[uf-new] Measurement brainstorming (was: Measure & currency)

[Andy Mabbett]

In message <zfQWeoHa3R$GFwt8 at pigsonthewing.org.uk>, Andy Mabbett
<andy at pigsonthewing.org.uk> writes

>At its simplest form, measure can be:
>
>        <span class="hmeasure">
>          <span class="quantity">[number]</span>
>          <span class="unit">[SI unit]</span>
>        </span>


Taylor Cowan's eelgant sugegstion in the Currency discussion:

  <http://microformats.org/discuss/mail/microformats-new/2007-September/000915.html>

talkes the form:

        <abbr class="currency" title="USD100">one hundred bucks</abbr>

abbr-accessibility issues notwithstanding, I think we can apply that to
measurements, also:

        <span class="hmeasure">
          3kg
        </span>

        <abbr class="hmeasure" title="3kg">
          three kilos
        </abbr>

        <abbr class="hmeasure" title="0.458kg">
          458g
        </abbr>

        <abbr class="hmeasure" title="25kg-m-3">
        25 kg/m<sup>3</sup>
        </abbr>

        <abbr class="hmeasure" title="8N-s">
        8 N.s
        </abbr>

We would, though, have to be careful about precision. Does "two and half
kilos" in prose really mean 2.5Kg? Or does it mean "an amount roughly
mid-way between two and three kilograms"?


To assist publishers and reduce conversion errors, we could also allow:

        <span class="hmeasure">
          458g
        </span>

since, while grams may not be SI base units, they do have official
status, unambiguous meaning and a defined symbol.


This would also allow for imperial and other non-metric systems, to be
marked up. For example:

        <abbr class="hmeasure" title="635mm">
          2' 1"
        </abbr>

(2' 1" is "two feet one inch").


How else might we express measurements which use slashes and
superscript?


-- 
Andy Mabbett