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Hi,
I just noticed this thread (better late than never :),
and wanted to point out a pretty mature effort that was developed
by Peter Murray-Rust in STMML [2] for creating a dictionary of
units. In STMML, you can define unitType definitions that are
constructed from fundamental dimensions, and then unit definitions
that represent unitTypes. with this system, it is easy to both
define new units, and understand the exact quantitative relationships
between units.
For example, in STMML you can define a unitType of "length" that is used as
the basis for both the SI unit "meter" and alternative units like
"foot" or "mile". Because of the way the definitions work, one can easily
convert from one unit to another from the information provided in the
definitions, and can compare unitTypes by looking at their fundamental
dimensions.
We have used this system to develop a dictionary of standardized units
for use in Ecological Metadata Language (EML). Our dictionary contains
all of the NIST SI units using their names and definitions, and a large
number of units from other unit systems that are in common use. It is publicly
available with the EML distribution [1]. In addition, Peter Murray-Rust
has also developed one or more dictionaries for Chemical Markup Language.
They also have a paper on STMML and its relationship to CML [2].
At the very bottom of this message I pasted a list of the units that are
defined in the EML unit dictionary for your reference. Hope this is of
interest to you.
Matt
[1] Ecological Metadaata Language (EML)
http://knb.ecoinformatics.org/software/eml/
[2] STMML. A MARKUP LANGUAGE FOR SCIENTIFIC, TECHNICAL AND MEDICAL PUBLISHING.
Peter Murray-Rust and Henry S. Rzepa. http://www.xml-cml.org/stmml/
******************************************************************
Matt Jones
http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS)
******************************************************************
On Mon, 16 Dec 2002, Elliotte Rusty Harold wrote:
> At 3:49 PM -0400 8/21/02, Roger L. Costello wrote:
> >Hi Folks,
> >
> >I have created an XML Schema[1] containing simpleType definitions that
> >enumerate the units for:
> >
> > - temperature
> > - length
> > - weight
> > - volume
> > - area
> > - cooking
> > - speed
>
>
> I think this confuses the units for mass and weight. For example, if
> I recall my high school physics correctly, kilogram is a unit of mass
> while pound is a unit of weight. If you fly to the moon your mass in
> kilograms stays the same but your weight decreases. In the metric
> system I think weight would be measured in dynes or newtons while in
> the English system mass would be measured in slugs.
>
> Of course in day-to-day usage among non-scientists on planet Earth,
> weight and mass are used interchangeably. Thus I wonder whether it's
> even possible to come up with a canonical list of all possible units,
> when not everyone agrees all the time what the untis are measuring.
> --
>
> +-----------------------+------------------------+-------------------+
> | Elliotte Rusty Harold | elharo@metalab.unc.edu | Writer/Programmer |
> +-----------------------+------------------------+-------------------+
> | XML in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition (O'Reilly, 2002) |
> | http://www.cafeconleche.org/books/xian2/ |
> | http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0596002920/cafeaulaitA/ |
> +----------------------------------+---------------------------------+
> | Read Cafe au Lait for Java News: http://www.cafeaulait.org/ |
> | Read Cafe con Leche for XML News: http://www.cafeconleche.org/ |
> +----------------------------------+---------------------------------+
>
Unit definitions from Ecological Metadata Language (EML)
(note: only unit names, not definitions, are listed)
--------------------------------------------------------
* second
* meter
* kilogram
* kelvin
* coulomb
* ampere
* mole
* candela
* number
* cubicMeter
* nominalMinute
* nominalHour
* nominalDay
* nominalWeek
* nominalYear
* nominalLeapYear
* nanogram
* microgram
* milligram
* centigram
* decigram
* gram
* dekagram
* hectogram
* megagram
* tonne
* pound
* ton
* celsius
* fahrenheit
* nanometer
* micrometer
* micron
* millimeter
* centimeter
* decimeter
* dekameter
* hectometer
* kilometer
* megameter
* angstrom
* inch
* Foot_US
* foot
* Foot_Gold_Coast
* fathom
* nauticalMile
* yard
* Yard_Indian
* Link_Clarke
* Yard_Sears
* mile
* nanosecond
* microsecond
* millisecond
* centisecond
* decisecond
* dekasecond
* hectosecond
* kilosecond
* megasecond
* minute
* hour
* kiloliter
* microliter
* milliliter
* liter
* gallon
* quart
* bushel
* cubicInch
* pint
* radian
* degree
* grad
* megahertz
* kilohertz
* hertz
* millihertz
* newton
* joule
* calorie
* britishThermalUnit
* footPound
* lumen
* lux
* becquerel
* gray
* sievert
* katal
* henry
* megawatt
* kilowatt
* watt
* milliwatt
* megavolt
* kilovolt
* volt
* millivolt
* farad
* ohm
* ohmMeter
* siemen
* weber
* tesla
* pascal
* megapascal
* kilopascal
* atmosphere
* bar
* millibar
* kilogramsPerSquareMeter
* gramsPerSquareMeter
* milligramsPerSquareMeter
* kilogramsPerHectare
* tonnePerHectare
* poundsPerSquareInch
* kilogramPerCubicMeter
* milliGramsPerMilliLiter
* gramsPerLiter
* milligramsPerCubicMeter
* microgramsPerLiter
* milligramsPerLiter
* gramsPerCubicCentimeter
* gramsPerMilliliter
* gramsPerLiterPerDay
* litersPerSecond
* cubicMetersPerSecond
* cubicFeetPerSecond
* squareMeter
* are
* hectare
* squareKilometers
* squareMillimeters
* squareCentimeters
* acre
* squareFoot
* squareYard
* squareMile
* litersPerSquareMeter
* bushelsPerAcre
* litersPerHectare
* squareMeterPerKilogram
* metersPerSecond
* metersPerDay
* feetPerDay
* feetPerSecond
* feetPerHour
* yardsPerSecond
* milesPerHour
* milesPerSecond
* milesPerMinute
* centimetersPerSecond
* millimetersPerSecond
* centimeterPerYear
* knots
* kilometersPerHour
* metersPerSecondSquared
* waveNumber
* cubicMeterPerKilogram
* cubicMicrometersPerGram
* amperePerSquareMeter
* amperePerMeter
* molePerCubicMeter
* molarity
* molality
* candelaPerSquareMeter
* metersSquaredPerSecond
* metersSquaredPerDay
* feetSquaredPerDay
* kilogramsPerMeterSquaredPerSecond
* gramsPerCentimeterSquaredPerSecond
* gramsPerMeterSquaredPerYear
* gramsPerHectarePerDay
* kilogramsPerHectarePerYear
* kilogramsPerMeterSquaredPerYear
* molesPerKilogram
* molesPerGram
* millimolesPerGram
* molesPerKilogramPerSecond
* nanomolesPerGramPerSecond
* kilogramsPerSecond
* tonnesPerYear
* gramsPerYear
* numberPerMeterSquared
* numberPerKilometerSquared
* numberPerMeterCubed
* metersPerGram
* numberPerGram
* gramsPerGram
* microgramsPerGram
* cubicCentimetersPerCubicCentimeters
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