On 3/14/2023 7:03 PM, Gavin via ntg-context wrote:
I’d like to better understand how the \unit{} command works and why those
choices were made. Some of the choices seem to be “asking for troubles,” but
perhaps they are essential for some users.
I wonder if Alan was using context when the first unit module showed up
in (what wasn't even call;ed mkii) because it is one of the oldest
context modules and we use(d) for typesetting education related
documents. Among the reasons for it was that in the pre-unicode times
one had to compromise on a math / text mixture due to the way fonts and
input was handled.
I’m happy to have the unit command accept a variety of different forms for the
unit, but I’d really like one of the acceptable forms to be the form prescribed
by Le Système international d'unités, so that “m s” is a meter second and “ms”
is a millisecond. However, I’m not sure if this goal conflicts with other
important goals.
Would you like to explore \unit{} this summer to see if we can find a
consistent solution? Perhaps we can produce a plan for \unit{} that does not
conflict with other \unit{} features, or perhaps we can make a module that
lacks some of the features of \unit{} but conforms to the SI for input as well
as output. I would be happy with either.
In principle one can think of different schemes (for different purposes
even), after all everything is in tables; that is probably easier than
tring to come up with some complex compromise. There can be instances of
unit with different properties.
Hans
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