Files With User-Defined Units |
 
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Files With User-Defined Units |
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Flexcom keyword files with the .KEYX extension are said to be using user-defined units. These are typically legacy keyword files which were created with an earlier version of the software prior to the release of Flexcom 8.4. Recommended practice is to convert any such files into one of the Standard Unit Systems using the Units Project Importer.
When performing data-input the UI will suggest units for keyword entries, consistent with the Standard Metric and Standard Imperial systems. The user is free to ignore these suggestions as long as they maintain consistency between different entries.
Although it is possible to adopt a unit system based on a non-standard series of base units, centimetre-kilogram-hour for example, in practice this almost never happens. To do so requires enormous care to establish the correct units for every required program input. Therefore, most keyword files, even when using user-defined units, tend to conform to either the Standard Metric system or Standard Imperial system.
Deviation from the two standard unit systems is extremely rare. Because of this, even when using user-defined units, Flexcom has evolved to make assumptions, when post-processing, about the actual unit system being used. This allows it to label and scale plots appropriately.
Flexcom makes this assumption based on the value of the acceleration due to gravity entry in the *OCEAN keyword. The value is compared to the Standard Metric value (9.81m/s2) and the Standard Imperial value (32.2ft/s2), if it falls within a given tolerance of either of these two values then the respective unit system is assumed.