(units.info.gz) Interactive use

 
 Interacting with `units'
 ************************
 
    To invoke units for interactive use, type `units' at your shell
 prompt.  The program will print something like this:
 
          2131 units, 53 prefixes, 24 nonlinear units
      
          You have:
 
 At the `You have:' prompt, type the quantity and units that you are
 converting _from_.  For example, if you want to convert ten meters to
 feet, type `10 meters'.  Next, `units' will print `You want:'.  You
 should type the type of units you want to convert _to_.  To convert to
 feet, you would type `feet'.
 
    The answer will be displayed in two ways.  The first line of output,
 which is marked with a `*' to indicate multiplication, gives the result
 of the conversion you have asked for.  The second line of output, which
 is marked with a `/' to indicate division, gives the inverse of the
 conversion factor.  If you convert 10 meters to feet, `units' will print
 
              * 32.808399
              / 0.03048
 
 which tells you that 10 meters equals about 32.8 feet.  The second
 number gives the conversion in the opposite direction.  In this case,
 it tells you that 1 foot is equal to about 0.03 dekameters since the
 dekameter is 10 meters.  It also tells you that 1/32.8 is about .03.
 
    The `units' program prints the inverse because sometimes it is a
 more convenient number.  In the example above, for example, the inverse
 value is an exact conversion: a foot is exactly .03048 dekameters.  But
 the number given the other direction is inexact.
 
    If you try to convert grains to pounds, you will see the following:
 
          You have: grains
          You want: pounds
                  * 0.00014285714
                  / 7000
 
 From the second line of the output you can immediately see that a grain
 is equal to a seven thousandth of a pound.  This is not so obvious from
 the first line of the output.  If you find  the output format
 confusing, try using the `--verbose' option:
 
          You have: grain
          You want: aeginamina
                  grain = 0.00010416667 aeginamina
                  grain = (1 / 9600) aeginamina
 
    If you request a conversion between units which measure reciprocal
 dimensions, then `units' will display the conversion results with an
 extra note indicating that reciprocal conversion has been done:
 
          You have: 6 ohms
          You want: siemens
                  reciprocal conversion
                  * 0.16666667
                  / 6
 
    Reciprocal conversion can be suppressed by using the `--strict'
 option.  As usual, use the `--verbose' option to get more
 comprehensible output:
 
          You have: tex
          You want: typp
                  reciprocal conversion
                  1 / tex = 496.05465 typp
                  1 / tex = (1 / 0.0020159069) typp
      
          You have: 20 mph
          You want: sec/mile
                  reciprocal conversion
                  1 / 20 mph = 180 sec/mile
                  1 / 20 mph = (1 / 0.0055555556) sec/mile
 
    If you enter incompatible unit types, the `units' program will print
 a message indicating that the units are not conformable and it will
 display the reduced form for each unit:
 
          You have: ergs/hour
          You want: fathoms kg^2 / day
          conformability error
                  2.7777778e-11 kg m^2 / sec^3
                  2.1166667e-05 kg^2 m / sec
 
    If you only want to find the reduced form or definition of a unit,
 simply press return at the `You want:' prompt.  Here is an example:
 
          You have: jansky
          You want:
                  Definition: fluxunit = 1e-26 W/m^2 Hz = 1e-26 kg / s^2
 
 The output from `units' indicates that the jansky is defined to be
 equal to a fluxunit which in turn is defined to be a certain combination
 of watts, meters, and hertz.  The fully reduced (and in this case
 somewhat more cryptic) form appears on the far right.
 
    If you want a list of options you can type `?' at the `You want:'
 prompt.  The program will display a list of named units which are
 conformable with the unit that you entered at the `You have:' prompt
 above.  Note that conformable unit combinations will not appear on this
 list.
 
    Typing `help' at either prompt displays a short help message.  You
 can also type `help' followed by a unit name.  This will invoke a pager
 on the units data base at the point where that unit is defined.  You
 can read the definition and comments that may give more details or
 historical information about the unit.
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