/unit_converter

Primary LanguagePython

Unit converter

For the GCI task from CCExtractor.

Usage

Requires a conversions.txt file in the same directory.

Run the Python 3 program. It will prompt the user for details about the conversion they are making. Make sure that the units used are exactly identical to the ones defined in the conversions.txt file. For example 1 meter/second won't work as input if your defined units are meters or seconds, for example.

Features

The provided conversions.txt file has some good examples of the features that are available.

  • For example, you can see that feet-inches: 12 is defined as the conversion from feet to inches. From this, the program can also automatically calculate the conversion from inches to feet.

  • Furthermore, the program is able to find conversions where they are not explicitly defined. For example, using the provided conversions.txt, converting inches to yards goes through 3 conversions:

Enter conversion in format "{NUMBER} {INPUT_UNIT} to {OUTPUT_UNIT}" (e.g. 2 meters to feet): 1 inches to yards
Converting 1.0 inches --> centimeters --> meters --> yards... 1.0 inches = 0.02777767900005334 yards

Answer: 0.02777767900005334 yards

  • The program can do conversions with more complex units, without defining them explicitly. For example, if kilometers-meters: 1000 and hours-minutes: 60 are provided, it can convert from kilometers/hours to meters/minutes automatically. This is not hard-coded, meaning that it can also convert seconds/kilometers to hours/meters, if needed.

  • It is also smart enough to do a conversion when it is possible, even if the units aren't defined in the conversions.txt file. For example, it can convert from metres/decade to kilometres/decade, without knowing what a decade is in the first place. As long as the numerator or denominator on both sides is the same, it can still convert.

  • It can also do flipped conversions. For example it can convert from seconds/joules to joules/seconds, or from meters/seconds to hours/kilometers.

  • There is a system of replacements. For example, some countries use "meters" while others use "metres". In the conversions.txt file, you can write a replacement: if the rest of the conversions use "meters" but you want to also support "metres" without writing out all the conversions again, simply write metres = meters (notice that this uses equals instead of colon). The program will figure it out.

  • Replacements work for complex units too! For example, you can write watts = joules/seconds. Then you can ask the program to convert from watts to joules/seconds, or kilojoules/hours to watts, or even days/kilocalories to kilowatts (with the configuration in the provided conversions.txt).

Complex examples

These are a list of example conversions that the program can do:

  • 5 metres/seconds to seconds/metres outputs 0.2 seconds/metre. Notice that the program replies with the units that the user provides ("metres") even though it uses "meters" for all the conversions.
  • 45 kilometres/hours to minutes/miles outputs 2.145791931334658 minutes/miles. This is a complex flipped conversion.
  • 0.4 days/kilocalories to watts outputs 0.12106481481481479 watts. This is a complex flipped conversion with a replacement! Even Google can't do this kind of conversion!