The Aspect Delimiters field allows you to specify:
othe order in which aspects of measurement should be displayed (e.g. Height x Width x Depth, or Depth x Width x Height)
othe data the system will accept (i.e. the input) for each aspect
othe way the system will display the entered data (i.e. the output)
Order of aspects
To establish the order in which the aspects of a measurement will be displayed, simply enter the aspects, one on each line of the field, in the desired order.
Input Delimiters
If you enter no input delimiters at all, the system will still accept numbers and the x between them, e.g. 27 x 13 x 3, and will convert these to any output delimiters you specify. It would not accept anything else. For example, if you were to enter 27h 13w 3d the system would tell you that 'h' is not a valid word.
It is easier to specify a range of input delimiters (e.g. h, H, high and height for the Height; w, W, Width and Wide for the Width, etc) than it is to remember not to enter anything but numbers. If the data you are working from has h, w and d in it, you will probably forget that you are not to enter these, and will type them along with the numbers. The result can be frustrating as the system continues to remind you that ' is not a valid word.
It is also useful to define input delimiters because of those situations where measurements are entered in a different order. For example there may be situations where you are presented with information for a large number of objects, showing the measurements as Width by Depth by Height instead of Height by Width by Depth. Rather than mentally sorting each to the correct order during data entry, you will probably prefer to enter them as they appear, letting the system convert them to the right order.
This would only be possible if you had defined input delimiters. For example, once the system knows that a number followed by h, H or Height is the height, and a number followed by w, W or Width is the width, you could enter 3D 27H 13W and the system will record those measurements accurately, and will display them in the order you specified for aspects (e.g. H 27 x W 13 x D 3cm).
Once you have specified input delimiters, there is no longer any need to enter the X, or even a space between numbers. For example, you can enter 27h13w4d and the system will convert this to your output specification.
Output delimiters
Output delimiters indicate the way you want the system to identify the aspect, regardless of how it was entered. For example, for the Measurement Type 'Dimensions', you might enter output delimiters as H, W and D; or Height, Width and Depth; or High, Wide and Deep. You might then enter the measurement reading 27 x 13 x 3 and, depending on which output delimiters you specified, system would display the measurement as H 27 x W 13 x D 3, or Height 27 x Width 13 x Depth 3cm, or 27 High x 13 Wide x 3 Deep.
If no output delimiters are specified, the system will display only the measurements you enter and will not identify which aspect of measurement each number applies to. For example, measurements will be displayed as 27 x 13 x 2 instead of H 27 x W 13 x D 2.
If you chose not to specify output delimiters, you SHOULD specify input delimiters. The system will always display measurement aspects in the order you specify, regardless of the order in which they were entered. If you specify neither input nor output delimiters, the system will assume that measurements have been entered in the right order, but will have no way to verify this, and nor will you. The possibility of errors will simply be increased.
