Re: [boost] Boost Units library preview

From: Manfred Doudar (manfred.doudar_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-08-18 22:30:42

Hi Andy,

Andy Little wrote:
> "Thorsten Ottosen" <nesotto_at_[hidden]> wrote in message 
> news:loom.20060818T123417-474_at_post.gmane.org...
>> Andy Little <andy <at> servocomm.freeserve.co.uk> writes:
>>
>>> // Quan
>>>   quan::length::ft qft(3);
>>>   std::cout << "quan qft.numeric_value() = "<< qft.numeric_value() << '\n';
>>>   assert(qft.numeric_value() ==3);
>> Just a question: why is the member called numeric_value? are there other 
>> values?
> 
> The function is called numeric_value as it returns the numeric value of the 
> quantity.
> 
> quan::length::mi my_journey(25); // distance in miles
> quan::length_<int>::nm dx (25);  // distance in nanometers
> 
> The numeric value of journey is 25, the numeric value  of dx is 25, but the 
> units are very different.
> 

What you are getting with the call to 'numeric_value' is the scalar 
component of the "quantity" - right?

Just a suggestion then, would a more reasonable name for the method be 
'magnitude'; it sounds better, and ties better to the problem domain.

Cheers,
-- 
Manfred Doudar - Research Engineer
National ICT Australia - Canberra Research Lab | www.nicta.com.au
Research School of Information Sciences and Engineering (RSISE)
The Australian National University - Canberra, ACT 0200 AUSTRALIA