Supported Dimensions and Units

In previous versions of AVEVA Hull and Outfitting, all dimensioned quantities other than distances or bores were output in units stored in the database, irrespective of the current units. For example, all masses were assumed to be Kg.

There is a new set of commands to complement and extend the existing units functions. These commands control the units of supported dimensions, and their dependent quantities (for example, density and pressure). For masses, the command UNITS may be followed by KG MASS, GRAM MASS, POUND MASS, TONNE MASS or TON SHORT/LONG MASS. New DISTANCE options are also provided: ‘FOOT DIST’ and ‘METRE DIST’ to output and return values in these common units.

The command which sets the distance units is:

{MM INCH FINCH} DISTANCE

The new commands use the keyword ‘UNITS’ to define the units to use for the various dimension types. For example:

UNITS MM DISTANCE

UNITS POUND MASS

The leading UNITS keyword is optional for MM INCH and FINCH DISTANCE but is required for all new options in the commands listed below. The command and functionality of BORE units remains unchanged.

Some units are case-sensitive to adhere more closely to SI conventions; strict adherence is not always possible due to syntax conflicts. This allow a distinction to be made between units such as s(econds) and S(iemens), hours and Henrys, tonnes and Teslas. This does not apply to Imperial units (IN or in, FT or ft are all valid) or to some metric units such as MM, which have been supported in previous releases.

Units that are case sensitive are (m, s, g, t, K, h, Pa, N, V, A, F, Sv, d, J, W, C, S, H, T, W, P, G) – i.e metre, second, gram, tonne, Kelvin, hour, pascal, Newton, volt, ampere, farad, sievert, day, joule, watt, coulomb, Siemens, henry, tesla, watt, poise, gforce. SI prefixes are also case sensitive – for example, m means milli and M mega – except in their full form (for example, MILLI and MEGA are both accepted).

The table overleaf shows the new units of measure and the options available, as well as the old ones: BORE DIST SQDI CUDI. It gives their name (or description) recognised by the system, the assigned hash-code, the database storage units and the supported standard units for the quantity. For example, attributes of length have a hash code of DIST, are stored in mm and other standard units include inch, cm, ft, metre