Function Repository Resource:

QuantityToSimpleString

Format a Quantity as a human-readable string

Contributed by: Andrew Steinacher

ResourceFunction["QuantityToSimpleString"][quantity]

formats quantity as a human-readable string.

Details and Options

ResourceFunction["QuantityToSimpleString"] produces a String free of unnecessary whitespace characters, including newlines.

ResourceFunction["QuantityToSimpleString"] produces strings without special characters except for × (in scientific notation) and symbolic magnitudes such as π.

ResourceFunction["QuantityToSimpleString"] uses abbreviated forms of units when they are available.

Examples

Basic Examples (5)

Format a Quantity as a simple String:

In[1]:=

Out[1]=

Format a currency with proper padding:

In[2]:=

Out[2]=

Format a Quantity with an improper fraction:

In[3]:=

Out[3]=

Format a Quantity with combined units:

In[4]:=

Out[4]=

Use None to format a bare unit:

In[5]:=

Out[5]=

Scope (1)

Format quantities in a wide variety of units and magnitudes:

In[6]:=

$Grid[ Table[ Style[ResourceFunction["QuantityToSimpleString"]@ Quantity[number, unit], FontSize -> 9], {number, {1, 2, 0.2, 1/2, 3/2, -3/2, -2.00*10^-6, N[Pi], 1.23, 1.2340`2.2, 0.00000234, 8675309, 8675309., 1230.00, Pi, None}}, {unit, {"Grams", "LargeItems", "Tons", ("LargeCalories")/( "Grams"*"Meters"), HoldForm["Grams"/"Grams"], "USDollars"}} ], Frame -> All ]$

Out[6]=

Applications (1)

QuantityToSimpleString automatically handles singular and plural unit names:

In[7]:=

FullForm@StringRiffle[
StringTemplate["`Amount` costs `Cost`", InsertionFunction -> ResourceFunction[
"QuantityToSimpleString"]] /@ {
<|"Item" -> "black beans", "Cost" -> Quantity[1.24, "USDollars"], "Amount" -> Quantity[1, "Cans"]|>,
<|"Item" -> "pinto beans", "Cost" -> Quantity[2.1, "USDollars"], "Amount" -> Quantity[2, "Cans"]|>
},
"; "
]

Out[7]=

Properties and Relations (1)

Compare QuantityToSimpleString (shown in black) to ToString (shown in red) and TextString (shown in blue):

In[8]:=

$Grid[ Flatten[Table[ { Style[ ResourceFunction["QuantityToSimpleString"]@ Quantity[number, unit], FontSize -> 9, FontWeight -> Bold], Style[ToString@Quantity[number, unit], FontSize -> 9, Darker@Green], Style[TextString@Quantity[number, unit], FontSize -> 9, Blue] } , {number, {1, 2, 0.2, 1/2, 3/2, -3/2, -2.00*10^-6, N[Pi], 1.23, 1.2340`2.2, 0.00000234, 8675309, 8675309., 1230.00, Pi, None}}, {unit, {"Grams", "LargeItems", "Tons", ("LargeCalories")/( "Grams"*"Meters"), HoldForm["Grams"/"Grams"], "USDollars"}} ], 1], Frame -> All, Alignment -> Left ]$