Operating units and conversions

Every quantity in Assemblified is denominated in a unit: a raw material is bought in kilograms, consumed in grams, counted in pieces. The unit catalogue is that list, and the conversions are what let one unit be expressed in another. A connected assistant can read both, and with write access change them.

On this page

• What it takes
• Reading the catalogue
• Adding and correcting a unit
• Hiding instead of deleting
• Relating two units
• When a conversion already exists
• What it will not do quietly

What it takes

Reading needs nothing beyond a connection. Changing a unit or a conversion needs write access: either an API key created with read & write scope or a web-chat connection granted read & write when it was linked. See API keys and Connect claude.ai or ChatGPT.

Reading the catalogue

The assistant can list every unit your store has, with its symbol (“kg”), its full name, what it measures, and whether it is one of the built-in units or one you added. By default it sees the units in use; it can ask for the hidden ones as well.

It can also read the conversion table: each row relates two units by a factor, and the factor means exactly what it says. A row from kilograms to grams with a factor of 1000 means one kilogram is a thousand grams.

Note

Conversions work both ways. A kilogram to gram row also answers “how many kilograms is this in grams”, and a chain of rows answers a pair that has no row of its own: if you have kilograms to grams and grams to milligrams, kilograms to milligrams is already answered. You do not need a row for every pair.

Adding and correcting a unit

Adding a unit takes a symbol (up to 16 characters, which is what fits everywhere it is shown) and a name. The symbol has to be unique among the units in use, so an assistant that tries to add a second “kg” is told the unit already exists rather than quietly creating a duplicate.

Correcting one changes it everywhere at once: the unit is a single row every quantity points at, so fixing a name fixes every material and every bill that uses it.

Hiding instead of deleting

Deleting a unit is not always a delete, and the assistant will tell you which happened.

• A built-in unit is never deleted. It is hidden: it disappears from the dropdowns and stays on the records that already use it.
• A unit your materials still use is hidden too, and the answer says how many materials that is.
• A unit nothing uses is genuinely removed — and so is every conversion it took part in, because a conversion to a unit that no longer exists cannot mean anything.

Hiding is reversible: the assistant can bring a hidden unit back by setting it active again.

Caution

Renaming a symbol that is in use is refused. If raw materials still carry the old symbol, changing it would leave those quantities pointing at nothing, so the change is rejected and the answer says how many materials are in the way. Correct those materials first, or hide the old unit and add the new one beside it.

Relating two units

A conversion needs two different units and a factor greater than zero. Both units have to exist first — the assistant cannot invent one on the way past.

That is all a conversion is, and it is worth being precise with the assistant about direction: “one kilogram is 1000 grams” and “one gram is 0.001 kilograms” are the same conversion, stored once.

When a conversion already exists

Because conversions work both ways, a new one often overlaps something you already have. The assistant is told which case it is and does not pick for you:

• Already stored, same direction — the conversion exists. Nothing is written until you say whether to update the stored factor or add yours alongside it.
• Already stored backwards — the same pair, written the other way round. Again nothing is written until you decide. If you choose to update, the stored row is corrected in its own direction, with the factor inverted for you.
• Already answerable through other conversions — there is no direct row, but the value can be worked out through a chain. This one is added: a direct row is a legitimate shortcut and often the more precise one. The assistant reports that it was derivable so you know the chain existed.

“We buy in kilograms and the recipes are in grams — set that up.”

What it will not do quietly

• It will not create a second unit with a symbol you already use.
• It will not rename a symbol out from under the materials that use it.
• It will not overwrite a conversion you already have without being told to.
• It will not change what a past record meant. Conversions apply to work that happens after them; a quantity already recorded keeps the unit it was recorded in.

See also

• What the assistant can read — the full read surface.
• Operating settings — the same rules, applied to your store settings.
• Managing access & security — how write access is scoped and revoked.