[PT Run][New Plugin] Unit Converter

[ThiefZero]

Summary of the Pull Request

What is this about:
A unit converter plugin for PowerToys.Run. I've had this idea for a while now and wanted to see if I could contribute to my first open source project. (I hadn't opened an issue yet because I wanted to see if I could make it work.)
As it's my first open source contribution constructive feedback is appreciated ✌️.
I'm using a package called UnitsNet to do these conversions.

What is included in the PR:

Currently Supported Units (13)

• Acceleration
• Angle
• Area
• Duration
• Energy
• Information
• Length
• Mass
• Power
• Pressure
• Speed
• Temperature
• Volume

How does someone test / validate:
Manually, or running the unit tests.

Possible Improvements

• Temperature names are prefixed with Degree (e.g. DegreeCelsius/DegreeFahrenheit), make sure words without the prefix (e.g. 'celsius') suffices.
• Temperature shorthand needs a degree symbol to work correctly, make sure it doesn't (e.g. '10 f in c' should work).
• Sometimes stuff like '1'5" in cm' returns scientific power to 10th notation (e.g. '4,3179999999999994E+17'). This should probably just round (e.g. to '4,318').
• Culture dependent input should work (use of ',' or '.').
• Support multiple length input such as '1 foot 5 inch in cm'. (?)
• Support 'copy to clipboard' translations.
• Change to use the keywords 'to' and 'in' (if it's even possible to use multiple keywords, find out).

Quality Checklist

• Linked issue: As stated, I didn't open an issue before doing work (I know, very naughty) but it seems like there's an issue for it now: [PowerToys Run] Unit conversion #9577
• Communication: I've discussed this with core contributors in the issue.
• Tests: Added/updated and all pass
• Installer: Added/updated and all pass
• Localization: All end user facing strings can be localized
• Docs: Added/ updated
• Binaries: Any new files are added to WXS / YML
  • No new binaries
  • YML for signing for new binaries
  • WXS for installer for new binaries

Contributor License Agreement (CLA)

A CLA must be signed. If not, go over here and sign the CLA.

[ghost]

All CLA requirements met.

[github-actions]

New misspellings found, please review:

• Prefixer
• shortsplit

To accept these changes, run the following commands

perl -e '
my @expect_files=qw('".github/actions/spell-check/expect.txt"');
@ARGV=@expect_files;
my @stale=qw('"acf Actionkeyword bdaa benjamhooper bsearch deondre Elems eriawan FDFC FFB filesfolder globalplugins happlebao HKE jhutchings jsoref msazure MSGBOX netfx QWORD removefolder Runtimes Rutkas Searcn Segoe snickler systray verifybothfolderfilesequal welcomeoverview XJson YJson "');
my $re=join "|", @stale;
my $suffix=".".time();
my $previous="";
sub maybe_unlink { unlink($_[0]) if $_[0]; }
while (<>) {
  if ($ARGV ne $old_argv) { maybe_unlink($previous); $previous="$ARGV$suffix"; rename($ARGV, $previous); open(ARGV_OUT, ">$ARGV"); select(ARGV_OUT); $old_argv = $ARGV; }
  next if /^($re)(?:$| .*)/; print;
}; maybe_unlink($previous);'
perl -e '
my $new_expect_file=".github/actions/spell-check/expect.txt";
open FILE, q{<}, $new_expect_file; chomp(my @words = <FILE>); close FILE;
my @add=qw('"NETFX Prefixer qword runtimes segoe shortsplit "');
my %items; @items{@words} = @words x (1); @items{@add} = @add x (1);
@words = sort {lc($a) cmp lc($b)} keys %items;
open FILE, q{>}, $new_expect_file; for my $word (@words) { print FILE "$word\n" if $word =~ /\w/; };
close FILE;'
git add .github/actions/spell-check || echo '... you want to ensure .github/actions/spell-check/expect.txt is added to your repository...'

[crutkas]

This is missing the WSX adjustments no matter what for installer

[github-actions]

New misspellings found, please review:

• Prefixer
• shortsplit

To accept these changes, run the following commands

perl -e '
my @expect_files=qw('".github/actions/spell-check/expect.txt"');
@ARGV=@expect_files;
my @stale=qw('"acf Actionkeyword bdaa benjamhooper bsearch deondre Elems eriawan FDFC FFB filesfolder globalplugins happlebao HKE jhutchings jsoref msazure MSGBOX netfx QWORD removefolder Runtimes Rutkas Searcn Segoe snickler systray verifybothfolderfilesequal welcomeoverview XJson YJson "');
my $re=join "|", @stale;
my $suffix=".".time();
my $previous="";
sub maybe_unlink { unlink($_[0]) if $_[0]; }
while (<>) {
  if ($ARGV ne $old_argv) { maybe_unlink($previous); $previous="$ARGV$suffix"; rename($ARGV, $previous); open(ARGV_OUT, ">$ARGV"); select(ARGV_OUT); $old_argv = $ARGV; }
  next if /^($re)(?:$| .*)/; print;
}; maybe_unlink($previous);'
perl -e '
my $new_expect_file=".github/actions/spell-check/expect.txt";
open FILE, q{<}, $new_expect_file; chomp(my @words = <FILE>); close FILE;
my @add=qw('"NETFX Prefixer qword runtimes segoe shortsplit "');
my %items; @items{@words} = @words x (1); @items{@add} = @add x (1);
@words = sort {lc($a) cmp lc($b)} keys %items;
open FILE, q{>}, $new_expect_file; for my $word (@words) { print FILE "$word\n" if $word =~ /\w/; };
close FILE;'
git add .github/actions/spell-check || echo '... you want to ensure .github/actions/spell-check/expect.txt is added to your repository...'

[github-actions]

New misspellings found, please review:

• Prefixer
• shortsplit

To accept these changes, run the following commands

perl -e '
my @expect_files=qw('".github/actions/spell-check/expect.txt"');
@ARGV=@expect_files;
my @stale=qw('"acf Actionkeyword bdaa benjamhooper bsearch deondre Elems eriawan FDFC FFB filesfolder globalplugins happlebao HKE jhutchings jsoref msazure MSGBOX netfx QWORD removefolder Runtimes Rutkas Searcn Segoe snickler systray verifybothfolderfilesequal welcomeoverview XJson YJson "');
my $re=join "|", @stale;
my $suffix=".".time();
my $previous="";
sub maybe_unlink { unlink($_[0]) if $_[0]; }
while (<>) {
  if ($ARGV ne $old_argv) { maybe_unlink($previous); $previous="$ARGV$suffix"; rename($ARGV, $previous); open(ARGV_OUT, ">$ARGV"); select(ARGV_OUT); $old_argv = $ARGV; }
  next if /^($re)(?:$| .*)/; print;
}; maybe_unlink($previous);'
perl -e '
my $new_expect_file=".github/actions/spell-check/expect.txt";
open FILE, q{<}, $new_expect_file; chomp(my @words = <FILE>); close FILE;
my @add=qw('"NETFX Prefixer qword runtimes segoe shortsplit "');
my %items; @items{@words} = @words x (1); @items{@add} = @add x (1);
@words = sort {lc($a) cmp lc($b)} keys %items;
open FILE, q{>}, $new_expect_file; for my $word (@words) { print FILE "$word\n" if $word =~ /\w/; };
close FILE;'
git add .github/actions/spell-check || echo '... you want to ensure .github/actions/spell-check/expect.txt is added to your repository...'

[enricogior]

@ThiefZero
there are build errors, can you fix them?
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/pull/9800/checks?check_run_id=2024088270

[ThiefZero]

@ThiefZero
there are build errors, can you fix them?
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/pull/9800/checks?check_run_id=2024088270

Working on it. Added the interface members but breaks on not having the get_name in the .dll. Not sure what's going on yet.

[github-actions]

New misspellings found, please review:

• Prefixer
• shortsplit
• unitconverter

To accept these changes, run the following commands

perl -e '
my @expect_files=qw('".github/actions/spell-check/expect.txt"');
@ARGV=@expect_files;
my @stale=qw('"cimv devenv gwmi Iconsempty itsme pavelzw proactively returnvalue settingsui sideload sideloading TRCA "');
my $re=join "|", @stale;
my $suffix=".".time();
my $previous="";
sub maybe_unlink { unlink($_[0]) if $_[0]; }
while (<>) {
  if ($ARGV ne $old_argv) { maybe_unlink($previous); $previous="$ARGV$suffix"; rename($ARGV, $previous); open(ARGV_OUT, ">$ARGV"); select(ARGV_OUT); $old_argv = $ARGV; }
  next if /^($re)(?:$| .*)/; print;
}; maybe_unlink($previous);'
perl -e '
my $new_expect_file=".github/actions/spell-check/expect.txt";
open FILE, q{<}, $new_expect_file; chomp(my @words = <FILE>); close FILE;
my @add=qw('"Prefixer shortsplit unitconverter "');
my %items; @items{@words} = @words x (1); @items{@add} = @add x (1);
@words = sort {lc($a) cmp lc($b)} keys %items;
open FILE, q{>}, $new_expect_file; for my $word (@words) { print FILE "$word\n" if $word =~ /\w/; };
close FILE;'
git add .github/actions/spell-check || echo '... you want to ensure .github/actions/spell-check/expect.txt is added to your repository...'

[enricogior]

@ThiefZero
can you add the following terms to https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/blob/master/.github/actions/spell-check/expect.txt? Thanks

Prefixer
shortsplit
unitconvert
unitconverter

[MaddyGuthridge]

Would it be possible to have it also work for "to" as well as "in"; eg "10 m/s to km/h"?

[ThiefZero]

Would it be possible to have it also work for "to" as well as "in"; eg "10 m/s to km/h"?

It's on my list of improvements, haven't looked into it yet but I hope it's possible!

edit:
Checked my code, it doesn't look at what 'keyword' you use but checks for the units. This means 'to' and 'in' both work.

[enricogior]

@ThiefZero
is the PR ready for the final review? If it is, let's convert it from draft to ready for review, thanks.

[ThiefZero]

@ThiefZero
is the PR ready for the final review? If it is, let's convert it from draft to ready for review, thanks.

Hi! Yes, I'd like some feedback on the PR. Not sure if the feature is implemented OK and if I'm missing anything. If it's OK then maybe I can add some tests later (don't know how yet).

[htcfreek]

@ThiefZero
I think we should have an own plugin symbol/icon for each plugin. So we can't use the same icon as on calculator plugin. Maybe @niels9001 or someone of the other contributors has an idea. 😉

[htcfreek]

@ThiefZero
What is the remaining work here?

[htcfreek]

Some suggestions and questions.

[htcfreek]

Suggested change

	<value>UnitConverter</value>
	<value>Unit Converter</value>

[htcfreek]

Why Wox is used here and at the other entries?

[ThiefZero]

I kept the naming scheme found in the calculator plugin. Doesn't seem to matter, consider it removed 👍

[htcfreek]

Think this must be the Microsoft/PowerToys repository.

[crutkas]

I'd put this as https://github.com/ThiefZero

[htcfreek]

Suggested change

	"Name": "UnitConverter",
	"Name": "Unit Converter",

[ThiefZero]

@ThiefZero
What is the remaining work here?

Most importantly getting the culture right (for use of . vs ,). After that it should be good enough to be used. Bonus are tests if I can figure out how to make them 😄
Oh, and probably a custom icon. No clues there yet though.

[ThiefZero]

Should be good to go now. Only missing a custom icon.

[niels9001]

@ThiefZero

I think the 'Unit' icon is applicable for this converter. Here are the dark and light images (with the right dimensions) for that (the dark icon is there, just not visible because it's white-on-white :)):

[htcfreek]

@ThiefZero
At the moment I am testing the plugin in a local build.

• The first thing I saw is that the result are included in global results. I think we should change the default behavior here.
• On German culture settings the dot is ignored and 5.5 is interpret as 55. This can be confusing. Do you have an idea how we could improve this case?
• We should add a list to docs which units can be converted.
• Can we remove the requirement of a space between number and unit.
• We should should show a warning on unsupported input like this *4 m² in m or *5 m in t.
  • Suggestion: Unit conversation or input not supported.
• Are units like m², m³ supported?

[github-actions]

@check-spelling-bot Report

Unrecognized words, please review:

• Hrenhei

Previously acknowledged words that are now absent

apos bc bh Chris's classmethod cls cn cx cz df dw EB ev fd fody fx getmembers gh hc hh hk hu ip ismethod jp Kf lambson laute loadingbar messagebox NX pb Pn pv pw px QI rpc ru rv rx sz tadele td tt tw Tz ul unitconvert uv vh vk vm vw Vx xa XY yy Zc zh zm

To accept these unrecognized words as correct (and remove the previously acknowledged and now absent words), run the following commands

... in a clone of the git@github.com:ThiefZero/PowerToys.git repository
on the unitConversion branch:

update_files() {
perl -e '
my @expect_files=qw('".github/actions/spell-check/expect.txt"');
@ARGV=@expect_files;
my @stale=qw('"$patch_remove"');
my $re=join "|", @stale;
my $suffix=".".time();
my $previous="";
sub maybe_unlink { unlink($_[0]) if $_[0]; }
while (<>) {
if ($ARGV ne $old_argv) { maybe_unlink($previous); $previous="$ARGV$suffix"; rename($ARGV, $previous); open(ARGV_OUT, ">$ARGV"); select(ARGV_OUT); $old_argv = $ARGV; }
next if /^(?:$re)(?:(?:\r|\n)*$| .*)/; print;
}; maybe_unlink($previous);'
perl -e '
my $new_expect_file=".github/actions/spell-check/expect.txt";
use File::Path qw(make_path);
use File::Basename qw(dirname);
make_path (dirname($new_expect_file));
open FILE, q{<}, $new_expect_file; chomp(my @words = <FILE>); close FILE;
my @add=qw('"$patch_add"');
my %items; @items{@words} = @words x (1); @items{@add} = @add x (1);
@words = sort {lc($a)."-".$a cmp lc($b)."-".$b} keys %items;
open FILE, q{>}, $new_expect_file; for my $word (@words) { print FILE "$word\n" if $word =~ /\w/; };
close FILE;
system("git", "add", $new_expect_file);
'
}

comment_json=$(mktemp)
curl -L -s -S \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  "https://api.github.com/repos/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/comments/844097357" > "$comment_json"
comment_body=$(mktemp)
jq -r .body < "$comment_json" > $comment_body
rm $comment_json

patch_remove=$(perl -ne 'next unless s{^</summary>(.*)</details>$}{$1}; print' < "$comment_body")
  

patch_add=$(perl -e '$/=undef;
$_=<>;
s{<details>.*}{}s;
s{^#.*}{};
s{\n##.*}{};
s{(?:^|\n)\s*\*}{}g;
s{\s+}{ }g;
print' < "$comment_body")
  
update_files
rm $comment_body
git add -u

If you see a bunch of garbage

If it relates to a ...

well-formed pattern

See if there's a pattern that would match it.

If not, try writing one and adding it to the patterns.txt file.

Patterns are Perl 5 Regular Expressions - you can test yours before committing to verify it will match your lines.

Note that patterns can't match multiline strings.

binary-ish string

Please add a file path to the excludes.txt file instead of just accepting the garbage.

File paths are Perl 5 Regular Expressions - you can test yours before committing to verify it will match your files.

^ refers to the file's path from the root of the repository, so ^README\.md$ would exclude README.md (on whichever branch you're using).

[ThiefZero]

The UnitsNet.dll dependency needs to be added to the installer.

Nice catch, I added this in my local build and build the release version, then the release version of the installer. I installed (after clearing PowerToys folder from AppData) and tried running Run, but can't. I never have been able to in the past, but I figured it was something on my machine. Now that you've mentioned I was missing a .dll, I'm thinking I might have missed something else.
I tried looking into the launcher-log but all I'm getting is

[2021-05-19 14:57:07.434985] [p-16488] [t-17196] [info] launcher logger is initialized
[2021-05-19 14:57:07.434998] [p-16488] [t-17196] [info] Launcher object is constructing
[2021-05-19 14:57:07.435153] [p-16488] [t-17196] [info] PT Run settings are empty
[2021-05-19 14:57:07.435154] [p-16488] [t-17196] [info] PT Run is going to use default shortcut
[2021-05-19 14:57:07.632297] [p-16488] [t-17196] [info] Launcher is enabling
[2021-05-19 14:57:07.632310] [p-16488] [t-17196] [trace] Starting PowerToys Run from elevated process
[2021-05-19 14:57:07.636094] [p-16488] [t-17196] [error] Failed to start PowerToys Run
[2021-05-19 14:57:17.062502] [p-16488] [t-17196] [info] Launcher is enabling
[2021-05-19 14:57:17.062521] [p-16488] [t-17196] [trace] Starting PowerToys Run from elevated process
[2021-05-19 14:57:17.066283] [p-16488] [t-17196] [error] Failed to start PowerToys Run
[2021-05-19 15:04:39.865215] [p-16488] [t-17196] [info] Launcher object is destroying
[2021-05-19 15:04:44.252379] [p-15332] [t-15312] [info] launcher logger is initialized
[2021-05-19 15:04:44.252414] [p-15332] [t-15312] [info] Launcher object is constructing
[2021-05-19 15:07:20.157885] [p-15332] [t-15312] [info] Launcher is enabling
[2021-05-19 15:07:20.157905] [p-15332] [t-15312] [trace] Starting PowerToys Run from elevated process
[2021-05-19 15:07:20.161629] [p-15332] [t-15312] [error] Failed to start PowerToys Run

Any thoughts on how to debug it?

[enricogior]

@ThiefZero
you can open the Event Log -> Windows Logs -> Application and it should show the reason.
That is the error that I was getting because of the missing UnitsNet.dll, after I manually copied to the UnitConverter folder it went away.

[htcfreek]

@ThiefZero
you can open the Event Log -> Windows Logs -> Application and it should show the reason.
That is the error that I was getting because of the missing UnitsNet.dll, after I manually copied to the UnitConverter folder it went away.

@enricogior , @ThiefZero
Why is the complete launcher instead of only the plugin failed to start?

And can we catch it with the "Something went wrong ux"?

Can we do some improvements here in a second step?

[ThiefZero]

@ThiefZero
you can open the Event Log -> Windows Logs -> Application and it should show the reason.
That is the error that I was getting because of the missing UnitsNet.dll, after I manually copied to the UnitConverter folder it went away.

@enricogior , @ThiefZero
Why is the complete launcher instead of only the plugin failed to start?

And can we catch it with the "Something went wrong ux"?

Can we do some improvements here in a second step?

I just rebuild the Master branch on release and the installer on release as well to test, still can't get Run to launch.
I checked the Application logs (Event Viewer) but there's no error/warning being logged there. I noticed on the Run page the Plugin list never gets loaded.

I don't think this has anything to do with the UnitConverter, it's probably something with my machine if it works fine on yours.

[htcfreek]

@ThiefZero
you can open the Event Log -> Windows Logs -> Application and it should show the reason.
That is the error that I was getting because of the missing UnitsNet.dll, after I manually copied to the UnitConverter folder it went away.

@enricogior , @ThiefZero
Why is the complete launcher instead of only the plugin failed to start?

And can we catch it with the "Something went wrong ux"?

Can we do some improvements here in a second step?

I just rebuild the Master branch on release and the installer on release as well to test, still can't get Run to launch.
I checked the Application logs (Event Viewer) but there's no error/warning being logged there. I noticed on the Run page the Plugin list never gets loaded.

I don't think this has anything to do with the UnitConverter, it's probably something with my machine if it works fine on yours.

Did you run something in an other user context? There is a bug regarding settings.json of pt run.

[ThiefZero]

Did you run something in an other user context? There is a bug regarding settings.json of pt run.

That was it, apparently had to uncheck run as admin in the .exe 👍 (didn't know that would persist through reinstalls). Just rebuilt everything on Release and everything works now

[htcfreek]

Did you run something in an other user context? There is a bug regarding settings.json of pt run.

That was it, apparently had to uncheck run as admin in the .exe 👍 (didn't know that would persist through reinstalls). Just rebuilt everything on Release and everything works now

This persist after deleting the exe file too.

We have an open issue on this bug. I`ll link to this comments.

[enricogior]

@ThiefZero
I've changed the target branch for this PR from master to user/ThiefZero/unitConversion so we can work on it to complete the work before merging it to master.
Thanks

[github-actions]

@check-spelling-bot Report

Unrecognized words, please review:

• Hrenhei

Previously acknowledged words that are now absent

apos autoupdate bc bh Chris's classmethod cls CMDARG cn cx cz deque df dw EB ev fd fody fx getmembers gh hc hh hk hu ip ismethod jp Kf lambson laute loadingbar messagebox multithreading nonwin NX overlaywindow pb Pn pv pw px QI rpc ru rv rx Shortcutguide sz tadele td tt tw Tz ul unitconvert uv vh vk vm vw Vx wostringstream xa XY yy Zc zh zipfolder zm

To accept these unrecognized words as correct (and remove the previously acknowledged and now absent words), run the following commands

... in a clone of the git@github.com:ThiefZero/PowerToys.git repository
on the unitConversion branch:

update_files() {
perl -e '
my @expect_files=qw('".github/actions/spell-check/expect.txt"');
@ARGV=@expect_files;
my @stale=qw('"$patch_remove"');
my $re=join "|", @stale;
my $suffix=".".time();
my $previous="";
sub maybe_unlink { unlink($_[0]) if $_[0]; }
while (<>) {
if ($ARGV ne $old_argv) { maybe_unlink($previous); $previous="$ARGV$suffix"; rename($ARGV, $previous); open(ARGV_OUT, ">$ARGV"); select(ARGV_OUT); $old_argv = $ARGV; }
next if /^(?:$re)(?:(?:\r|\n)*$| .*)/; print;
}; maybe_unlink($previous);'
perl -e '
my $new_expect_file=".github/actions/spell-check/expect.txt";
use File::Path qw(make_path);
use File::Basename qw(dirname);
make_path (dirname($new_expect_file));
open FILE, q{<}, $new_expect_file; chomp(my @words = <FILE>); close FILE;
my @add=qw('"$patch_add"');
my %items; @items{@words} = @words x (1); @items{@add} = @add x (1);
@words = sort {lc($a)."-".$a cmp lc($b)."-".$b} keys %items;
open FILE, q{>}, $new_expect_file; for my $word (@words) { print FILE "$word\n" if $word =~ /\w/; };
close FILE;
system("git", "add", $new_expect_file);
'
}

comment_json=$(mktemp)
curl -L -s -S \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  "https://api.github.com/repos/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/comments/846008022" > "$comment_json"
comment_body=$(mktemp)
jq -r .body < "$comment_json" > $comment_body
rm $comment_json

patch_remove=$(perl -ne 'next unless s{^</summary>(.*)</details>$}{$1}; print' < "$comment_body")
  

patch_add=$(perl -e '$/=undef;
$_=<>;
s{<details>.*}{}s;
s{^#.*}{};
s{\n##.*}{};
s{(?:^|\n)\s*\*}{}g;
s{\s+}{ }g;
print' < "$comment_body")
  
update_files
rm $comment_body
git add -u

If you see a bunch of garbage

If it relates to a ...

well-formed pattern

See if there's a pattern that would match it.

If not, try writing one and adding it to the patterns.txt file.

Patterns are Perl 5 Regular Expressions - you can test yours before committing to verify it will match your lines.

Note that patterns can't match multiline strings.

binary-ish string

Please add a file path to the excludes.txt file instead of just accepting the garbage.

File paths are Perl 5 Regular Expressions - you can test yours before committing to verify it will match your files.

^ refers to the file's path from the root of the repository, so ^README\.md$ would exclude README.md (on whichever branch you're using).