django/docs/ref/contrib/gis/measure.txt

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.. _ref-measure:
===================
Measurement Objects
===================
.. module:: django.contrib.gis.measure
:synopsis: GeoDjango's distance and area measurment objects.
The :mod:`django.contrib.gis.measure` module contains objects that allow
for convenient representation of distance and area units of measure. [#]_
Specifically, it implements two objects, :class:`Distance` and
:class:`Area` -- both of which may be accessed via the
:class:`D` and :class:`A` convenience aliases, respectively.
Example
=======
:class:`Distance` objects may be instantiated using a keyword argument indicating the
context of the units. In the example below, two different distance objects are
instantiated in units of kilometers (``km``) and miles (``mi``)::
>>> from django.contrib.gis.measure import Distance, D
>>> d1 = Distance(km=5)
>>> print d1
5.0 km
>>> d2 = D(mi=5) # `D` is an alias for `Distance`
>>> print d2
5.0 mi
Conversions are easy, just access the preferred unit attribute to get a
converted distance quantity::
>>> print d1.mi # Converting 5 kilometers to miles
3.10685596119
>>> print d2.km # Converting 5 miles to kilometers
8.04672
Moreover, arithmetic operations may be performed between the distance
objects::
>>> print d1 + d2 # Adding 5 miles to 5 kilometers
13.04672 km
>>> print d2 - d1 # Subtracting 5 kilometers from 5 miles
1.89314403881 mi
Two :class:`Distance` objects multiplied together will yield an :class:`Area`
object, which uses squared units of measure::
>>> a = d1 * d2 # Returns an Area object.
>>> print a
40.2336 sq_km
To determine what the attribute abbreviation of a unit is, the ``unit_attname``
class method may be used::
>>> print Distance.unit_attname('US Survey Foot')
survey_ft
>>> print Distance.unit_attname('centimeter')
cm
.. _supported_units:
Supported units
===============
================================= ========================================
Unit Attribute Full name or alias(es)
================================= ========================================
``km`` Kilometre, Kilometer
``mi`` Mile
``m`` Meter, Metre
``yd`` Yard
``ft`` Foot, Foot (International)
``survey_ft`` U.S. Foot, US survey foot
``inch`` Inches
``cm`` Centimeter
``mm`` Millimetre, Millimeter
``um`` Micrometer, Micrometre
``british_ft`` British foot (Sears 1922)
``british_yd`` British yard (Sears 1922)
``british_chain_sears`` British chain (Sears 1922)
``indian_yd`` Indian yard, Yard (Indian)
``sears_yd`` Yard (Sears)
``clarke_ft`` Clarke's Foot
``chain`` Chain
``chain_benoit`` Chain (Benoit)
``chain_sears`` Chain (Sears)
``british_chain_benoit`` British chain (Benoit 1895 B)
``british_chain_sears_truncated`` British chain (Sears 1922 truncated)
``gold_coast_ft`` Gold Coast foot
``link`` Link
``link_benoit`` Link (Benoit)
``link_sears`` Link (Sears)
``clarke_link`` Clarke's link
``fathom`` Fathom
``rod`` Rod
``nm`` Nautical Mile
``nm_uk`` Nautical Mile (UK)
``german_m`` German legal metre
================================= ========================================
.. note::
:class:`Area` attributes are the same as :class:`Distance` attributes,
except they are prefixed with ``sq_`` (area units are square in nature).
For example, ``Area(sq_m=2)`` creates an :class:`Area` object
representing two square meters.
Measurement API
===============
``Distance``
------------
.. class:: Distance(**kwargs)
To initialize a distance object, pass in a keyword corresponding to
the desired :ref:`unit attribute name <supported_units>` set with
desired value. For example, the following creates a distance
object representing 5 miles::
>>> dist = Distance(mi=5)
.. method:: __getattr__(unit_att)
Returns the distance value in units corresponding to the given unit
attribute. For example::
>>> print dist.km
8.04672
.. classmethod:: unit_attname(unit_name)
Returns the distance unit attribute name for the given full unit name.
For example::
>>> Distance.unit_attname('Mile')
'mi'
.. class:: D
Alias for :class:`Distance` class.
``Area``
--------
.. class:: Area(**kwargs)
To initialize a distance object, pass in a keyword corresponding to
the desired :ref:`unit attribute name <supported_units>` set with
desired value. For example, the following creates a distance
object representing 5 square miles::
>>> a = Area(sq_mi=5)
.. method:: __getattr__(unit_att)
Returns the area value in units corresponding to the given unit
attribute. For example::
>>> print a.sq_km
12.949940551680001
.. classmethod:: unit_attname(unit_name)
Returns the area unit attribute name for the given full unit name.
For example::
>>> Area.unit_attname('Kilometer')
'sq_km'
.. class:: A
Alias for :class:`Area` class.
.. rubric:: Footnotes
.. [#] `Robert Coup <http://koordinates.com/>`_ is the initial author of the measure objects,
and was inspired by Brian Beck's work in `geopy <http://code.google.com/p/geopy/>`_
and Geoff Biggs' PhD work on dimensioned units for robotics.