From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Thread: 103376,df84b868ad64e4f7 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit Path: g2news1.google.com!news3.google.com!news.glorb.com!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!local01.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.comcast.com!news.comcast.com.POSTED!not-for-mail NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2005 02:02:58 -0500 From: tmoran@acm.org Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: OT: definition of "significant figures" References: X-Newsreader: Tom's custom newsreader Message-ID: Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2005 02:02:59 -0500 NNTP-Posting-Host: 24.6.143.98 X-Trace: sv3-4QXkC/Lg+4FMQgE36MU7p2AwyrFtm0K43RiQvhZCnX3BalyAE+UAx/9yQkCBCIdSGvBIOs76br8hNlH!0iBwL23FoCXasfDHDRz37s6nQBvOPMKrQbJ3dXebl3J8L3hnLrXiOKYrKPqP8B5Nme80ejJ721Y= X-Complaints-To: abuse@comcast.net X-DMCA-Complaints-To: dmca@comcast.net X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.3.32 Xref: g2news1.google.com comp.lang.ada:3863 Date: 2005-07-31T02:02:59-05:00 List-Id: > Significant figures = Log10 (mean / standard deviation) + C > > I think people also add in the (small) constant, for > good measure, depending on how they feel about the data distribution. I've posted at home.comcast.net/~tommoran4/sigfig.zip a package to print the average of a set of measurements to the "right" number of significant figures, and to get the error implied by the figures in a value read in. I used Sigfig_Count := Integer(- Long_Float'Floor(Log(Sd / abs (Avg), 10.0))); rather than rounding the log. I'm not sure I always agree with the result, but it seems within a quibble of right. The routine also seems excessively long for what it does, but a better approach isn't obvious.