I have updated Appendix C to note the differences between SI prefixes and binary prefixes. Rather than mandate one over the other, I have added the text: "Usage record measures of volume should use the appropriate terminology for referring to units. For measurements based on powers of 2 (2^10, 2^20, etc), the prefixes for binary multiples should be used. For measurements based on powers of 10 (10^3, 10^6, etc), the SI prefixes should be used." I have also included charts from NIST, which are based on the IEC standards. If this is not sufficient, please let me know. Thx LM
-----Original Message----- From: ur-wg-bounces@ogf.org [mailto:ur-wg-bounces@ogf.org] On Behalf Of Donal K. Fellows Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2006 6:40 AM To: Mailing List for UR-WG Subject: Re: [UR-WG] LAST CALL - Usage Record Format Recommendation - Version 1
* Appendix C should note that SI usage requires "kiB" for 1024 bytes, "MiB" for 1024 kiB, etc. It's stupid, but "standard". It's also a large part of the reason why JSDL dropped putting units in. :-\
What is "SI Usage"? How should this be noted in Appendix C?
Apparently, we're supposed to use 1MB to refer to 1000000 bytes and 1MiB to refer to 1048576 bytes (== 1024kiB, 1kiB == 1024 bytes). I hate this usage, but it is standard. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_prefix has lots of gory details, including links to more discussion.
I prefer to put everything in bytes or bits and use very big numbers. :-)
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