Re: [NTG-context] new units

[Alan Braslau via ntg-context <ntg-context@ntg.nl>]

The whole point of the so-called "imperial" units is to be based on
fractions, not decimal. May I suggest that we use \sqrt2 as the basis
of our fractions, so as to push the limits of calculation and precision
(that are handled well in the new lmtx engine).

Also, on this day of coronation, post-Brexit, I believe that the ConTeXt
community should get behind the promotion of obscure Imperial units,
relegating the metric system to scientists who have no choice but to
adhere to the Système International.

Alan (who could not participate in the discussions of the committee of
four)


On Thu, 4 May 2023 10:01:25 +0200
Hans Hagen via ntg-context <ntg-context@ntg.nl> wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> We now officially have three new units. These were officially
> introducd at the 2023 BachoTeX meeting in a presentation where the
> chair of the four person strong team also did the final live
> callibration (using the edithorial callibration instrument made for
> that purpose). An upcoming article in TB will explain the details of
> the process and also a careful mathematical annalysis of how we
> reached the right value with a high precission. The actual
> implementation is the most boring part.
> 
> \starttext
> 
> \startTEXpage[offset=1ts]
>      Hello World!
> 
>      \the\dimexpr 1ts
> 
>      \the\dimexpr 1es
> 
>      \the\dimexpr 1eu
> 
>      \eufactor20
> 
>      \the\dimexpr 1eu
> \stopTEXpage
> 
> \stoptext
> 
> The es (Edith) unit replaces the inch, and the ts (Tove) is one
> tenths of than (just like we have cm and mm). The eu (European Unit)
> is an adaptive one that defaults to 10 ts == 1es and can be
> multiplied by setting the \eufactor (default 10) which makes it
> possible to define layouts that easilly scale to different output
> media (important for the mobile phone / table generation).
> 
> This means that MWE that use inches will likely no longer be
> considered valid and probably will be dealt with slower (or just
> ignored).
> 
> These units can be used in the current upload. In a next upload the
> "19 feet max" message that tex issues when reaching a maximum will be 
> adapted to a more realistic variant. (Actually, because tex has no
> foot unit, we could as well replace that with a more impressive
> little feet unit but we forgot to measure the smallest foot present
> which i guess was about 3 es so the limit is then some 75 bare
> theodores.)
> 
> Hans

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