Fw: [members] OASIS TC Call for Participation: OASIS UnitsML TC

[robert_weir@us.ibm.com]

Saw this come through today.

Crazy idea, but has anyone seen a spreadsheet
that was sensitive to metrical units?  So I could put "1 m"
in A1, "1 cm" in A2 and =A1+A2 in A3 and have it come out as
1.01 m or 1101 cm, with units converting automatically and perhaps giving
an error condition if incompatible units were mixed, e.g., inches added
to seconds.

If we can make a cell bold, or format
it as currency, why not be able to apply a "meters" tag to it,
to clarify the units?

A spreadsheet that tracked units, autoconverted
units and warned of unit mismatches would be a killer feature for scientific/engineering
use.

So, this UnitsML spec might be worth
tracking to see if there is some interesting innovation we can do in this
area in a future (2007? 2008?) ODF release.

Regards,

-Rob

----- Forwarded by Robert
Weir/Cambridge/IBM on 06/13/2006 04:59 PM -----

James Bryce Clark <jamie.clark@oasis-open.org>

06/12/2006 08:16 PM

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cc
Subject	[members] OASIS TC Call for Participation: OASIS UnitsML TC

    A new OASIS technical committee is being
formed.  The OASIS UnitsML Technical Committee has been proposed by
the members of OASIS listed below.  The proposal, below, meets the
requirements of the OASIS TC Process [a].  The TC name, statement
of purpose, scope, list of deliverables, audience, and language specified
in the proposal will constitute the TC's official charter.  Submissions
of technology for consideration by the TC, and the beginning of technical
discussions, may occur no sooner than the TC's first meeting. 
  
    This TC will operate under our 2005 IPR Policy [b].  The
eligibility requirements for becoming a participant in the TC at the first
meeting (see details below) are that: 
  
    (a) you must be an employee of an OASIS member organization
or an individual member of OASIS; 
    (b) the OASIS member must sign the OASIS membership agreement
[c]; 
    (c) you must notify the TC chair of your intent to participate
at least 15 days prior to the first meeting, which members may do by using
the "Join this TC" button on the TC's public page at [d]; and
    (d) you must attend the first meeting of the TC, at the time
and date fixed below. 
  
Of course, participants also may join the TC at a later time.  OASIS
and the TC welcomes all interested parties. 
  
    Non-OASIS members who wish to participate may contact us
about joining OASIS [c].   In addition, the public may access the
information   resources maintained for each TC: a mail list archive,
document repository and public comments facility, which will be linked
from the TC's public home page at [d].  
  
    Please feel free to forward this announcement to any other
appropriate lists. OASIS is an open standards organization; we encourage
your feedback.   Kind regards  JBC 

~  James Bryce Clark 
~  Director, Standards Development, OASIS 
~  jamie.clark@oasis-open.org 

[a] http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/process.php
[b] http://www.oasis-open.org/who/intellectualproperty.php
[c] See http://www.oasis-open.org/join/
[d] http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=unitsml

====
PROPOSED FINAL
CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
OASIS UnitsML TC
  
Name of the TC

OASIS Units Markup Language (UnitsML) Technical Committee
  
Statement of Purpose
  
The purpose of the Units Markup Language Technical Committee is to define
an XML-based specification that will provide for unambiguous representation
of units of measure.
  
Background
  
Units Markup Language (UnitsML) is being developed for encoding scientific
units of measure in XML.   This UnitsML language is expected to be
the first part of a project that is composed of three components: an XML
schema (UnitsML), a database containing detailed information on SI (International
System of Units) and non-SI scientific units of measure, and tools to facilitate
the incorporation of UnitsML into other markup languages. The development
and deployment of a markup language for units will allow for the unambiguous
storage, exchange, and processing of numeric data, thus facilitating the
collaboration and sharing of information over the Internet. It is anticipated
that UnitsML markup will be used by the developers of other markup languages
to address the needs of specific communities (e.g. mathematics, chemistry,
materials science, etc.). Use of UnitsML in other markup languages will
reduce duplication of effort and improve compatibility among specifications!
that represent numerical data.
  
The XML schema under development for UnitsML allows for the ability to
represent scientific units of measure in XML and will be used for validating
XML documents that use UnitsML. Development of this schema has initially
taken place at NIST, but completion of the development process should include
input from the international scientific and engineering community. This
work may be accomplished through the creation of an OASIS Working Group
to address any needed changes in the schema and publish a final recommendation.
  
The UnitsML schema is not intended to be a standalone schema, but rather
to be used in combination with other specific schemas through the use of
namespaces. SI units can be represented through the use of base units (e.g.,
meter, second), special derived units (e.g., joule, volt), and any combination
of these units with appropriate prefixes and exponential powers (e.g.,
mm o s-2). In addition, commonly used derived SI units (e.g., square meter,
meter per second) and non-SI units (e.g., minute, ångström, and inch) will
be explicitly supported for reference within XML documents.
  
Proponents of UnitsML may develop one or more databases to contain detailed
units and dimensionality information for an extensive number of SI units
and common, non-SI units available for access by users of UnitsML.  A
database resource of this type would facilitate wide use of the markup
language by including information needed to reference units in an XML document,
specifically including unique identifiers, and also could include various
unit symbols, language-specific unit names, and representations in terms
of other units (including conversion factors).  In addition to scientific
units, such a database may include information about quantities - the measurable,
countable, or comparable properties or aspects of a thing, e.g., length.
  
Scope of Work
   
The TC will develop and publish an XML-based specification that will enable
the unambiguous representation of units of measure.
  
Deliverables
  
The Units Markup Language Technical Committee plans to complete the following
tasks during its first year of operation.
  
1. UnitsML Working Draft identifying the requirements and data-model for
units of measure.
2. UnitsML Proposed Standard for the representation of units information
in XML.
3. Guidelines for implementation of UnitsML.
  
IPR Mode
  
RF on Limited Terms Mode (as specified in the OASIS IPR Policy)
  
Anticipated Audience
  
It is anticipated that UnitsML markup will be used by users and developers
of XML-based markup languages to address the needs of specific communities,
such as, science, engineering, construction, etc. 
  
Language
  
The TC will conduct its business in English.
  
----
The following is informational only for the purposes of starting the TC,
and will not be part of the TC's charter.
  
Related Work

All specifications that may consume basic units of measure are potential
targets of this work, including products of the following groups, with
which the UnitsML TC will seek to establish a liaison relationship:
  
OASIS Emergency Management TC
OASIS MaterialsML TC
OASIS PLCS TC
OASIS PPS TC
OASIS UBL TC
ISO 31 / ISO 1000
UN/ECE Trade Recommendation 20
UN/CEFACT CCTS
W3C MathML
  
Anticipated Contributions
  
The current draft schema for UnitsML, available at http://unitsml.nist.gov/,
is expected to be contributed to this TC.
  
Date and Time of First Meeting
  
The first meeting of the UnitsML TC will be a telephonic meeting held at
11:00 am Eastern US time on 12 July 2006.   The conference bridge
information will be posted to the TC's website.
  
On-Going Meeting Plans & Sponsors
  
It is anticipated that the TC will meet via teleconference monthly, on
a schedule and at a time determined by the TC members during the TC's first
meeting.  NIST and the other proposers are willing to sponsor conference
bridge facilities for meetings of the TC.
  
Proposers of the TC
  
The following eligible individuals are in support of this proposal:
  
Mark Carlisle, NIST, mark.carlisle@nist.gov
David Connelly, Open Applications Group, dconnelly@openapplications.org
Bob Dragoset, NIST, robert.dragoset@nist.gov
Simon Frechette, NIST, simon.frechette@nist.gov
Tom Hendrix, Boeing, thomas.e.hendrix@boeing.com
Keith Hunten, Lockheed Martin, keith.a.hunten@lmco.com
Peter Linstorm, NIST, peter.linstrom@nist.gov
Gary Kramer, NIST, gary.kramer@nist.gov
  
TC Convener
  
The TC Convener will be Simon Frechette, NIST, simon.frechette@nist.gov
  
Proposed Chair(s)
  
Simon Frechette, NIST, simon.frechette@nist.gov

----
~ James Bryce Clark
~ DIrector of Standards Development, OASIS
~ jamie.clark@oasis-open.org




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