vs. Width vs. Height measurements
2. Revised a portion of the general explanation of Length field

[sklar-sherryp]

1. Should the Inches (Decimal) field "officially" be renamed?

[mwmalinowski]

Yes, please.

[sklar-sherryp]

Changed Inches (Decimal) field name to Sorting Length (Decimal Inches)

[mwmalinowski]

Should we include an explanation of this field's purpose?

This field stores numerical values to allow instruments to be sorted by lengths.

Consider five hypothetical instruments: Clamp 1 1/2", Clamp 10", Clamp 2", Clamp 1 1/3", Clamp 1 3/16"

If you sort the Length field by ascending values you'll get name fields ordered as: Clamp 1 1/2", Clamp 1 1/3", Clamp 1 3/16", Clamp 10", Clamp 2"

If you sort by the Sorting Length (Decimal) you'll get the correct order: Clamp 1 3/16", Clamp 1 1/3", Clamp 1 1/2", Clamp 2", Clamp 10"

[mwmalinowski]

FYI, this has to do with the how computers interpret alphanumeric characters (e.g. "1") vs. numeric values (e.g. 1).

[sklar-sherryp]

I dont understand the example you provided. Is it able to be sorted because there is no "inches" symbol and no fraction?

[mwmalinowski]

If there are any non-numeric characters besides a decimal point then a computer will treat it as text.

Computers treat 3, 5.0002 as numbers. Computers treat 3,000, 54,200.03, $50, 3-1/2, 3/4, 1 1/2" as text.

Suffice to say, text and numbers aren't sorted the same--even if the text looks like it's just a number. Numbers that are treated as text (e.g. 10") will not sort correctly.

[mwmalinowski]

To see this first-hand, download this example spreadsheet.

First sort column B. Then sort column E. You should see that E sorts correctly and B does not.

I used Excel's formatting options[1] to treat column B as Text and column E as Number.

[1] Right click on a cell, row, column, or selection; choose "Format Cells..."; look at the leftmost tab.