General Converter — v3.0.0

[aranapatona]

General Converter — v3.0.0

A significant rewrite focused on accuracy, extensibility, and usefulness for technical and scientific work. This release adds 10 new categories, 100+ new units, a cleaner internal architecture, clipboard support, and matching icons for every category.

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⚡ What's New at a Glance

	v2.1.0	v3.0.0
Categories	9	19
Total units	~70	~175
Conversion engine	eval() on formula strings	Pure arithmetic (factor/offset)
Clipboard copy	✗	✓ Enter copies result
Category icons	9	19 (all categories covered)
Bug-free factors	Some errors (see below)	Corrected, exact where possible

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🆕 New Categories

Force

N · mN · kN · MN · dyn · kgf · lbf · pdl

Newton, millinewton, kilonewton, meganewton, dyne, kilogram-force, pound-force, poundal.

Power

W · mW · kW · MW · GW · hp · hpmet · BTU/hr · kcal/hr · VA

Watt through gigawatt, mechanical and metric horsepower, BTU/hr, kilocalorie/hr, volt-ampere.

Torque

Nm · kNm · mNm · lbf_ft · lbf_in · kgfm · ozf_in · dyn_cm

Newton-metre through millinewton-metre, pound-foot, pound-inch, kilogram-force metre, ounce-force inch, dyne-centimetre.

Frequency

Hz · kHz · MHz · GHz · THz · rpm · rps · rad/s

Hertz through terahertz, RPM, revolutions per second, radians per second.

Angle

deg · rad · grad · arcmin · arcsec · rev · mrad

Degree, radian, gradian, arcminute, arcsecond, revolution, milliradian.

Amount of Substance

mol · mmol · µmol · nmol · pmol · kmol

Mole through picomole and kilomole. Essential for chemistry and biochemistry.

Radioactivity

Bq · kBq · MBq · GBq · TBq · Ci · mCi · µCi · nCi · dpm

Becquerel through terabecquerel, curie through nanocurie, disintegrations per minute.

Radiation Dose (absorbed)

Gy · mGy · µGy · cGy · rad · mrad

Gray, milligray, microgray, centigray, rad, millirad.

Dose Equivalent

Sv · mSv · µSv · rem · mrem

Sievert, millisievert, microsievert, rem, millirem.

Density

kg/m3 · g/cm3 · g/mL · kg/L · g/L · mg/L · lb/ft3 · lb/in3 · lb/gal

SI and imperial density units, including g/mL and mg/L common in chemistry and lab work.

Dynamic Viscosity

Pa_s · mPa_s · cP · P · lb/ft_s

Pascal-second, millipascal-second, centipoise, poise, pound per foot-second.

Kinematic Viscosity

m2/s · mm2/s · cSt · St · ft2/s

Square metre per second, square millimetre per second, centistokes, stokes, square foot per second.

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🔧 Expanded Existing Categories

Distance

Added: µm (micrometre), nm (nanometre), Å (ångström), nmi (nautical mile), ly (light-year), au (astronomical unit), pc (parsec)

Area

Added: sqmm (square millimetre)

Volume

Added: cl (centilitre), dl (decilitre)

Weight / Mass

Added: mg (milligram), µg (microgram), ng (nanogram), Da (dalton), u (atomic mass unit)

Temperature

Added: r (Rankine) — used in thermodynamics and aerospace engineering

Speed

Added: ft/s (feet per second), mach (Mach number at sea level, 15°C), c (speed of light)

Energy

Added: mJ (millijoule), MWh (megawatt-hour), therm, eV / keV / MeV / GeV (electronvolts), erg

Pressure

Rebuilt with Pa as base (was bar). Added: hPa (hectopascal), MPa, GPa, ksi, mmHg, Torr, inHg

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🐛 Bug Fixes in Existing Units

These were silent wrong-answer bugs in v2.1.0:

Category	Unit	v2.1.0 factor (wrong)	v3.0.0 factor (correct)
Volume	mm3	÷ 0.1 → ×10 ml	÷ 1000 → 0.001 ml ✓
Area	sqkm	÷ 1,000,000 → 0.000001 m²	× 1,000,000 → 1,000,000 m² ✓
Volume	g	Stray gram entry copied from Weight	Removed ✓
Pressure	kPa	Implied 0.001 bar/kPa	0.01 bar/kPa ✓

Spelling fix: Farenheit → Fahrenheit

Capitalisation fix: Gj → GJ (gigajoule)

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✨ Clipboard Support

Pressing Enter on a conversion result now copies the converted value to the clipboard. The value is copied without thousands separators so it pastes cleanly into calculations, spreadsheets, or code.

10 km/h m/s   →   Enter copies: 2.778

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🏗️ Internal Architecture

Why the format changed

The old units.py stored conversions as a pair of formula strings that were eval()'d at runtime:

# Old format
["km", _("kilometre"), _("kilometres"), "x / 0.001", "x * 0.001"]
#                                        ^ TO base     ^ FROM base
#                                        eval'd at runtime — slow, fragile, and a security risk

This had several problems:

• The two formulas must always be exact inverses of each other — easy to get wrong by hand, and four of them were wrong in v2.1.0 (see bug fixes above)
• The factor meaning is buried: "x / 0.001" is less readable than 1_000 (1 km = 1000 m)
• eval() on user-facing data is a security surface
• String manipulation on every conversion is needlessly slow

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New format — linear units

Each unit is a 4-tuple: (abbreviation, singular, plural, factor)

The factor is the answer to: "how many base units make up one of this unit?"

# Full category structure
_("Distance"): {
    "base": "m",           # abbreviation of the base unit
    "units": [
        #  abbr    singular       plural         factor
        ("m",   _("metre"),    _("metres"),    1),        # base — always 1
        ("cm",  _("centimetre"), _("centimetres"), 0.01), # 1 cm = 0.01 m
        ("km",  _("kilometre"), _("kilometres"), 1_000),  # 1 km = 1000 m
        ("in",  _("inch"),     _("inches"),    0.0254),   # 1 in = 0.0254 m (exact)
        ("mi",  _("mile"),     _("miles"),     1_609.344),# 1 mi = 1609.344 m (exact)
    ]
}

The engine converts any pair using only two multiplications — no strings, no eval:

to_base   = value × src_factor
result    = to_base ÷ dst_factor

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New format — affine units (Temperature)

Units that don't convert via a simple ratio (Temperature, Rankine) use a 5-tuple with an extra offset field:

_("Temperature"): {
    "base": "c",
    "units": [
        #  abbr   singular       plural         factor   offset
        ("c",  _("Celsius"),    _("Celsius"),    1,       0),
        ("f",  _("Fahrenheit"), _("Fahrenheit"), 1/1.8,  -32),    # °F → °C: (x - 32) / 1.8
        ("k",  _("Kelvin"),     _("Kelvin"),     1,      -273.15), # K  → °C: x - 273.15
        ("r",  _("Rankine"),    _("Rankine"),    1/1.8,  -491.67), # °R → °C: (x - 491.67) / 1.8
    ]
}

The engine detects the 5-tuple and applies the affine formula:

to_base = (value + offset) × factor
result  = (to_base ÷ dst_factor) − dst_offset

The offset encodes what you add to the raw value before scaling. For Fahrenheit: add −32 (i.e. subtract 32), then divide by 1.8. This matches the standard formula exactly and handles round-trips correctly.

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Adding your own units

Add a unit to an existing category — append a tuple to the "units" list. The factor is simply "how many base units equal one of this unit":

# Weight base is grams — 1 Chinese jin = 500 g
("jin", _("Chinese jin"), _("Chinese jin"), 500)

Add a brand new category:

_("My Category"): {
    "base": "mybase",
    "units": [
        ("mybase", _("base unit"),  _("base units"),  1),    # base always has factor 1
        ("other",  _("other unit"), _("other units"), 42.0), # 1 other = 42 base units
    ]
}

Then add a corresponding assets/My Category.ico (128×128 RGBA, transparent background).

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📋 Full Unit Reference

Units are case-sensitive. Base unit listed first for each category.

Distance (base: m)

Code	Unit
m	metre
dm	decimetre
cm	centimetre
mm	millimetre
µm	micrometre
nm	nanometre
km	kilometre
in	inch
ft	foot
yd	yard
mi	mile
nmi	nautical mile
ly	light-year
au	astronomical unit
pc	parsec
Å	ångström

Area (base: sqm)

Code	Unit
sqm	square metre
sqcm	square centimetre
sqmm	square millimetre
sqkm	square kilometre
sqin	square inch
sqft	square foot
sqyd	square yard
sqmi	square mile
ac	acre
h	hectare

Volume (base: ml)

Code	Unit
ml	millilitre
cl	centilitre
dl	decilitre
l	litre
decal	decalitre
m3	cubic metre
cm3	cubic centimetre
mm3	cubic millimetre
dm3	cubic decimetre
in3	cubic inch
ft3	cubic foot
pt / ptimp	pint US / Imperial
qt / qtimp	quart US / Imperial
cup / cupimp	cup US / Imperial
tbsp / tbspimp	tablespoon US / Imperial
tsp / tspimp	teaspoon US / Imperial
gal / galimp	gallon US / Imperial
floz / flozimp	fluid ounce US / Imperial
buuk / buus	bushel UK / US

Weight / Mass (base: g)

Code	Unit
g	gram
mg	milligram
µg	microgram
ng	nanogram
kg	kilogram
t	tonne
lb	pound
oz	ounce
st	stone
ton	US ton
tonimp	Imperial ton
Da	dalton
u	atomic mass unit

Temperature (base: c)

Code	Unit
c	Celsius
f	Fahrenheit
k	Kelvin
r	Rankine

Speed (base: m/s)

Code	Unit
m/s	metres per second
km/h	kilometres per hour
mp/h	miles per hour
ft/s	feet per second
kt	knot
mach	Mach (sea level, 15°C)
c	speed of light

Force (base: N)

Code	Unit
N	newton
mN	millinewton
kN	kilonewton
MN	meganewton
dyn	dyne
kgf	kilogram-force
lbf	pound-force
pdl	poundal

Pressure (base: Pa)

Code	Unit
Pa	pascal
hPa	hectopascal
kPa	kilopascal
MPa	megapascal
GPa	gigapascal
bar	bar
mbar	millibar
atm	atmosphere
mmHg	millimetre of mercury
torr	torr
psi	psi
ksi	ksi
inHg	inch of mercury

Energy (base: J)

Code	Unit
J	joule
mJ	millijoule
kJ	kilojoule
MJ	megajoule
GJ	gigajoule
cal	calorie (IT)
kcal	kilocalorie
kWh	kilowatt-hour
MWh	megawatt-hour
BTU	British thermal unit
therm	therm
eV	electronvolt
keV	kiloelectronvolt
MeV	megaelectronvolt
GeV	gigaelectronvolt
erg	erg

Power (base: W)

Code	Unit
W	watt
mW	milliwatt
kW	kilowatt
MW	megawatt
GW	gigawatt
hp	horsepower (mechanical)
hpmet	horsepower (metric)
BTU/hr	BTU per hour
kcal/hr	kilocalorie per hour
VA	volt-ampere

Torque (base: Nm)

Code	Unit
Nm	newton-metre
kNm	kilonewton-metre
mNm	millinewton-metre
lbf_ft	pound-foot
lbf_in	pound-inch
kgfm	kilogram-force metre
ozf_in	ounce-force inch
dyn_cm	dyne-centimetre

Frequency (base: Hz)

Code	Unit
Hz	hertz
kHz	kilohertz
MHz	megahertz
GHz	gigahertz
THz	terahertz
rpm	RPM
rps	revolutions per second
rad/s	radians per second

Angle (base: deg)

Code	Unit
deg	degree
rad	radian
grad	gradian
arcmin	arcminute
arcsec	arcsecond
rev	revolution
mrad	milliradian

Amount of Substance (base: mol)

Code	Unit
mol	mole
mmol	millimole
µmol	micromole
nmol	nanomole
pmol	picomole
kmol	kilomole

Radioactivity (base: Bq)

Code	Unit
Bq	becquerel
kBq	kilobecquerel
MBq	megabecquerel
GBq	gigabecquerel
TBq	terabecquerel
Ci	curie
mCi	millicurie
µCi	microcurie
nCi	nanocurie
dpm	disintegrations per minute

Radiation Dose (base: Gy)

Code	Unit
Gy	gray
mGy	milligray
µGy	microgray
cGy	centigray
rad	rad
mrad	millirad

Dose Equivalent (base: Sv)

Code	Unit
Sv	sievert
mSv	millisievert
µSv	microsievert
rem	rem
mrem	millirem

Density (base: kg/m3)

Code	Unit
kg/m3	kilogram per cubic metre
g/cm3	gram per cubic centimetre
g/mL	gram per millilitre
kg/L	kilogram per litre
g/L	gram per litre
mg/L	milligram per litre
lb/ft3	pound per cubic foot
lb/in3	pound per cubic inch
lb/gal	pound per US gallon

Dynamic Viscosity (base: Pa_s)

Code	Unit
Pa_s	pascal-second
mPa_s	millipascal-second
cP	centipoise
P	poise
lb/ft_s	pound per foot-second

Kinematic Viscosity (base: m2/s)

Code	Unit
m2/s	square metre per second
mm2/s	square millimetre per second
cSt	centistokes
St	stokes
ft2/s	square foot per second

Data (base: B)

Code	Unit
B	byte
KB MB GB TB PB	kilobyte → petabyte (SI)
b Kb Mb Gb Tb Pb	bit → petabit (SI)
KiB MiB GiB TiB PiB	kibibyte → pebibyte (IEC)
Kib Mib Gib Tib Pib	kibibit → pebibit (IEC)

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🙏 Credits

Original plugin by @deefrawley.
v3.0.0 expansion and refactor contributed by the community.

[deefrawley]

A very comprehensive refactor, thank you very much for the work that has gone into this. Can you update the README for the repo to update it with the information above?

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR delivers the “General Converter” v3.0.0 rewrite by replacing the string/eval-based conversion model with a factor/offset-based engine, expanding unit coverage (new categories + many new units), and adding clipboard-copy support plus new category icons.

Changes:

• Replaced formula-string unit definitions with structured (abbr, names, factor[, offset]) tuples and added a new arithmetic conversion function.
• Refactored the plugin query flow to use the new unit schema and added “Enter copies value” clipboard support.
• Added new .ico assets for the expanded set of categories.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 14 changed files in this pull request and generated 5 comments.

File	Description
plugin/units.py	Replaces eval-formula units with factor/offset tuples; adds many new categories/units; introduces convert() arithmetic engine.
plugin/general_converter.py	Refactors unit lookup and conversion to match the new schema; adds clipboard copy via clip.exe; reorganizes query handling.
assets/*.ico	Adds icons for the newly introduced categories.

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[deefrawley]

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