Re: [office-formula] RE: Unit Prefixes in CONVERT

[Eike Rathke <erack@sun.com>]

Hi Dennis,

On Friday, 2010-04-09 08:29:25 -0700, Dennis E. Hamilton wrote:

> If cells are not retained as dimensionless values we have a real problem
> with what formula =1.0 for the cell delivers to a subsequent
> CONVERT(n;from;to).  Perhaps, in that case, we would need something like
> CONVERT(N;;"km") which works if N is a dimensioned distance value and fails
> if it isn't?  

There are no dimensioned cell values, there are numbers, numeric values.
Period.

> This ambiguity calls for a JIRA issue.  It is OFFICE-2629

There is no ambiguity.

And what exactly in
"Units (including both the unit symbol and the optional unit prefix) are
case-sensitive."
is misleading and causes you to say
"2. Specify whether the unit symbols are case-sensitive or not."?

How does
"A unit is a unit symbol, optionally preceded by a unit prefix"
lead you to
"3. Be clear that the prefixes apply to the unit symbols and nothing
else."?

What else could a prefix be applied to?


> Of course, there is limited capability of explicit unit tracking.  For
> example, in
> 
>    CONVERT(N;[A17];"km") where it happens that the value of [A17] is the
> text given by formula ="nly".

So what? CONVERT's 2nd parameter is "nly" then.

  Eike

-- 
Automatic string conversions considered dangerous. They are the GOTO statements
of spreadsheets.  --Robert Weir on the OpenDocument formula subcommittee's list.

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