Unit types and unit conversions in AMUSE

From Micasim

Project	AMUSE
Project Lead	Simon Portegies Zwart
Project Homepage	AMUSE

Quick 'n' Dirty Example

cd to the directory where you checked out the amuse trunk and do this:

$ ./amuse.sh
>>> from amuse.support.units.units import *
>>> cm = named('centimeter', 'cm', 0.01 * m)
>>> x = 1 | cm
>>> x
quantity<1 cm>
>>> x.in_(m)
quantity<0.01 m>
>>> x.in_(AU)
quantity<6.68458712267e-14 AU>
>>> 

The first thing above defines a new unit, the centimeter, as 0.01 meters. "m" is predefined in the units package, as is AU, parsec, and numerous other units. The construction "x = 1 | cm" creates a new "quantity", which is a number associated with a unit. The "in_(unit)" method called on a quantity converts that quantity to the same value with a different unit attached. The examples here convert the unit to meters and astronomical units.