Unit conversions file

This page is the generated field list for UnitConversions.xml — the linear formulas FEWS uses to convert a value from one unit to another, most often at the import/export boundary when an external source reports in a unit that doesn’t match the internal parameter unit.

At a glance

Purpose : Defines output = multiplier * input + incrementer conversions between a named input unit and output unit (e.g. feet → meters, °F → °C).

Folder : Config/RegionConfigFiles/

Root element : <unitConversions> (no version attribute)

Used by : Import/export activities and transformations that specify a unit different from the parameter’s internal unit.

Minimal example

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<unitConversions xmlns="http://www.wldelft.nl/fews">
  <addInverses>true</addInverses>
  <unitConversion>
    <inputUnitType>ft</inputUnitType>
    <outputUnitType>m</outputUnitType>
    <multiplier>0.3048</multiplier>
    <incrementer>0</incrementer>
  </unitConversion>
  <unitConversion>
    <inputUnitType>degF</inputUnitType>
    <outputUnitType>degC</outputUnitType>
    <multiplier>0.5556</multiplier>
    <incrementer>-17.7778</incrementer>
  </unitConversion>
</unitConversions>

Field reference

Auto-generated from unitConversions.xsd. Descriptions are the schema's own annotations.

Element `<unitConversions>`

Collection of all unit conversions

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
`addInverses`	`boolean`	optional
`unitConversion`	`UnitConversionComplexType`	required · repeats

`UnitConversionComplexType`

A single unit conversion: output= multiplier*input + increment

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
`inputUnitType`	`unitConversionStringType`	required
`outputUnitType`	`unitConversionStringType`	required
`multiplier`	`float`	required
`incrementer`	`float`	required
`convertDatum`	`boolean`	optional	Convert datum from Ordnance level during Import. Convert datum to Ordnance level during Export.

Gotchas

addInverses generates the reverse conversion (output → input) automatically for every entry — for a non-zero-offset conversion (like °F/°C) the inverse isn’t just 1/multiplier, so let FEWS derive it rather than hand-writing a second entry and risking a sign error on the incrementer.
convertDatum is unrelated to unit scale — it’s a vertical-datum shift (relative to Ordnance level) applied during import/export, not part of the multiplier/incrementer formula.