Size and Temperature conversions

Version 1.5.4 of Plant Base offers the options to work in Imperial feet and inches and also with the Fahrenheit temperature scale.

Operation

These two features can be enabled from the Program Config Options, using the checkboxes under the "Misc" tab.

The default options are Metric and Celsius, which is still how the underlying data is stored. Enabling the checkboxes does not alter the data, they cause the Plant Master and Plant Selector screens to convert it for display and/or entry.

The previously existing option to show conversions as mouse-over tips is still available. It has been changed so that it displays in the relevant measurement system.

It is possible to enter more than 12 inches, this is valid and will be displayed as feet and inches (e.g. 30ins = 2ft 6ins).

Dimensions over 1 foot are rounded to the nearest inch, below 1 foot will be shown as decimal inches.

Considerations

Imperial or Fahrenheit conversions will often produce "irregular" numbers. For example, 1.8 metres is often used as the equivalent of 6 feet, but in fact converting from 1.8 metres gives 5 feet 11 inches. The effect is small, but an allowance for this may be needed when searching for plants.

Minimum temperature values are held in the database as whole degrees Celsius. When working in Fahrenheit the values will be slightly adjusted to give the equivalent of the nearest whole degree Celsius (e.g. entering 28°F will give 28.4°F, the equivalent of -2°C).

When entering or editing plant data, frequently switching between measurement system is likely to cause small rounding discrepancies. It is best to choose a measurement system and then stick with it as far as possible.

Background

The Imperial System was formally defined in 1824, based on various measurement units that had a very long history of common usage. It is essentially the same as U.S. customary units or English units. It was generally used by British derived countries and is still popular in those areas. Notably it remains the official system in the USA

The Metric system, now properly referred to as SI (Système international d'unités), was defined in France in 1791 and later extensively adopted elsewhere. It is now the official system used in the European Union and became the legal system for the UK in 1995, although implementation had begun much earlier.

1 inch = 25.4 millimetres
1 foot = 0.3048 metres
1 metre = 39.37 inches = 3.2708 feet

The Fahrenheit temperature scale is named after the German physicist Gabriel Fahrenheit, who proposed it in 1724.

Celsius was named in honour of the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius, who first proposed the principles of this system in 1742.

1 degree in Celsius = 1.8 degrees in Fahrenheit
Freezing point of water = 0°C = 32°F
Boiling point of water = 100°C = 212°F