[om] MathML draft Notes available for review

[Professor James Davenport]

On Fri, 25 Jul 2003, Bill Naylor wrote:
> I have just read the Note "Units in MathML", I must say that there is a
> lot more to the area than I had appreciated!
> 
> Stan, is it envisaged that these notes will become a part of the MathML
> standard, or will they be part of a sort of MathML add-on, if the former,
> then I guess that the MathML compliance core CD group should be extended
> to cover units, if the later, it would still be good to have the OpenMath
> units conform to the MathML ones. So it seems that the (rather naive) way
> in which they are treated in units_imperial1 and units_imperial2 should be
> altered to allow arguments, similar to the way in which for example
> 'contexts' are added to the MathML definitionURLs. This might also be a
> way of deaing with multiplication factors.
Conversely, I think it would be better if MathML at least allowed the 
OpenMath base since this automatically (by FMP) includes all conversion 
factors etc. However, there is a problem with presentation, and it might 
be nice to formalise a mechanism for associating presentation  with 
OpenMath symbols.
> I think it is important to make units precise in OpenMath, since I have
> heard the example of the Mars lander fiasco used quite a few times as a
> reason for OpenMath. If units are not made precise in OpenMath, then this
> sort of destroys that reason!
I'm not sure I follow this. If OpenMath had been used, then the fiasco 
could not have happened, since the OpenMath would specify the precise unit 
correctly.
James
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