[NTG-context] Re: \inch not doing the expected thing (what I expect, anyway).

[Keith McKay <mckaymeister@gmail.com>]

In last night's ConTeXt meeting there was a discussion on the use of 
vertical or slanted double primes for inches. The general consensus was 
that slanted should be used.

  I had a look in my copy of The Elements of Typographic Style version 
3.0 by Richard Bringhurst and he says (page 307]:

"Double Prime. An abbreviation for inches (1" =2.54 cm) and for seconds 
of arc (360" = 1 degree). Not to be confused with quotation marks, the 
double acute, nor with dumb quotes. Prime and double prime are rarely 
found on text fonts. See also prime. [U+2033]"

Similarly for prime he says (page 316):

"Prime. An abbreviation for feet (1' = 12") and for minutes of arc (60' 
= 1 degree). Singe and double primes should not be confused with 
apostrophes, dumb quotes or genuine quotation marks, though in some 
faces (frakturs especially) these glyphs may all have a similar shape 
and a pleasant slope. See also apostrophes, double prime, dumb quotes 
and quotation marks. [U+2032]"

Hope this clarifies things.

Best Wishes

Keith McKay

On 13/11/2024 14:09, Hans Hagen via ntg-context wrote:
> On 11/13/2024 11:03 AM, Marco Patzer wrote:
>> On Mon, 11 Nov 2024 21:30:15 +0100
>> Wolfgang Schuster <wolfgang.schuster.lists@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> \unit{2 arcsecond}
>>
>> Arcseconds might print the correct glyph, but would be semantically
>> wrong. I believe the correct approach would be:
>>
>>    \unit{2 inch}
>>
>> The question then remains how to configure \unit{2 inch} to produce
>> (depending on the requirements):
>>
>>    2 in   or
>>    2"
>
> After 25 hours of discussion and 18 attempts the math team (whoever 
> that is) has decided that this is good enough:
>
> \permanent\protected\def\fakeminute
>   {\dontleavehmode
>    \begingroup
>    \doifelseitalic
>      {\scratchwidth\fontcharwd\font\singlequoteasciicode
>       \hpack \s!to 1.2\scratchwidth \bgroup
>         \glyphslant\plustwohundred
>         \glyph \s!xoffset -0.6\scratchwidth\singlequoteasciicode
>       \egroup}%
>      {\scratchwidth\fontcharwd\font\singlequoteasciicode
>       \hpack \s!to 1.1\scratchwidth \bgroup
>          \glyphslant\plusfivehundred
>         \glyph \s!xoffset -\scratchwidth\singlequoteasciicode
>       \egroup}%
>    \endgroup}
>
> \permanent\protected\def\fakesecond
>   {\dontleavehmode
>    \begingroup
>    \doifelseitalic
>      {\scratchwidth\fontcharwd\font\singlequoteasciicode
>       \hpack \s!to 1.7\scratchwidth \bgroup
>         \glyphslant\plustwohundred
>         \glyph \s!xoffset -0.6\scratchwidth\singlequoteasciicode
>         \glyph \s!xoffset -1.1\scratchwidth\singlequoteasciicode
>       \egroup}%
>      {\scratchwidth\fontcharwd\font\singlequoteasciicode
>       \hpack \s!to 1.6\scratchwidth \bgroup
>         \glyphslant\plusfivehundred
>         \glyph \s!xoffset    -\scratchwidth\singlequoteasciicode
>         \glyph \s!xoffset -1.5\scratchwidth\singlequoteasciicode
>       \egroup}%
>    \endgroup}
>
>
> \permanent\protected\def\minute{\iffontchar\font\textminute\textminute\else\fakeminute\fi} 
>
> \permanent\protected\def\second{\iffontchar\font\textsecond\textsecond\else\fakesecond\fi} 
>
>
> \aliased\let\inch\second
>
>
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