Matty F wrote:
I have an electronic digital calliper that shows four decimal places
of an inch for imperial measurements (and almost everything around
here is still Imperial and will stay that way because they are 100
years old).
I actually want to see fractions of inches, e.g. I want to see 1/32"
instead of 0.03125", but that appears to not be possible in an
electronic caliper. A vernier calliper does show fractions very well
but some people can't read verniers, and electronic is quicker.

So I made a chart using Excel to show all of the 64ths of an inch as 4
decimal digits. That shows 1/32" as 0.0313" because Excel has rounded
up from 0.03125", correctly I believe.
The British and US engineering tables show 1/32" as 0.0312", so they
have truncated instead of rounding. And many other figures are
truncated as well.
I realise that the measurements will be less accurate than 0.00005"
but that's not the point. My chart is different from the official
charts that were probably calculated with a slide rule or an abacus
100 years ago. Isn't it accepted these days to round upwards and not
truncate?
My chart is printed nice and big so I can read it without a magnifying
glass. And it's on one laminated A4 page instead of 5 pages in a tiny
book. So far 4 people agree that it should be rounded, and 2 don't
agree because they trust what is in a book.

So, round or truncate? I am not talking about prices in a shop, but
measurements.

A farmer told me that he had 68 sheep and asked would I like to round them
up, I said, 'OK you've got 70'