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Prefixes on non-SI units when commonly used in certain industries #142

Closed timbrisc closed 7 years ago

timbrisc commented 7 years ago

Issue migrated from trac ticket # 194

component: help | priority: minor | resolution: answered

2017-01-03 16:34:47: bruno@imby.bio created the issue

The standard currently specifies that only SI units can take prefixes. However, there are instances where prefixes are used with non-SI units in particular industries. For instance, the retail gas industry in the United Kingdom often install gas meters that measure consumption in hecto-cubic-feet.

Should there be a way to describe industry specific exceptions to the above rule? (possibly with caveats that such units should be used carefully)

timbrisc commented 7 years ago

2017-03-03 02:01:28: gschadow@pragmaticdata.com changed status from new to closed

timbrisc commented 7 years ago

2017-03-03 02:01:28: gschadow@pragmaticdata.com set resolution to answered

timbrisc commented 7 years ago

2017-03-03 02:01:28: gschadow@pragmaticdata.com commented

No, it's just a word. 100.[ft_i]3 does it also easy enough. Even if it was cubic centimeter, a "hecto cubic centimeter" doesn't exist. Now I would not be surprised if somewhere somebody has said thinks like kilo-miles or may be even hecto-feet but what people casually say doesn't mean it needs to be encoded as atomic symbols. They still can use UCUM to say precisely what they want, like 100.[ft_i] or 1000.[mi_i].

timbrisc commented 7 years ago

2017-03-03 11:04:43: bruno@imby.bio commented

Thanks for the answer, it makes complete sense and shows how powerful the UCUM format is.