Re: [office] Fw: [members] OASIS TC Call for Participation: OASISUnitsML TC

[Patrick Durusau <patrick@durusau.net>]

Rob,

Not such a crazy idea.

In bioinformatics, where speadsheets are used a good bit, there is a 
known problem where gene identifiers, which can be mistaken by some 
spreadsheet software (no names please!) for scientific notation. The 
result is a one-way conversion with no way to recover the identifier.

If we do the metadata work properly, either styles or other mechanisms 
could give users the ability to do exactly what you suggest.

Hope you are having a great day!

Patrick

robert_weir@us.ibm.com wrote:

>
> 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
>
> 	
> To
> 	members@lists.oasis-open.org, tc-announce@lists.oasis-open.org
> 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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-- 
Patrick Durusau
Patrick@Durusau.net
Chair, V1 - Text Processing: Office and Publishing Systems Interface
Co-Editor, ISO 13250, Topic Maps -- Reference Model
Member, Text Encoding Initiative Board of Directors, 2003-2005

Topic Maps: Human, not artificial, intelligence at work!