@lhncbc/ucum-lhc 5.0.0 → 5.0.3

package/README.md

@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ concerned with importing and exporting the UCUM data, and in supporting the
 demo page (noted above).  If you are looking to include the ucum-lhc core code 
 in your application, download the code as an [npm](https://www.npmjs.com) package.
 
-#### Getting the code as an npm package
+### Getting the code as an npm package
 
 You can use the [npm](https://www.npmjs.com) package manager 
 to install the ucum-lhc npm package.  (npm is 
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ This will install the @lhncbc/ucum-lhc directory in your node_modules diretory.
 The dist subdirectory will contain ucum-lhc.js and ucum-lhc.min.js (minimized
 version of ucum-lhc.js).
 
-#### Getting the code as a bower package
+### Getting the code as a bower package
 
 You can use the [bower](https://bower.io) package manager to install the
 ucum-lhc bower package.   (If you do not have bower installed on your machine
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ This will install the ucum-lhc directory in your bower_components directory.
 The dist subdirectory will contain ucum-lhc.js and ucum-lhc.min.js (minimized
 version of ucum-lhc.js).
 
-### Using the code 
+## Using the code 
 
 The ucum-lhc.min.js file (which is the minimized version of the ucum-lhc.js 
 file) includes the source code you need for the validation, conversion and 
@@ -60,14 +60,14 @@ commensurable units functions as well as the ucum code definitions file.  We
 assume that your main motivation for including the ucum-lhc code is to have 
 those capabilities for units of measure on your system.  
 
-#### Server side
+### Server side
 To access those capabilities from your server side code, require the npm package
 and create a UcumLhcUtils object that contains those functions.
 
     var ucum = require('@lhncbc/ucum-lhc');
     var utils = ucum.UcumLhcUtils.getInstance();
   
-#### Client side
+### Client side
 
 To access those capabilities from your client side code, include the 
 ucum-lhc.min.js package in your html file.  
@@ -80,11 +80,16 @@ those functions via the ucumPkg object.  For example,
 
     var parseResp = ucumPkg.UcumLhcUtils.getInstance().validateUnitString(uStr, true);
         
-#### Function descriptions
+### Function descriptions
         
-Here are the function descriptions:
+Below is documentation for the public functions on the UcumLhcUtils instance.
+*  [validateUnitString](#validateUnitString)
+*  [convertUnitTo](#convertUnitTo)
+*  [checkSynonyms](#checkSynonyms)
+*  [convertToBaseUnits](#convertToBaseUnits)
 
-**validateUnitString(uStr, suggest)**
+<a id="validateUnitString"></a>
+#### validateUnitString(uStr, suggest)
 
 This method validates a unit string.  It first checks to see if the string passed 
 in is a unit code that is found in the unit codes table. If it is not found it 
@@ -155,7 +160,8 @@ of unit strings, and includes a link to the
 [UCUM Specification](http://unitsofmeasure.org/ucum.html), where you can find 
 the full deal.
 
-**convertUnitTo(fromUnitCode, fromVal, toUnitCode, suggest, molecularWeight)**
+<a id="convertUnitTo"></a>
+#### convertUnitTo(fromUnitCode, fromVal, toUnitCode, suggest, molecularWeight)
 
 This method converts a number of one type of unit to the equivalent number of
 another type of unit.  Note that the number returned is not trimmed or
@@ -251,7 +257,8 @@ If you want to know what unit types a particular unit can be converted to, the
 checkSynonyms function will provide a list of commensurable units for a specified
 unit expression.
 
-**checkSynonyms(theSyn)**
+<a id="checkSynonyms"></a>
+#### checkSynonyms(theSyn)
 
 This method searches for units that include a single search term (theSyn) in the
 unit's synonyms data and/or the unit name.  It returns all units found with a 
@@ -289,14 +296,45 @@ of possible pound units.
     else
       /* returnObj['status'] will be 'error' and returnObj['msg'] will indicate
          what the error was. */
-      
+
+<a id="convertToBaseUnits"></a>
+#### convertToBaseUnits(fromUnit, fromVal)
+
+Converts the given unit string into its base units, their exponents, and
+a magnitude, and returns that data.
+
+**Parameters**:
+1) fromUnit: the unit string to be converted to base units information
+2) fromVal: the number of "from" units to be converted
+
+**Returns**:  an object with the properties:
+* status: indicates whether the result succeeded.  The value will be one of:
+  * 'succeeded':  the conversion was successfully calculated (which can be
+     true even if it was already in base units);
+  * 'invalid':  fromUnit is not a valid UCUM code;
+  * 'failed':  the conversion could not be made (e.g., if it is an "arbitrary" unit);
+  * 'error':  if an error occurred (an input or programming error)
+* msg: an array of messages (possibly empty), if the string is invalid or
+       an error occurred, indicating the problem, or a suggestion of a
+       substitution such as the substitution of 'G' for 'Gauss', or
+       an empty array if no messages were generated.  There can also be a
+       message that is just informational or warning.
+* magnitude: the new value when fromVal units of fromUnits is expressed in the base units.
+* fromUnitIsSpecial: whether the input unit fromUnit is a "special unit"
+        as defined in UCUM.  This means there is some function applied to convert
+        between fromUnit and the base units, so the returned magnitude is likely not
+        useful as a scale factor for other conversions (i.e., it only has validity
+        and usefulness for the input values that produced it).
+* unitToExp: a map of base units in fromUnit to their exponent
+
 
 ### Download the GitHub repository
 
 The code available here on GitHub includes functions and scripts to perform
 additional functions, mainly to convert ucum data from various formats to 
 the data used by our code as well as the code that supports the demo page.
-Click on the green "Clone or download" button above to download the repository.
+Click on the green "Code" button above to download the repository.
+
     
 ### Building the code and data
 If you wish to modify the code, the build process is simply: