Abstract units of measurement

In Fillet, abstract units are non-standard units of measurement

Learn about abstract units and how to use them in Fillet apps.

Abstract units

Standard units are units of measurement that provide consistent or uniform measurement. You cannot create or add standard units in Fillet. To use non-standard units, you must create abstract units.
Fillet mobile apps provide a list of suggestions for abstract units. When you select a unit from this list, a new abstract unit is created and added to your selected object: the ingredient or recipe.
Each abstract unit is unique, which means that it belongs to one object only. An abstract unit can only be used by the object that it belongs to, that is, it cannot be used by other objects.

Abstract units for ingredients

For ingredients, you will typically use abstract units to do the following:

  • Enter prices from vendors

    Vendors commonly use units of measurement such as, "each", "case", or "bag".

  • Use custom, flexible measurements

    You may rely on non-standard measurements during production or ingredient preparation.

Example

The situation

You want to create abstract units for three ingredients:

  • "Olive oil"
  • "Lemon juice"
  • "Honey"

For each ingredient, you want to use an abstract unit as the unit of measurement: "bottle".

The solution

In each of the three ingredients, you will create an abstract unit named "bottle".

You now have three unique abstract units, for which you can specify conversion to any standard unit.

Here, conversion is specified to three different standard units: liters ("L"), kilograms ("kg"), and gallons ("gal").

Ingredient name Abstract unit Conversion
Olive oil bottle 5 L
Lemon juice bottle 1 gal
Honey bottle 1 kg
Tip: If you frequently use abstract units, you should specify conversion at the same time that you create the new abstract unit. This will help you to avoid issues later.

Abstract units for recipes

"Recipe yield" is the amount of product produced by a recipe.

"Recipe yield units" are abstract units that are used to measure recipe yield. Fillet provides a default unit of measurement for recipe yield, which is an abstract unit named "serving". You can create any number of recipe yield units for your recipes.

For recipes, you may use abstract units to do the following:

Example

The situation

You want to create abstract units for three recipes, to measure recipe yield:

  • "Banana cake"
  • "Butter bread"
  • "Chocolate cookie"

For each recipe, you want to measure recipe yield using an abstract unit : "piece".

The solution

In each of the three recipes, you will create an abstract unit named "piece".

You now have three unique abstract units, for which you can specify conversion to any standard unit.

Here, conversion is specified to different standard mass units: grams ("g"), pounds ("lb"), and ounces ("oz").

Recipe name Abstract unit Conversion
Banana cake piece 300 g
Butter bread piece 1 lb
Chocolate cookie piece 3 oz
Tip: If you frequently use abstract units to measure recipe yield, you should specify conversion at the same time that you create the recipe yield unit. This will help you to avoid issues later.

Abstract units with similar names

It is possible that you will create abstract units with similar names, but use them with different types of objects for different purposes.

The most commonly used abstract unit is "each", which is in the list of suggested abstract units provided by the Fillet mobile apps.

In such situations, you should specify conversion promptly in order to avoid confusion or mistakes.

Example

The situation

You want to use "each" as a unit of measurement for various different objects:

  • "Organic honey, 5 kg, pack of 4"
  • "Coconut oil, 1 gal, case of 6"
  • "Banana cake"
  • "Chocolate cookie"

For the ingredients, you want to use "each" to enter vendors' prices into Fillet.

For the recipes, you want to use "each" to measure recipe yield.

The solution

In each of the four objects, you will create an abstract unit named "each".

You now have four unique abstract units, for which you can specify conversion to any standard unit.

Object type Object name Abstract unit Conversion
Ingredient Organic honey, 5 kg, pack of 4 each 20 kg
Ingredient Coconut oil, 1 gal, case of 6 each 60 L
Recipe Banana cake each 300 g
Recipe Chocolate cookie each 3 oz
The result
Each one of the abstract units has a different conversion to standard units. Therefore, “each” is different measurement depending on the object it belongs to.

As well, conversion is specified to different standard units: kilograms ("kg"), gallons ("gal"), grams ("g"), and ounces ("oz").

Lastly, each of these abstract units can only be used by the object that it belongs to and not other objects.

Related topics:

Standard units of measurement
Units of measurement and nutrition
Units of measure for Import Price Data tool