[NTG-context] Re: \inch not doing the expected thing (what I expect, anyway).

14 Nov 2024

      In last night's ConTeXt meeting there was a discussion on the use of 
vertical or slanted double primes for inches. The general consensus was 
that slanted should be used.

  I had a look in my copy of The Elements of Typographic Style version 
3.0 by Richard Bringhurst and he says (page 307]:

"Double Prime. An abbreviation for inches (1" =2.54 cm) and for seconds 
of arc (360" = 1 degree). Not to be confused with quotation marks, the 
double acute, nor with dumb quotes. Prime and double prime are rarely 
found on text fonts. See also prime. [U+2033]"

Similarly for prime he says (page 316):

"Prime. An abbreviation for feet (1' = 12") and for minutes of arc (60' 
= 1 degree). Singe and double primes should not be confused with 
apostrophes, dumb quotes or genuine quotation marks, though in some 
faces (frakturs especially) these glyphs may all have a similar shape 
and a pleasant slope. See also apostrophes, double prime, dumb quotes 
and quotation marks. [U+2032]"

Hope this clarifies things.

Best Wishes

Keith McKay

On 13/11/2024 14:09, Hans Hagen via ntg-context wrote:
...
On 11/13/2024 11:03 AM, Marco Patzer wrote:
...
On Mon, 11 Nov 2024 21:30:15 +0100
Wolfgang Schuster  wrote:
...
\unit{2 arcsecond}
Arcseconds might print the correct glyph, but would be semantically
wrong. I believe the correct approach would be:
   \unit{2 inch}
The question then remains how to configure \unit{2 inch} to produce
(depending on the requirements):
   2 in   or
   2"
After 25 hours of discussion and 18 attempts the math team (whoever 
that is) has decided that this is good enough:
\permanent\protected\def\fakeminute
  {\dontleavehmode
   \begingroup
   \doifelseitalic
     {\scratchwidth\fontcharwd\font\singlequoteasciicode
      \hpack \s!to 1.2\scratchwidth \bgroup
        \glyphslant\plustwohundred
        \glyph \s!xoffset -0.6\scratchwidth\singlequoteasciicode
      \egroup}%
     {\scratchwidth\fontcharwd\font\singlequoteasciicode
      \hpack \s!to 1.1\scratchwidth \bgroup
         \glyphslant\plusfivehundred
        \glyph \s!xoffset -\scratchwidth\singlequoteasciicode
      \egroup}%
   \endgroup}
\permanent\protected\def\fakesecond
  {\dontleavehmode
   \begingroup
   \doifelseitalic
     {\scratchwidth\fontcharwd\font\singlequoteasciicode
      \hpack \s!to 1.7\scratchwidth \bgroup
        \glyphslant\plustwohundred
        \glyph \s!xoffset -0.6\scratchwidth\singlequoteasciicode
        \glyph \s!xoffset -1.1\scratchwidth\singlequoteasciicode
      \egroup}%
     {\scratchwidth\fontcharwd\font\singlequoteasciicode
      \hpack \s!to 1.6\scratchwidth \bgroup
        \glyphslant\plusfivehundred
        \glyph \s!xoffset    -\scratchwidth\singlequoteasciicode
        \glyph \s!xoffset -1.5\scratchwidth\singlequoteasciicode
      \egroup}%
   \endgroup}
\permanent\protected\def\minute{\iffontchar\font\textminute\textminute\else\fakeminute\fi}
\permanent\protected\def\second{\iffontchar\font\textsecond\textsecond\else\fakesecond\fi}
\aliased\let\inch\second
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