[LTER-im] unitDB, update and question to users

[James Conners]

Hi Margaret, 

I use the unit.lternet.edu admin interface to add new units and use the REST API to sync our local db, occasionally, and generate STMML. 

But we're not using the unitType/quantity for anything. 

- James




> On Mar 6, 2018, at 10:19 AM, Ken Ramsey <kramsey at jornada-vmail.nmsu.edu> wrote:
> 
> Hi Margaret,
> 
> DEIMS uses the LTER Unit Registry services and does use unitType (length, mass, etc.) in its interfaces for selecting units when completing variables metadata. 
> 
> I am cc'ing Inigo as he is much more familiar with DEIMS use of the unit registry and would know how this change might, or might not, affect DEIMS.
> 
> Ken
> 
> 
>>>> "Margaret O'Brien" <margaret.obrien at ucsb.edu> 3/6/2018 10:12 AM >>>
> Hi all -
> I thought you may be interested - I have started working on the units in
> LTER UnitDB. This work is prep for building a more complete, cleaner list
> for EML, and to outline a path forward for EDI.
> 
> So far, in the production database (http://unit.lternet.edu), this has been
> limited to marking some units as 'deprecated', using the rules outlined by
> the units-WG in 2011. Deprecated units are still available for export
> (e.g., as a <customUnit> for your EML), but their display can be switched
> off to avoid duplication or confusion.
> 
> My question:
> Is anyone sync-ing a local system to unit.lternet.edu? and if you are, do
> you depend on the "unitType" (called "quantity" in the DB), as it is
> currently recorded in the database?
> 
> I ask because my next step is to normalize these unitTypes somewhat. So
> far, I have done this only in a sandbox database (not production). But I
> need to know the effect, if I move the changes to unitTypes (quantities)
> into production. If you simply pull from the DB, or browse it for
> inspiration, I suspect that updates to quantities will not affect you.
> Changes might affect you if your system performs calculations or
> conversions based on quantity expressions, or if you use the unitType for
> grouping locally.
> 
> To see progress, there are two git repositories of interest:
> 1. EML git repository, for community comments (this issue-thread and
> related issues):
> https://github.com/NCEAS/eml/issues/289 
> 
> 2. EDI's unit-registry repo, for my notes on the unitDB itself and
> occasional db-dumps:
> https://github.com/EDIorg/unit-registry 
> 
> thanks -
> Margaret
> 
> 
> Margaret O'Brien
> ORCID: 0000-0002-1693-8322
> Information Management
> Marine Science Institute, UCSB
> Santa Barbara, CA 93106
> 805-893-2071 <(805)%20893-2071> (voice)
> http://environmentaldatainitiative.org 
> http://sbc.marinebon.org 
> http://sbc.lternet.edu
> 
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