Units

The unit module provides functionality to format measurement units for different locales.

babel.units.format_unit(value, measurement_unit, length='long', format=None, locale='en_US_POSIX')

Format a value of a given unit.

Values are formatted according to the locale’s usual pluralization rules and number formats.

>>> format_unit(12, 'length-meter', locale='ro_RO')
u'12 metri'
>>> format_unit(15.5, 'length-mile', locale='fi_FI')
u'15,5 mailia'
>>> format_unit(1200, 'pressure-inch-hg', locale='nb')
u'1\xa0200 tommer kvikks\xf8lv'

Number formats may be overridden with the format parameter.

>>> from babel._compat import decimal
>>> format_unit(decimal.Decimal("-42.774"), 'temperature-celsius', 'short', format='#.0', locale='fr')
u'-42,8 \xb0C'

The locale’s usual pluralization rules are respected.

>>> format_unit(1, 'length-meter', locale='ro_RO')
u'1 metru'
>>> format_unit(0, 'length-picometer', locale='cy')
u'0 picometr'
>>> format_unit(2, 'length-picometer', locale='cy')
u'2 bicometr'
>>> format_unit(3, 'length-picometer', locale='cy')
u'3 phicometr'

>>> format_unit(15, 'length-horse', locale='fi')
Traceback (most recent call last):
    ...
UnknownUnitError: length-horse is not a known unit in fi

New in version 2.2.0.

Parameters:
  • value – the value to format. If this is a string, no number formatting will be attempted.
  • measurement_unit – the code of a measurement unit. Known units can be found in the CLDR Unit Validity XML file: http://unicode.org/repos/cldr/tags/latest/common/validity/unit.xml
  • length – “short”, “long” or “narrow”
  • format – An optional format, as accepted by format_decimal.
  • locale – the Locale object or locale identifier
babel.units.format_compound_unit(numerator_value, numerator_unit=None, denominator_value=1, denominator_unit=None, length='long', format=None, locale='en_US_POSIX')

Format a compound number value, i.e. “kilometers per hour” or similar.

Both unit specifiers are optional to allow for formatting of arbitrary values still according to the locale’s general “per” formatting specifier.

>>> format_compound_unit(7, denominator_value=11, length="short", locale="pt")
'7/11'

>>> format_compound_unit(150, "kilometer", denominator_unit="hour", locale="sv")
'150 kilometer per timme'

>>> format_compound_unit(150, "kilowatt", denominator_unit="year", locale="fi")
'150 kilowattia vuodessa'

>>> format_compound_unit(32.5, "ton", 15, denominator_unit="hour", locale="en")
'32.5 tons per 15 hours'

>>> format_compound_unit(160, denominator_unit="square-meter", locale="fr")
'160 par m\xe8tre carr\xe9'

>>> format_compound_unit(4, "meter", "ratakisko", length="short", locale="fi")
'4 m/ratakisko'

>>> format_compound_unit(35, "minute", denominator_unit="fathom", locale="sv")
'35 minuter per famn'

>>> from babel.numbers import format_currency
>>> format_compound_unit(format_currency(35, "JPY", locale="de"), denominator_unit="liter", locale="de")
'35\xa0\xa5 pro Liter'

See http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr35/tr35-general.html#perUnitPatterns

Parameters:
  • numerator_value – The numerator value. This may be a string, in which case it is considered preformatted and the unit is ignored.
  • numerator_unit – The numerator unit. See format_unit.
  • denominator_value – The denominator value. This may be a string, in which case it is considered preformatted and the unit is ignored.
  • denominator_unit – The denominator unit. See format_unit.
  • length – The formatting length. “short”, “long” or “narrow”
  • format – An optional format, as accepted by format_decimal.
  • locale – the Locale object or locale identifier
Returns:

A formatted compound value.
babel.units.get_unit_name(measurement_unit, length='long', locale='en_US_POSIX')

Get the display name for a measurement unit in the given locale.

>>> get_unit_name("radian", locale="en")
'radians'

Unknown units will raise exceptions:

>>> get_unit_name("battery", locale="fi")
Traceback (most recent call last):
    ...
UnknownUnitError: battery/long is not a known unit/length in fi
Parameters:
Returns:

The unit display name, or None.