| rule | input | output |
|---|---|---|
| '^' creates a superscript | m^2 | m2 |
| '_' creates a subscript | h_0 | h0 |
| subscripts and superscripts can be combined | h_0^3 | h03 |
| use '[_subscript^superscript]' to create an overstrike | h[_0^3] | h3 0 |
| a '/' at the beginning adds the superscript '-1' | /s | s−1 |
| hyphen is transformed to minus sign when preceding a unit | -h^2 | −h2 |
| 'x' at the beginning is transformed to '×' | x10^3 kg^2 m^-1 | ×103 kg2 m−1 |
| ASCII terms from biology/chemistry turned into terminology forms | ug | µg |
| can create italics with '*' or '_'; create bold text with '**' or '__' | *m*^**2** | m2 |
| special symbol set surrounded by colons | :permille:C | ‰C |
| chemistry notation: '%C6H6%' | g/L %C6H12O6% | g/L C6H12O6 |
define_units
define_units(units_notation)With define_units() you can work with a specially-crafted units notation string and emit the units as HTML (with the .to_html() method). This function is useful as a standalone utility and it powers the fmt_units() method in Great Tables.
Parameters
units_notation :str-
A string of units notation.
Returns
:UnitDefinitionList-
A list of unit definitions.
Specification of units notation
The following table demonstrates the various ways in which units can be specified in the units_notation string and how the input is processed by the define_units() function. The concluding step for display of the units in HTML is to use the to_html() method.