On Tue, Mar 23, 2004 at 08:06:44PM -0800, wikien-l-request@Wikipedia.org wrote:

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Why not use a conversion syntax that allows a question mark for one of the values, which then gets converted and replaced in the actual markup code. The editor could then correct the converted value for the context.

For example, {{num:mi:1000:km:1600}} would show "1000 miles" (or whatever) for a US user, and would show 1600 km for everyone else.

If the editor entered {{num:mi:1000:km:?}}, then it would be converted in the markup text as {{num:mi:1000:km:1609}}. The editor could then change that to read as the first example above, if desired. Similarly, the editor could express the value in km and leave the mi as a question mark...

This would allow a preference of either unit, or both.

By the way, I'm not at all stuck on this syntax -- I haven't given those details much thought. It the concept that I want to contribute.

If we're going to be pedantic about this, I'd suggest a couple more features, listed in order of priority:

1) The *first* figure to appear in the notation should always be the "source" figure, so when editing you know which one has been rounded for display.

2) Should you be able to explicitly indicate the number of significant digits in a measurement?

3) Ideally, you'd like to be able to mouse-over such figures in the displayed article, and get the metric and imperial equivalents in a pop-up box or something, as well as an indication of which is the source figure.

4) Would it be going over the top to (optionally) be able to specify a separate "source figure" (of higher precision than that desirable for display) that is separate from the displayed figure in that unit system? So you could record a source figure of 84.52 km/h (which appears in the mouse-over box) but is displayed in the text as 85 km/h or 52 mph?

Is this all getting too complicated?