Units Converter Copyright (C) Moose O'Malley, --------------- November 2014. +===========================================================+ | T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S | +===========================================================+ | * Introduction | * Using this Program : | * Why is this program useful ? / Why do this ? | * The Future | * Program History and Special Thanks To Carl Henry and his Unicon | * Reviews / Awards / CDs | * Freeware Information | * Warranty | * Amendment History | * Contacting the Program's Author +===========================================================+ Introduction : -------------- Units Converter for Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10, etc. Units Converter enables you very easily and quickly convert units between metric, imperial, and other units for length, mass (weight), temperature, area, and many other categories. The current version of the program supports 328 units in 14 categories. Developed using 32-bit Delphi. This program will **NOT** run under Windows 3.x (even with Win32 installed) !! Using this Program : -------------------- Simply download the ZIP file, unzip it to a directory using WinZIP or similar, execute the program (unitconv.exe) on a PC running Windows 95 or later, and select the category of units you want to convert, select the from and to units, and type in the value you wished converted, and you will see the result. You can copy the converted from / to values to the clipboard, or use the Copy Format selection at the bottom of the screen to copy the conversions to Windows clipboard in a variety of formats, for example: 3.75 Acres (1.52 Hectares) This is great / useful when you are doing a lot of conversions and need to get the results back with a variety of units into your own documents or reports. Why is this program useful ? / Why do this ? ------------------------------------------------ This program can save you hours searching through encyclopoedias, reference books, and the internet. Unit Conversions can be a little complex and confusing, and it is easy to make mistakes when you are in a hurry. Units Converter saves you from all of these issues and the hassle. Many dozens of units are defined in Units Converter to allow you to onvert your data quickly and easily. The Future : ------------ In the future, many improvements could be made to this program, such as : - More Units - More Categories - Support for currency conversions ? All I need to find is a reliable source of currency data that I can download / convert on a regular basis. Know any ? Let me know. :) - Anything else ? Let me know ! :) Program History and Special Thanks To Carl Henry and his Unicon --------------------------------------------------------------- I have wanted a nice, user friendly Units Converter program like this since 1980 - long before computers had graphical user interfaces !! In my Apple ][ days in the very early 1980's, I wrote a Units Converter, which was a BASIC program that handled dozens of units in 6 categories. However, the Apple ][ was a very primative machine, and my program wasn't all that user friendly or useful or accessible. In 1994, when I first got access to the internet, I stumbled across a program called "Unicon", or Universal Units Converter, by a guy called Carl Henry, who was based in California. Carl's Unicon program was useful and was much like the re-vamped / updated version of my old Apple ][ Units Converter program that I had been thinking about developing for years. Carl's $10 US registration fee was very reasonable (and very typical for most software at this time), but I had no way to tell if his postal address was still current - there was only one way to register, and that was to send $10 US ($20 Aus approx) through the post. Carl's Unicon program did not have enough units or categories for me - I needed some more conversions. Also, Carl's Unicon program was clunky to use, and I found a couple of bugs in some conversions ..... Since 1994, every few years, I have searched for an updated version of Carl's Unicon program, but to no avail. I have also occassionally searched the internet for similar programs, but could not find any that I was completely happy with (or that were better than the ancient 1993 version of Carl's Unicon). But, being someone who loves developing software, I decided in October / November 2000 to develop an updated version of my original Apple ][ Units Converter program, but with a nice graphical user interface (GUI) for Windows. I had a spare weekend and it was very rainy stormy outside .... And I thought I'd easily be finished by Monday .... I finished the software design and development quickly enough .... I had developed a nice program with a great GUI, that adapted its user interface based on the data / conversions in a data file. I was planning to release several versions - one with basic units, one with more units / conversions, and a 3rd "expert" version that could handle every conversion of every unit known to man. It was a dream of mine to simplify conversions for all units. But I didn't take into account the massive data / unit collection job I was about to start .... So, I set about exploring and gathering all of the units and conversions I could find. I set-up a Lotus Improv spreadsheet - because this allows you to seprate data and forumulas and use plain english formulas, for example: Kilograms = Pounds * 2.2 instead of A3 = B5 * 2.2, and then I searched all over the internet and gathered up all of the units I could find - whether I wanted them in my program or not. This process took me many, many, many dozens of hours of work, and I have to say that I dissappeared down a large number of deep and awful rabbit holes for long a while (over a decade). I soon discovered that world of Units wasn't neat and orderly as I had hoped, but there are contradictions, vagaries, and confounding information everywhere. I also got lost in the scope of the exercise - there are many 1,000's of units out there. Every few months, I would return to my Lotus Improv spreadsheet and do another few hours of research, adding in more units, grathering more evidence for confirming the conversions I had gathered so far, and gathering new units and conversions. I was using the internet, as well as reference books and encyclopaedias. Often I'd watch a TV program, documentary, or movie and hear them talk about some new unit of measure and think "Ahhh, I'll add that to my Lotus Improv spreadsheet ...", and off I'd go and what I thought would be a quick bit of research, but it usually turned out to me more complex and convoluted, and lead me down numerous other paths for other units, and so on. A quick 10-20 mins of research would frequently turn into several hours or more - and with no end in sight. I remember one area that really stumped me was soldier group sizes: battalion, squad, phalanx, etc - I tried to add conversions in for these, but the definitions of these terms vary by army, country, period of history, etc. I lost a lot of time here trying to make sense of it - but in the end I had to concede that there wasn't any sense to it at all. It was impossible .... On 20-Nov-2000, I very nearly released v1.0 of my Units Converter. But, I wasn't completely happy with it .... More work was needed on tidying up some of the units / data conversions. I have found so many inconsistences and contradictions between information sources, that I was not 100% confident that all of my conversions were correct. Fast forward 14 years later to November 2014 .... In my Google and DuckDuckGo searches in early November 2014, I could find NO mention at all of Carl Henry nor his "Unicon" Universal Units Converter program. It looks like Carl hasn't released an update for his program for many years - and possibly he hasn't released an update since 1993. Anyway, here we are, 14+ years later, and I am still no-where near to completing my Units Conversion Lotus Improv spreadsheet. In fact, I have not done any further work on my Lotus Improv spreadsheet for about 4 years now, and I have no plans to go back to it - the job was simply too big and too convoluted for one person, especially when that person (me) was doing it ALL for FREE and in their "spare time". So, I have returned my Units Converter program, tidied up the user interface, and released it. As a special tribute to Carl Henry's 1993 "Unicon" program (which no longer exists on the internet, as far as I can tell), I have decided to set aside nearly all of the units / conversions I have painstakingly collected and researched over the last 14+ years, and instead use the data file from Carl "Unicon" program, but with some fixes and 21 extra units / conversions and 4 additional unit categories. Carl's "Unicon" program had 307 units in 10 categories. v1.0 of my Units Converter program supports 328 units in 14 categories. So, I have added 21 units and 4 categories to Carl's original data file. As I said above, I have much bigger (and incomplete) unit conversion lists that support many dozens more units. So, I may add more in the future .... Reviews / Awards / CDs : ------------------------- None that anyone has told me about, so far. Freeware Information : ----------------------- This is free software. Anyone - any person, any company, or any business - can use this program for free. No fees or payment is required. However, if you find the program useful, then please consider making a PayPal donation to support my efforts. (To make a donation, please run the program and select the "About" option under the Help menu, and then click the PayPal link on the "About" screen). Warranty : ---------- This software and the accompanying files are provided "as is" and without warranties as to performance or merchantability or any other warranties whether expressed or implied. The user assumes the entire risk of using this software. If you do find any faults with this program, email me and let me know. Amendment History : -------------------- Vers Date Description 1.0 20-Nov-2000 First Public Release. (NOT RELEASED - see above) Developed using 16-bit Delphi v1.0 so that the program will work with any version of Windows since Windows 3. (6,615 lines of code / comments.) 1.0f 29-Nov-2014 First Public Release. (858 lines of code / comments / blank lines in primary source file.) (55,571 lines of code / comments / blank lines in all primary, library, and include files.) If this program was not downloaded from my Home Page, then it is possibly an old version. The latest version of this program is available from my WEB page - see below. Mike "Moose" O'Malley ____________________________________________________ Moose's Software Valley - Established July, 1996. WEB: http://moosevalley.fhost.com.au/ ____________________________________________________