UNITS(7) UNITS(7)
NAME
units - conversion program
SYNOPSIS
units
DESCRIPTION
Units converts quantities expressed in various standard
scales to their equivalents in other scales. It works
interactively in this fashion:
You have: inch
You want: cm
* 2.54
/ 0.393701
Quantities are specified using the following grammar:
Empty | Unit Term | Unit / Term
Number | Name | ( Unit ) |
square Term | sq Term | cube Term | cu Term |
Term ^ Number
Numbers are specified in the form expected by atof(3). Names
are maximal strings of non-numeric, non-punctuation charac-
ters. Powers are indicated by the `^' operator or by the
words `square' (`sq') and `cube' (`cu'). Parentheses alter
grouping. The empty unit has value 1. Terms are multiplied
together unless connected by `/' for inversion, e.g. `15
pounds force/sq in'.
Most familiar units, abbreviations, and metric prefixes are
recognized, together with a generous leavening of exotica
and a few constants of nature including:
pi ratio of circumference to diameter
c speed of light
e charge on an electron
g acceleration of gravity
force same as g
mole Avogadro's number
water pressure head per unit height of water
au astronomical unit
The `pound' is a unit of mass. Compound names are run
together, e.g. `lightyear'. British units that differ from
their US counterparts are prefixed thus: `brgallon'.
UNITS(7) UNITS(7)
Currency is denoted `belgiumfranc', `britainpound', etc.
A response of `?' to `You want:' displays all known units
conformable with the `You have:' quantity.
The complete list of units can be found in and
FILES
BUGS
Since units does only multiplicative scale changes, it can
convert Kelvin to Rankine, but not Centigrade to Fahrenheit.
Currency conversions are only as accurate as the most recent
report of foreign exchange prices from the AP wire.