[uf-discuss] Re: Currency + Unit of measurement (Was: Currency+Product)

[Guillaume Lebleu]

Here are some additional examples  from the Web of currency mixed with 
measures, some of which differ from the "$__ per barrel" pattern and a 
suggested new conceptualization that seems to work with them.

http://microformats.org/wiki/currency-examples#Real-World_Examples

Here is another suggested conceptualization that seems to match what's 
on the Web:

$ is not a unit, $ is a currency. "Dollar" "Cent" are the units of the 
"USD" currency. Just like length is not a unit, but meter and foot are.

Currency measures have a default unit (for USD, it's the dollar), that 
is sometimes omitted in the representation of currency amounts.

*Example 1*

So "$25 per barrel" is really "$25 dollar per barrel", but a computer 
can figure this out from:

<span class="price"><abbr class="currency" title="USD">$</abbr><span 
class="value">25</span> <span class="unitdivider">per</span> <span 
class="unit" title="BLL">barrel</span></span></span>

BLL is the UNECE code for barrel. See 
http://microformats.org/wiki/measure-formats#UNECE

*Example 2*

"25 (USD per barrel)" is really "25 $ dollar per barrel", "$" is the 
currency, "dollar per barrel" is the unit but a computer can figure this 
out from:

<span class="price">25 (<abbr class="currency" title="USD">USD</abbr> 
<span class="unitdivider">per</span> <span class="unit" 
title="BLL">barrel</span>)</span>

*Example 3*

Similarly in "$150K per year" the currency is "$" but the "unit is 
thousands of dollars per year", but the computer can figure it out from:

<span class="salary"><abbr class="currency" title="USD">$</abbr>150<abbr 
class="unitmultiple" title="1000">K</abbr> <span 
class="unitdivider">per</span> <span class="unit" 
title="ANN">year</span></span></span>

ANN is the UNECE code for year. See 
http://microformats.org/wiki/measure-formats#UNECE


Let me know what you think. I'll put this on the wiki later.

Guillaume