 Metrology Help Index

How To Use Metrology.

Overview

Window Layout - General

Category Window

Units Windows

Value Windows

Numerical Input

Database

Notes on Database

Common SI Prefixes and Names

Commands

File menu

Utility menu

Format menu

View menu

Help menu


Overview

Metrology allows you to convert values between different units.  The program is very simple to use.  Choose a category from the Category list box, such as Length, Area, Volume, etc., select units from those available in the two Units list boxes, then input a value in the Value text box and click the Equal button.  The value of the conversion is displayed in the other Value text box.  The arrow determines whether the calculation proceeds from left to right or from right to left.  For some categories button bars on the left and right side of the window are available for commonly used units.

Search:  Because of the large size of the database a search routine is implemented that allows the user to search through units and comments for occurrences of a user-input series of characters.

Data Information:  Citations are available for all of the data items, along with the precision of that item as stored in the database.  The user is therefore able to know what sort of precision is available from a particular calculation.


Category List Box:

The drop down list box where a category can be selected.


Units List Box

Drop down list boxes where the user can choose two separate units belonging to the same category.


Value Input Box

Two boxes which display values corresponding to the units that have been selected.  A value is typed in one box and the calculated result is displayed in the other value box.


Calculation control.
Arrow:

The arrow controls the direction of the calculation.  When the arrow points to the right the value on the left is held and new values are calculated and displayed on the right.  When the arrow points left, the value on the right is held and new values are calculated and displayed on the left.  To change the direction of the arrow, click on it with the left mouse button.


Equal Button

The button between the two units input boxes that is used to calculate the conversion result.


Window Layout:

There are two sets of Units selection boxes and Value input boxes separated by an equivalency ( = ) button.  The value of units on one side of the = sign will determine the value of the units on the other side.  Input your known value at the tail of the arrow and the result will be displayed at the arrow head.


Selecting categories
Category Window:

Use this window to select from the available categories.  A category is a grouping of like units.  For example, feet, meters, yards and nautical miles would all be found in the length Category, while pounds and kilograms would be in the Mass category.  The currently selected category limits the choice of units that are displayed in the units window.  Only those units that have acceptable conversions will be available.  If you are not sure where to find a particular unit, use the search function in the Utilities menu.


Category:

A category is a grouping of like units.  For example, feet, meters, yards and nautical miles would all be found in the length Category, while pounds and kilograms would be in the Mass category.


selecting units
Units Windows:

These two windows are drop down list boxes.  Use these windows to select the "convert from" and "convert to" units.  Only common units forming a particular category will be available.  For example, feet and meters would be available, but feet and square feet would not, as they are different units having no (at least for this purpose) conversion between them.  If Auto Calc is on and a value exists in the value window at the tail of the arrow, selecting new units will automatically cause a new calculated value to appear in the opposite value window.


Units:

A unit is a standard physical quantity or a standard of measurement in a particular measurement system.  For example, feet, meters, square feet, pounds, seconds, horsepower, watts, etc. are units.  However, although feet and meters are both measurements of length, they are in different systems (same Category).  The conversion between them forms the rationale for this program.


Drop Down List Box:

Click on the "down arrow" at the right side of the list box and the box will expand providing a list of choices.  Single clicking with the left mouse button on any line will move that line to the visible part of the window and make it the current choice.


entering values
Value Windows:

The two value windows accept numerical input from the user.  Typically the user types a value in one window and clicks the Equal button.  A new value for the other value window is calculated based on the value input by the user and the two currently selected units.  Numbers may be input in several different formats such as decimal, scientific, fractions and degrees-minutes-seconds.


number formats
Number Formats:

Numbers can be input as decimals or as fractions, and results can be displayed as decimals or as fractions.  The user can choose between fixed or scientific notation output, and the displayed precision can be selected.  When the category is "Angles" (or "Time" for hrs. min. sec.) values can be input as decimal or as degrees-minutes-seconds.  The user can also choose to have long numbers separated by thousands commas.


notes on database
Database Notes:

The database contains a large number of unit values and notes or comments on these units.  The units are collected into Categories which hold common units.  Many of the units are ancient and some of the values may not be known precisely.  Often, certain units varied locally; and their actual values were different at different locations or times.  When a range of values exists for a particular unit this range is listed in the comments window, for example: {34}-56.  The value enclosed by curly braces is the value used by the program for conversion.

Density - Substances:  The density menu lists substances in addition to the conventional units.  These substances are listed so that information regarding the substance specific gravity and the density value can be calculated.  The density of a particular substance can be calculated by selecting the substance in the left units window and selecting the required mass-volume units in the right window.  With the calculation arrow pointing right, a value of 1 in the left value window will calculate the unit density in the right value window.  For example, if Water is the substance and the units on the right are pounds/foot^3 (pounds per cubic foot), a 1 in the left value window will give a result of 62.4 pounds/foot^3 in the right value window.  If a value of 2 in the left value window is used, the displayed result would be 124.8.  This means "2 cubic feet of water weigh 124.8 pounds".  Conversions between any two substances will yield meaningless results.  Although given sufficient energy it is possible to convert snow to water, conversions from other units such as from lead to gold are at present beyond the capabilities of this program (perhaps in a later release).  The results from such a conversion yield the relative densities between the selected units.


common SI prefixes and names
Common SI prefixes and names:

Factor	Prefix	Symbol	Meaning
10^12	tera	T	One trillion times
10^9	giga	G	One billion times
10^6	mega	M	One million times
10^3	kilo	k	One thousand times
10^2	hecto	h	One hundred times
10	deca	da	Ten times
10^-1	deci	d	One tenth of
10^-2	centi	c	One hundredth of
10^-3	milli	m	One thousandth of
10^-6	micro	mu	One millionth of
10^-9	nano	n	One billionth of
10^-12	pico	p	One trillionth of
10^-15	femto	f	One quadrillionth of
10^-18	atto	a	One quintillionth of

Click for a description of scientific notation.


File menu commands

The File menu offers the following commands:

Info	Reference to data source and number of significant digits.
Print	Prints the log of conversion results.
Exit	Exits Metrology.


Utility menu commands

The utility menu offers the followind commands:

Copy	Copies data to the clipboard.
Copy Format	Selects the type of information to be copied to the clipboard.
Search	Searches the database for a user-input series of characters.
Log Results	Log conversion results.
Auto Calc	Automatically calculate values when new units are selected.


Format menu commands

The Format menu offers the following commands:

Number	Sets the number of decimal places and fixed or scientific notation.
Fraction	Sets the round off precision for fractions
Fixed Notation	Toggle between fixed and scientific notation.


View menu commands

The View menu offers the following commands:

Toolbar	Shows or hides the toolbar.
Status Bar	Shows or hides the status bar.
Left Button Bar	Shows or hides the left button bar.
Right Button Bar	Shows or hides the right button bar.
Result Log	Displays a log of conversion results


Help menu commands

The Help menu offers the following commands, which provide you assistance with this application:

Index	Offers you an index to topics on which you can get help.
Using Help	Provides general instructions on using help.
About	Displays the version number of this application.


Information on data source & significant digits
Info command (File menu)

Two separate items of information are displayed:

Source:  Use this command to display the source of the data (citation) for particular units.

Significant digits:  The number of significant digits of the units item that are available in the database is also displayed.  The number of significant digits can give the user some idea of the accuracy to which a certain value is known.  For example, many of the ancient units have only a few significant digits, reflecting a relatively high uncertainty in the known value.  For metric units in particular, the number of significant digits is meaningless because these items are stored in the database as orders of magnitude, i.e., 1e10 or 1e15.  In this case, the displayed significant digits would only be 1, but the available precision would be limited only by the conversion value input by the user.


printing the results log.
Print command (File menu)

Prints the log of conversion results.  The entire log is printed.  To print selected items use the print command on the Result Log (View menu).  In order to accumulate conversion results, the Log Results menu item (Utility menu) must be checked.


File Exit command
Exit command (File menu)

Use this command to end your Metrology session.  You can also use the Close command on the application Control menu.

Shortcuts

Mouse:	Double-click the application's Control menu button.

Keys:	ALT+F4


Utility Copy command
Copy command (Utility menu)

Use this command to copy selected data onto the clipboard.  The format of the information that is copied to the clipboard is selected using the Copy Format command (Edit menu).  Copying data to the clipboard replaces the contents previously stored there.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keys:	CTRL+C


set format for copy to clipboard
Copy Format command (Utility menu)

Use this command to set the format for copying data to the clipboard.

Three selections are available:

Formatted Output:  Copies a formatted string with the unit names and values.  Ex. 1 Foot = 12 Inches.

Left Value Only:  Copies only the value from the left value box.  The name of the units is not copied.  Use this selection if you are only interested in inserting the numerical value into your document.

Right Value Only:  Same as Left Value Only, but copies from the right value box.


searching the database
Search command (Utility menu)

Use this command to search through the database for a user-input series of characters.  Double clicking on a line in the search results list box will call up those units in the Metrology main window.

The Search Dialog contains several elements defined as follows:

Update: Left Right:  This selection specifies which side of the Metrology main window is updated when the user double clicks an item in the list of found items.

Collapse Window:  Reduces the size of the window to display only the list of found items.  Clicking on this button a second time will restore the normal window.

Categories to Search:  The categories of units contained in the database are displayed in this list box.  You may choose to search through all categories or through a single category.  For example the unit "Meter" occurs in the categories "Length", "Area" (sq. meter) and "Volume" (cu. meter).  If you are only interested in finding occurrences of Meter in the Volume category, you can narrow the search by clicking on "Volume" in the list box.

Search:  You may elect to search through Units only, Comments only or Both.  For example, if you are interested in finding all occurrences of the unit "Cubit" you would select "Units".  If you want to find all of the units, whatever they are, that are particular to Greece, you could search through comments using "GREECE" as a search string.  If you were interested in finding all references to "Gills" you would search both units and Comments.  In this case  you would find in a comment on the unit "Pint" that in Great Britain a pint contains 4 Gills.

Search For:  This is where you input a series of characters (search string) to search for.  Searches are not case sensitive.  Because of the large size of the database short search strings such as "SE" can produce a large number of results, especially when searching through comments (Se is a Japanese measure of area ).

Search Button:  Clicking on this button initiates the search.  By changing the search string and clicking search again, search results will accumulate in the result list box.

Clear:  Clicking on this button clears the results from the result list box.

Done:  Closes the search dialog and returns to the main window.

Search Results List Box:  This is where the results of the search are displayed.  If more items were found than can be displayed, use the scroll bars to move through the list.  Double clicking on any line will call up the data in the Metrology main window where it can be used for calculation.  If the update will cause the current category to be changed, the user will be notified before the update is made.  If auto calc is on the update will cause a new result to be calculated.

Number of Items Found:  The total number of found items is displayed in the window heading.


keeping a log of conversion results
Log Results (Utility menu)

When this item is checked a log of all conversion results is kept.  Clicking on this menu item will alternately check and uncheck it.  Items in the log are preserved even when the menu item is de-selected so that re-checking Log Results will cause new conversions to be added to the existing log results.  The log results list may be cleared in the Result Log dialog (View menu).


setting auto calc
Auto Calc (Utility menu)

When this item is checked conversion results will be calculated automatically whenever a new units item is selected, or when a search result is double clicked.  New results are always displayed in the Value Window at the head of the arrow.


Format Number command
Number Format command (Format menu)

Use this command to select the number of digits displayed after the decimal point and whether to use Fixed or Scientific notation.  The number of decimal places operates in both fixed and scientific notation.  The user can also select the display of commas as thousands separators, making large numbers easier to read.


Scientific notation
Scientific Notation:

Scientific notation is a way of representing a number by multiplying that number by some power of 10.  It is particularly useful when working with very large or very small numbers.  For example the mean total solar radiation is on the order of 3.92 x 10^26  watts or 392,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 watts.  Clearly, the first expression, using scientific notation, is more manageable.  Another example: the equatorial radius of the earth is 6,378,000 meters, which in scientific notation would be 6.378 x 10^6 meters.  This is calculated as follows: 1 x 10^6  = 1,000,000 (1 followed by 6 zeros, or 1.000000 with the decimal place moved 6 places to the right.), so 6.378 x 10^6  = 6,378,000.  Similarly, the number for the density of dry air at standard temperature and pressure is 0.002458 slug per cubic ft.  In scientific notation this number would be 2.2458 x 10^-3 or 1 x 10^-3 x 2.2458 ( 1.0 with the decimal place moved three places to the left: 0.001 ).

To convert a number from scientific to fixed notation, simply move the decimal place the number of places indicated by the exponent in the direction indicated by the sign: right if the sign is positive and left if negative.  To convert from fixed to scientific notation move the decimal place so that only 1 digit remains to the left of the decimal place.  The exponent is the number of places that the decimal place was moved.  If it was moved right the sign is negative, if left then positive.


Formatting fractions
Format Fraction (Format menu)

Use this command to select the round off precision of fractions, specify a fixed denominator or let the program calculate a denominator.   Decimal or fractional output can also be selected.

Select Fractional Precision:  The fractional precision is selectable from 1/4 to 1/256 or from 1/3 to 1/6.  Calculated values are rounded off to the nearest fraction based on the current selection.  For example, if 1/8 is the currently selected precision and a conversion results in the value 0.21, the displayed result would be 1/4 (Because: 1/8 = 0.125 and 1/4 = 0.250 and 0.21 is closest to 0.25 or 1/4).

X/Y:  This selection allows the program to calculate the fraction's denominator.  The nearest denominator is calculated using the specified precision.  The value of "Precision" can be any integer between 10 and 1,000,000.  This value determines largest magnitude of the denominator.  The denominator is rounded off to the nearest integer value of "Precision".  The larger the values (high precision), the longer it will take the program to calculate the fraction.

X/{ }:  This selection allows the user to specify a specific value for the denominator.  Any integer between 1 and 10,000 may be used.

Output Decimal or Fraction:  Selecting the Fraction button displays results formatted as fractions and selecting decimal displays results as decimals  The displayed result is rounded off according the Fractional Precision selection.  With few exceptions (such as degrees minutes seconds etc.) values can be input as either decimal or fractional.  This command does not effect input.  The program is able to determine whether decimals or fractions are input

Input:  To input values as fractions use the forward slash to separate the numerator and denominator.  For example: 0.25 would be input as 1/4.  Integers and fractions may also be input.  The integer and fractional portion must be separated by a single space.  For example: 367.75 would be input as 367 3/4.  Mixed units may not be input.  For example if feet were the current units selection, 12 feet 1/2 inch cannot be represented by 12 1/2 as this would be interpreted as 12 and one half feet.


Fixed Notation (Format Menu)

Use this command to toggle between Fixed or Scientific notation.


Entering degrees-minutes-seconds and decimals
Angle Format:

When the current category is Angles, and the current units are DDD MM SS angles may be input degrees, minutes and seconds.  The format is DDD MM SS where a single space separates each number field .  If the value of a number field is zero the number of characters in that field can be reduced to a single digit.  For example the angle 00 00 29 ( 0 degrees, 0 minutes, 29 seconds ) can be typed 0 0 29.  For output values to be displayed in Degrees, Minutes and seconds select the output category "DDD MM SS".  To convert from Degrees, Minutes and seconds to decimal degrees, or vice versa, choose DDD MM SS on one side and Decimal Degrees on the other.


sexagesimal system
Angular measurement:

Angles have commonly been measured in the sexagesimal system which had its origins in ancient Babylonia.  This system uses as its base the number 60.  Common examples in everyday use are time, measured in hours, minutes (60/hr.) and seconds (60/minute); and angles measured as degrees (360/full circle), minutes (60/degree) and seconds (60/minute).


Toolbar commands
Toolbar command (View menu)

Use this command to display and hide the Toolbar, which includes buttons for some of the most common commands in Metrology, such as File Open.  A check mark appears next to the menu item when the Toolbar is displayed.

See Toolbar for help on using the toolbar.


Toolbar

The toolbar is displayed across the top of the application window, below the menu bar.  The toolbar provides quick mouse access to many tools used in Metrology,

To hide or display the Toolbar, choose Toolbar from the View menu (ALT, V, T).

Click	To

Information about the currently selected units.

Print the log of conversion results

Search the database for a word or words.

View log of conversion results.

Log conversion results.

Copy the selection to the clipboard.

Automatically calcualte values when new units are selected.

Displays the fraction dialog.


View Status Bar Command
Status Bar command (View menu)

Use this command to display and hide the Status Bar, which describes the action to be executed by the selected menu item or depressed toolbar button, and keyboard latch state. A check mark appears next to the menu item when the Status Bar is displayed.

See Status Bar for help on using the status bar.


Status Bar

The status bar is displayed at the bottom of the Metrology window.  To display or hide the status bar, use the Status Bar command in the View menu.

The left area of the status bar describes actions of menu items as you use the arrow keys to navigate through menus.  This area similarly shows messages that describe the actions of toolbar buttons as you depress them, before releasing them.  If after viewing the description of the toolbar button command you wish not to execute the command, then release the mouse button while the pointer is off the toolbar button.

The right areas of the status bar indicate which of the following keys are latched down:

Indicator	Description

CAP	The Caps Lock key is latched down.

NUM	The Num Lock key is latched down.

SCRL	The Scroll Lock key is latched down.


Left and Right Button Bars.
Left and Right Button Bars (View menu)

Shows or hides the left or right button bars.  When this menu item is checked the button bar automatically appears when certain categories have been selected.  The buttons are a convenient alternative to using the units list box for commonly used units.  Clicking on one of the buttons updates the units entry in the left or right units list box.  If auto calc is enabled a new conversion result will be computed.  Button bars are only available for common categories such as Area, Length and Volume.


displaying conversion results
Result Log (View menu)

The result log dialog displays the list of conversion results.  In order to accumulate conversion results the Log Results menu item (Utility menu) must have been checked.

OK Button:  Closes the dialog.  Results are preserved.

Print:  Sends the listed results to your printer.  If certain items have been selected the user is given a choice of printing only the selected items or the entire log.

Clear:  Clicking on the Clear button will permanently delete all items from the log.  When this button is clicked the user is prompted and has an opportunity to cancel the deletion.


Selecting List Box Items

A number of discrete list box items may be selected by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking the desired item with the left mouse button.  A continuous series of items may be chosen by clicking on the first item, then holding down the shift key and clicking on the last item.


Index command (Help menu)

Use this command to display the opening screen of Help.  From the opening screen, you can jump to step-by-step instructions for using Metrology and various types of reference information.

Once you open Help, you can click the Contents button whenever you want to return to the opening screen.


Using Help command (Help menu)

Use this command for instructions about using Help.


About command (Help menu)

Use this command to display the copyright notice and version number of your copy of Metrology.


Help Using Help Command
Context Help command

Use the Context Help command to obtain help on some portion of Metrology.  When you choose the Toolbar's Context Help button, the mouse pointer will change to an arrow and question mark.  Then click somewhere in the Metrology window, such as another Toolbar button.  The Help topic will be shown for the item you clicked.

Shortcut

Keys:	SHIFT+F1


Scroll bars

Displayed at the right and bottom edges of the document window.  The scroll boxes inside the scroll bars indicate your vertical and horizontal location in the document.  You can use the mouse to scroll to other parts of the document.

<< Describe the actions of the various parts of the scrollbar, according to how they behave in your application. >>


Size command (System menu)

Use this command to display a four-headed arrow so you can size the active window with the arrow keys.

After the pointer changes to the four-headed arrow:

1.	Press one of the DIRECTION keys (left, right, up, or down arrow key) to move the pointer to the border you want to move.

2.	Press a DIRECTION key to move the border.

3.	Press ENTER when the window is the size you want.

Note:  This command is unavailable if you maximize the window.

Shortcut

Mouse:	Drag the size bars at the corners or edges of the window.


Move command (Control menu)

Use this command to display a four-headed arrow so you can move the active window or dialog box with the arrow keys.

Note:  This command is unavailable if you maximize the window.

Shortcut

Keys:	CTRL+F7


System Minimize Command
Minimize command (application Control menu)

Use this command to reduce the Metrology window to an icon.

Shortcut

Mouse:	Click the minimize icon [image] on the title bar.

Keys:	ALT+F9


Maximize command (System menu)

Use this command to enlarge the active window to fill the available space.

Shortcut

Mouse:	Click the maximize icon [image] on the title bar; or double-click the title bar.

Keys:	CTRL+F10 enlarges a document window.


Next Window command (document Control menu)

Use this command to switch to the next open document window.  Metrology determines which window is next according to the order in which you opened the windows.

Shortcut

Keys:	CTRL+F6


Previous Window command (document Control menu)

Use this command to switch to the previous open document window.  Metrology determines which window is previous according to the order in which you opened the windows.

Shortcut

Keys:	SHIFT+CTRL+F6


Close command (Control menus)

Use this command to close the active window or dialog box.

Double-clicking a Control-menu box is the same as choosing the Close command.

Note:  If you have multiple windows open for a single document, the Close command on the document Control menu closes only one window at a time.  You can close all windows at once with the Close command on the File menu.

Shortcuts

Keys: 	CTRL+F4 closes a document window

ALT+F4 closes the <<YourType>> window or dialog box


Restore command (Control menu)

Use this command to return the active window to its size and position before you chose the Maximize or Minimize command.


Switch to command (application Control menu)

Use this command to display a list of all open applications.  Use this "Task List" to switch to or close an application on the list.

Shortcut

Keys:	CTRL+ESC

Dialog Box Options

When you choose the Switch To command, you will be presented with a dialog box with the following options:

Task List

Select the application you want to switch to or close.

Switch To

Makes the selected application active.

End Task

Closes the selected application.

Cancel

Closes the Task List box.

Cascade

Arranges open applications so they overlap and you can see each title bar.  This option does not affect applications reduced to icons.

Tile

Arranges open applications into windows that do not overlap.  This option does not affect applications reduced to icons.

Arrange Icons

Arranges the icons of all minimized applications across the bottom of the screen.


No Help Available

No help is available for this area of the window.


No Help Available

No help is available for this message box.

<< If you wish to author help specific to each message box prompt, then remove the AFX_HIDP_xxx values from the [ALIAS] section of your .HPJ file, and author a topic for each AFX_HIDP_xxx value.  For example, AFX_HIDP_INVALID_FILENAME is the help topic for the Invalid Filename message box. >>