Re: [unitsml] UnitsML: List of pre-defined units

["Peter J. Linstrom" <peter.linstrom@nist.gov>]

Dear Tim King,

    I understand your concern and should probably
have made clear a few points for those that have
not been regularly attending the teleconferences.
Let me point out a few things which I hope will
address your concerns.

1.) NIST Special Publication 811 (SP 811) has two
    functions: it is the U.S. English translation
    of documentation of the SI and it includes
    conversions for customary units which are tied
    the SI. The SI is established by the Bureau
    International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) and
    the affiliated Conférence Générale des Poids
    et Mesures (CGPM). The later is established by
    the Convention du Mètre, an international treaty
    dating to the late 1800s. SP 811 refers to the
    untranslated documents, making it clear that these
    are international standards. In any case it
    probably would make sense to make clear in the
    UnitsML documentation that with respect to the
    SI SP 811 is a translation of BIPM and CGPM
    documents.

2.) There are a are number of so-called "customary"
    units which are used in the U.S. and a few other
    countries. These units are not part of the SI
    and are not acceptable for use with the SI. The
    vast majority of them, however, are now tied
    to the SI by fixed conversion factors. In my
    message I raised the question of how best to
    cite the source of these units (or more precisely
    the conversions of them to the SI). Any input
    on this matter would be appreciated.

3.) The list I circulated on Wednesday is a list
    of units to be pre-defined in the UnitsML
    schema. Since it is part of the schema, the
    text in it shouldn't be visible to end users
    of UnitsML. The Schema is in U.S. English,
    so we are using U.S. English in this document.
    This in no way indicates, for example, that
    the SI unit of length should be spelled
    "meter" in practical applications. "Meter" is
    used simply because the UnitsML documentation
    is in U.S. English. The current draft of
    UnitsML supports multiple languages, so one
    could readily define a unit with, for example,
    different spellings in U.K. and U.S. English.

Peter Linstrom

======================================================
Peter J. Linstrom
NIST, Chemical and Biochemical Reference Data Division
Phone: (301) 975-5422
======================================================


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tim King" <tmk@lsc.co.uk>
To: "Peter J. Linstrom" <peter.linstrom@nist.gov>; 
<unitsml@lists.oasis-open.org>
Cc: <Robin.Barker@npl.co.uk>
Sent: Thursday, November 27, 2008 3:06 AM
Subject: RE: [unitsml] UnitsML: List of pre-defined units


Dear All,

I have paid little attention to the details of UnitsML for a while, so I
apologize for perhaps raking over old ground.  However, I am surprised
at the US flavour to the distributed documents (spelling, references to
NIST rather than ISO documents - or perhaps NIST has an international
role here that I have missed).  I had always thought of OASIS as being
an international organization.

With best wishes,
Tim.

-----Original Message-----
From: Peter J. Linstrom [mailto:peter.linstrom@nist.gov]
Sent: 26 November 2008 22:44
To: unitsml@lists.oasis-open.org
Cc: Robin.Barker@npl.co.uk
Subject: [unitsml] UnitsML: List of pre-defined units

All,

   This message is intended to be part of asynchronous November meeting
of the UnitsML TC.

   During the teleconference portion of the meeting, it was noted that
additional documentation would be needed for pre-defined units in
UnitsML. I have started generating such documentation in the attached
spreadsheets. The spreadsheets, which are identical except for format,
contain the current list of pre-defined units and, where appropriate,
descriptions of the unit.
The spreadsheet is provided in open document and proprietary formats.

   I have not yet filled in many of the sources for unit definitions.
This is in part because for many customary units one can choose between
NIST SP 811 and the U.S. Conference on Weights and Measures'
General Tables of Units of Measurement. I think the latter may be a
better choice (since these units are far more likely to be used in
commerce rather than in science). It probably does not matter much since
in either case the conversions to the SI should come out the same.

Peter

======================================================
Peter J. Linstrom
NIST, Chemical and Biochemical Reference Data Division
Phone: (301) 975-5422
======================================================



----- Original Message -----
From: <carlisle@nist.gov>
To: <unitsml@lists.oasis-open.org>
Cc: <Robin.Barker@npl.co.uk>
Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 10:48 AM
Subject: [unitsml] Groups - Teleconference Minutes for Nov 12-26, 2008,
Meeting (telecon20081112.pdf) uploaded


> Audio of this teleconference is available at:
> http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/30055/20081112_8kbps
> .wma
>
>
> This meeting will continue asynchronously until Wednesday, November
> 26, 2008, at 5:00 pm EST.
>
> -- Mr. Mark Carlisle
>
> The document named Teleconference Minutes for Nov 12-26, 2008, Meeting
> (telecon20081112.pdf) has been submitted by Mr. Mark Carlisle to the
> OASIS UnitsML TC document repository.
>
> Document Description:
> Audio of this teleconference is available at:
> http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/30055/20081112_8kbps
> .wma
>
> This meeting will continue asynchronously until Wednesday, November
> 26, 2008, at 5:00 pm EST.
>
> View Document Details:
> http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/document.php?document_id=30071
>
> Download Document:
> http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/30071/telecon2008111
> 2.pdf
>
>
> PLEASE NOTE:  If the above links do not work for you, your email
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> to copy and paste the entire link address into the address field of
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>
> -OASIS Open Administration
>
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