About units of measurement

Learn about units of measure, different types of units, and how to use them in Fillet.

The estimated reading time for this article is 10 minutes.

This article is intended for professionals who are directly involved in the operations of a commercial kitchen or a similar production facility.

A unit of measurement is used to specify or indicate some amount.

Units of measurement fall into two categories:

  • Standard units of measurement
  • Abstract units of measurement

Standard units

Fillet supports both the Metric and Imperial systems of units.

A standard unit of measurement can be used to consistently represent some amount of any material.

  • For example, the user can specify the amount of two distinct ingredients using the same standard unit:
    • 1 "kg" of carrots.
    • 1 "kg" of potatoes.

    In this example, the mass (or weight) of the two ingredients is the same.

Standard units of measurement are further segmented into two sub-categories: mass and volume.

Abstract units

An abstract unit of measurement, in comparison to standard units of measurement, can only be used to represent some amount of a particular type of material.

  • For example, the user can create two abstract units with the same name for two unrelated ingredients:
    • A "box" of carrots.
    • A "box" of potatoes.

    In this example, the two abstract units named "box" are not the same and may have different properties.

Usage

Certain parameters apply to different units of measure:

  • The user cannot create, modify, or delete standard units.
  • The user can create, modify, and delete abstract units.
  • When the user deletes an abstract unit, there may be a cascading effect on the relationships of that unit. In some cases, the relationship is deleted.