mattmarsh.net | Converter

Converter
Version: 2.2
Released: 24th March 2002
Author: Matt N. Marsh
Email: matt@mattmarsh.net

Converter is a free unit conversion tool for the Palm, supporting over 200 unit types in 23 different categories. The easy to use interface allows you to specify the types you use frequently and access them easily. Convert from miles to kilometers, from pounds to kilograms and many, many other different conversions with ease.

Converter is freeware so you are free to use and distribute this software without restriction as long as it is not modified in any way and the copyright notices remain in place.

Converter can currently convert 215 different types in 23 different categories. For a full list of these see the 'Categories and Types' section later on this page.

Converter is the first application that I've written for the Palm Pilot, I hope that you find it useful and easy to use. Once you've tried it out feel free to sign my guestbook or email me and let me know what you think of it!

Try out my other Palm Software too!

All my Palm software is provided completely free of charge, but should you choose to offer a donation then you may like to consider looking at the wishlist that I created on Amazon.co.uk. From there you can pick something that I've been looking for and it will be sent directly to my door! The wishlist is located at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/wishlist/1P8TB40UVXQ7A

I would like to say a big thanks to those that have sent me gifts already. Please take a look at my Thank You page.

Please remember that there is absolutely no obligation to send anything, this software is provided completely free of charge!

Download

Click on one of the links below to download an archive containing the files. Both archives contain the same files so you just need to download the one easiest for you to unpack (probably the zip file for windows users).

converter-2_2.zip

converter-2_2.tar.gz

Installation

Once you have downloaded and unpacked the archive you should have a file called Converter.prc in your directory. Install this file onto your Palm device in the usual way using the 'Install Tool' or similar which comes with the Palm device. Once installed an icon with the label 'Converter' should appear in your application list.

Upgrading

If you are upgrading from a previous version of Converter, there is no need to remove the old version first. Simply install the new version of Converter onto your Palm device and it will overwrite the older version. If you are using version 2.0 or later of Converter then when you upgrade in this way your configured shortlist categories and types will be saved and used with the new version.

Using Converter

The application is simple and intuitive to use following the same basic style as many Palm applications. Pull down the box in the top right corner to choose which category to use, then select the unit type to convert from and to in the boxes on the main form. Finally enter the value you wish to convert from into the value field.

Entering Values

Values can be entered in a number of different ways. In most categories you can enter numbers as either:

Integers - e.g. 16
Decimals - e.g. 16.0
Scientific Notation - e.g. 1.6e01

A few categories require special treatment for the entering of values as detailed below:

Shoes - Values in the Shoes category must be whole numbers only and must be valid for the country selected in the 'From' list.
Clothing - Like the Shoes category, values in the Clothing category also must be whole numbers and must be valid for the country selected in the 'From' list.
Numbers - In the Numbers category, the valid entries for the value field will be dependant on what is selected in the 'From' list. Numbers must always be whole and valid for the particular number system when Binary, Octal, Decimal or Hexidecimal are selected. When Roman is selected, the entry must be a valid Roman number using Roman notation such as 'XXIV' (to represent 24).

Switching Modes

Converter can operate in two modes: shortlist mode and full mode. You can switch between the modes by tapping on the 'F' and 'S' buttons on the bottom left of the screen, the 'F' button putting you in full mode and the 'S' button putting you in shortlist mode. In full mode you have access to all the conversion types and categories in the Converter app, in shortlist mode you are presented with a user-definable shortened list.

Defining Shortlist Types

By defining the types available in shortlist mode you can configure Converter so that the conversion types which you frequently use are readily available and easy to navigate between.

Selecting 'Edit Shortlist...' from the 'Options' menu presents you with a dialog box from which you can configure your shortlist. You can use the 'Category' pulldown to select which category you want to configure then you can see two lists: the one on the left contains the full list of types within the category and the one on the right shows the types which are currently available in that category when in shortlist mode. To add a type to shortlist mode, select the type in the full list on the left and hit the 'Add' button. To remove a type from the shortlist mode, select the type from the shortlist on the right and hit the remove button.

If you remove all the types from the shortlist of a particular category, that category will no longer show up when using the shortlist mode. Of course it will still be available in full mode.

Bug Reports

This is the first program which I've written for the Palm Pilot so there could well be plenty of bugs hiding in there somewhere... If you find any faults in either the application itself or its documentation then I would be grateful if you could report them to me by email at matt@mattmarsh.net. If you could include the version number of the program you are running (this can be found from the 'About' dialog box) then that would also be helpful.

Distribution and Usage Policy

You are permitted to use this program free of charge. You may also distribute it in any way and may even charge for it's distribution if you wish, however you must not modify the software and all copyright notices must remain in tact. You must obtain written permission for use or distribution other than detailed here.

BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.

IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Categories And Types

The following table lists the categories and types currently supported by Converter. New types are marked in green.

Acceleration Angle Area Clothing Computer

cm/sec²
in/sec²
kph/sec
ft/sec²
mph/sec
m/sec² seconds
minutes
grades
degrees
radians
quadrants
right angles
rounds millimetres²
centimetres²
inches²
feet²
yards²
metres²
acres
hectares
kilometres²
miles² USA
European
UK
Japanese bits
nibbles
bytes
kilobits
kilobytes
megabits
megabytes
gigabytes
terabytes
petabytes
exabytes

Density Energy Flow Force Fuel Consumption

grams/metre³
kg/metre³
oz/gallon UK
oz/gallon US
pounds/inch³
grams/mm³ ergs
joules
calories 20°C
calories THERM
calories 15°C
calories IT
kilojoules
BTUs THERM
BTUs ISO
BTUs IT
kilocalories IT
kilowatt hours
therms litres/min
gals US/min
gals UK/min
ft³/min
litres/sec
barrels/min
gals US/sec
gals UK/sec
m³/min
ft³/sec
barrels/sec
m³/sec dyne
millinewton
ounce-force
newton
pound-force
kg-force
kilonewton
kip-force
ton-f SHORT
ton-f LONG litres/100km
miles/gal UK
miles/gal US
kms/litre
miles/litre

Length Numbers Power Pressure Radioactivity

angstroms
nanometres
microinches
microns
millimetres
centimetres
inches
feet
yards
metres
fathoms
perches
poles
rods
chains
cables IT
cables UK
furlongs
cables US
kilometres
miles
naut. miles
leagues
astro. units
light years
parsecs binary
octal
decimal
hexadecimal
Roman watts
donkeys
h.power METRIC
h.power 550
h.power ELEC
h.power WTR
kilowatts
tons refridge.
megawatts pascals
mm H²O 39.2°F
cm H²O 39.2°F
millibars
hectopascals
mm Hg 32°F
torrs
ounces/inch²
kilopascals
cm Hg 32°F
in Hg 32°F
pounds/inch²
bars
atmospheres becquerel
rutherford
curie

Shoes Speed - Angular Speed - Linear Temperature Time

USA - Male
USA - Female
European
UK
Japanese grade/min
degree/min
grade/sec
radian/min
degree/sec
rev/min
turn/min
radian/sec
rev/sec
turn/sec cm/sec
inches/sec
kilometres/hr
feet/sec
miles/hr
knots
metres/sec
mach gas mark
celsius
fahrenheit
kelvin nanoseconds
microseconds
milliseconds
seconds
minutes
hours
days
staff weeks
weeks
fortnights
staff months
months
staff years
years

Torque Volume Weight

dyne cms
Newton metres millilitres
ccs
teaspoons
tablespoons
cubic inches
fl ounces UK
fl ounces US
decilitres
cups
pints US
pints UK
quarts US
litres
quarts UK
gallons UK
gallons US
cubic feet
barrels
cubic yards
cubic metres carats
grams
ounces
ounces TROY
pounds
pounds TROY
kilograms
stones
tons METRIC
tons SHORT
tons LONG

History

Version 2.2 24th March 2002	Fixed bug with conversions of Kilometers to Furlongs Fixed bug with shoe size conversions giving wrong results when converting to or from USA shoe sizes Fixed bug causing conversions from Atmospheres to Atmospheres to always return zero Fixed readme file in the .zip to have proper formating for viewing on a Windows system Added engineering categories including Acceleration, Density, Energy, Flow, Force and Power Added 'Numbers' category which allows conversion between decimal, binary, octal, hexadecimal and even Roman numerals Added automotive categories of Fuel Consumption and Torque Added many types to existing categories Added small icon for the application launcher list mode and also a color icon Eliminated annoying flicker at application launch and on opening the preferences dialog
Version 2.1 23rd January 2001	Fixed a bug which caused the Palm to hang when the categories 'Shoes' or 'Clothes' were used in shortlist mode
Version 2.0 21st January 2001	Added shortlist feature to allow users to define a shortlist of common conversions to be accessed easily in shortlist mode, with the full set of conversions still available in full mode Removed the convert button, result values are now recalculated whenever the input value changes or if another type or category is selected Added cut, copy and paste functionality via menu and shortcuts Added menu items and shortcuts for popup keyboard and grafitti help screen Added a clear button to clear the input and result fields The category and type selections are now saved between sessions as are the input/result values Improved the result display so that trailing zeros are omitted Many more types and categories added
Version 1.1 29th December 1999	Fixed some problems with temperature conversions from Kelvin to Farenheit Changed the method of how conversions are done to one which is much more acurate for many of the conversions
Version 1.0 8th June 1999	Initial version