tinkertrain/alfred-calculate-anything

Alfred Workflow to calculate anything with natural language

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README

Calculate Anything

Calculate Anything is a workflow for Alfred 5, that uses natural language and is able to calculate multiple things like currency, time, VAT, units, percentages, colors and more.

Why

There are several conversion workflows out there but I wanted a workflow that worked naturally. For example, you can open Alfred, type 100 + 9 and get a result. No need for keywords or hotkeys -- it just works. With Calculate Anything you can do the same, simply type 100 + 16%, 100 euros to usd, 100km in cm or 100 years to hours and many more.

Features

  • Natural language - type 100 euros to dollars, 100 euros in usd, 100€ to $, 100eur usd -- it does not matter, the same result will be displayed
  • Currency - Up to 168 currencies
  • Units - 100 kilometers to meters or 100 km to m or simply 100km m
  • Percentages - 100 + 16%, 100 - 16%, 40 as a % of 50, 20 is what % of 50 etc.
  • Time - time +15 years, time now plus 6 hours or convert a timestamp
  • VAT - value added tax calculations, we all need this

Installation

Install from the workflow gallery if dependencies are not automatically installed by Alfred you can install them directly from Alfred https://www.alfredapp.com/help/kb/dependencies/ or manually install PHP with brew brew install php.

Configuration

The workflow can be configured using the new workflow configuration panel included in ALfred 5.

Currency

You can use natural language or a few characters -- that's all! For example:

- 100 us dollars in mexican pesos
- 100 canadian dollars in argentinian peso
- 100 euros to dollars
- 100 euros in dollars
- 100 euros as dollars
- 100 usd to mxn
- 100 usd mxn
- 100usd yen
- 100€ to $
- 100 ¥ in €
- 100¥ €
- 100eur (if no target the currency will be converted to the base currencies that you configured)

You can set a base currencies so if you type for example 120 euros it will be automatically converted to the currencies that you configured.

All these examples just work. You can add spaces between the value and the currency or not.

Currency Modifiers

When a result is displayed you can use action modifiers to copy the value in different formats:

  • Return Press Return to copy the value with format, for example 2,376.54
  • Command + Return Press Command + Return to copy the value without formatting, for example 2376.54
  • Option + Return Press Option + Return to copy the value of a single unit, for example 23.76

Currency API Key

You need to get a free API key from https://fixer.io -- it takes less than a minute! You can configure the API key in the new workflow configuration window.

Currency Symbols

You can use currency symbols in your query. For example 100¥ to € will be converted from 100 Japanese yen to the equivalent in Euros. Here is a list of available symbols:

Please note: This list only shows symbols that can be used instead of the currency code, the workflow supports up to 168 currency codes.

Symbol Currency Value
€ EUR. Euro.
¥ JPY. Japanese yen.
$ USD. United States dollar.
R$ BRL. Brazilian real
лв BGN Bulgarian lev
៛ KHR Cambodian riel
C¥ CNY Renminbi
C¥ CNY Renminbi
₡ CRC Costa Rican colon
₱ PHP Philippine peso
Kč CZK Czech koruna
kr DKK Danish krone
RD$ DOP Dominican peso
£ GBP Pound sterling
¢ GHS Ghanaian cedi
Q GTQ Guatemalan quetzal
L HNL Honduran lempira
Ft HUF Hungarian forint
₹ INR Indian rupee
Rp IDR Indonesian rupiah
﷼ IRR Iranian rial
₪ ILS Israeli new shekel
J$ JMD Jamaican dollar
₩ KRW South Korean won
ден MKD Macedonian denar
RM MYR Malaysian ringgit
MT MZN Mozambican metical
ƒ ANG Netherlands Antillean guilder
C$ NIO Nicaraguan córdoba
₦ NGN Nigerian naira
B/. PAB Panamanian balboa
Gs PYG Paraguayan guaraní
S/. PEN Peruvian Sol
₺ TRY Turkish Lira
TT$ TTD Trinidad and Tobago dollar
TT$ TTD Trinidad and Tobago dollar
₴ UAH Ukrainian hryvnia

Units

You can write your query using natural language or just a few characters. Either way works!

- 100 kilometers to meters
- 100 km in meters
- 100 km m
- 100km m

- 100 miles as meters
- 100miles in meters
- 100 miles to m

- 100 ounces to kilograms
- 100oz to kg
- 100oz = kg
- 100oz kg

- 10 years to months
- 10years to seconds
- 10 years hr
- 1 year to sec
- 1hr secods
- 1hr s
- 10 days hr

# no target unit needed, defaults to metric
# volume -> ml, weight -> g, length -> cm
# temperature toggles between celsius and fahrenheit
- 1.5 cup
- 2floz
- 1.5lb
- 6 ft
- 100f
- 89c

If you don't remember the unit abbreviation, simply type the name of the unit. For example, instead of "oz" you can type "ounce" or "ounces".

Unit Modifiers

When a result is displayed you can use action modifiers to copy the value in different formats:

  • Return Press Return to copy the value with format, for example 2,376.54
  • Command + Return Press Command + Return to copy the value without formatting, for example 2376.54
  • Option + Return Press Option + Return to copy the value of a single unit, for example 23.76

Here is a list of all available units and their names just to make this README even longer.

Available Length Units

Unit Unit Name
m Meter
km Kilometer
dm Decimeter
cm Centimeter
mm Milimeter
μm Micrometer
nm Nanometer
pm Picometer
in Inch
ft Foot
yd Yard
mi Mile
nmi Nautical Mile
h Hand
ly Lightyear
au Astronomical Unit
pc Parsec

Available Area Units

Unit Unit Name
m2 Square Meter
km2 Square Kilometer
cm2 Square Centimeter
mm2 Square Milimeter
ft2 Square Foot
mi2 Square Mile
ha Hectare

Available Volume Units

Unit Unit Name
l Litre
ml Mililitre
m3 Cubic Meter
kl kilolitre
hl hectolitre
qt Quart
pt Pint (US Pint)
ukpt Pint (UK Pint)
gal Gallon (US Gallon)
ukgal Gallon (UK Gallon)
floz Fluid ounce (US)
cup Cup (US)

Available Weight Units

Unit Unit Name
kg Kilogram
gl Gram
mg Miligram
N Newton
st Stone
lb Pound
oz Ounce
t Metric Tonne
ukt UK Long Ton
ust US Short Ton

Available Speed Units

Unit Unit Name
mps Meters Per Second
kph Kilometers Per Hour
mph Miles Per Hour
fps Feet Per Second

Available Rotation Units

Unit Unit Name
deg Degrees
rad Radian

Available Temperature Units

Unit Unit Name
k Kelvin
c Centigrade
f Fahrenheit

Available Pressure Units

Unit Unit Name
pa Pascal
kpa Kilopascal
mpa Megapascal
bar Bar
mbar Milibar
psi Pound-force Per Square Inch

Available Time Units

Unit Unit Name
s Second
year Year
month Month
week Week
day Day
hr Hour
min Minute
ms Milisecond
μs Microsecond
ns Nanosecond

Available Energy/Power Units

Unit Unit Name
j Joule
kj Kilojoule
mj Megajoule
cal Calorie
Nm Newton Meter
ftlb Foot Pound
whr Watt Hour
kwhr Kilowatt Hour
mwhr Megawatt Hour
mev Mega Electron Volt

Percentages

You can easily calculate percentages. For example:

- 40 as a % of 50  // 40 is 80% of 50
- 20 is what % of 50 // 20 is 40% of 50
- 15% of 50 = 7.50  // 7.5 equals to 15% of 50
- 120 + 30% = 156  // 120 plus the 30% of 120
- 120 plus 30% = 156  // 120 plus the 30% of 120
- 120 - 30% = 84  // 120 minus the 30% of 120
- 120 minus 30% = 84  // 120 minus the 30% of 120
- 30 % 40 = 75%  // 30 is 75% of 40

Translations and natural language can also be used
- 120 más 30% = 156
- 120 menos 10% = 108
- 40 como % de 50 = // 40 es 80% de 50

Time

Given its less frequently used, time conversions require the use of the keyword time.

# converts the timestamp to a regular date
- time 1577836800

# gives you the time from now plus 15 days
- time +15 days
- time now plus 3 days

# gives you the time from now plus 3 working days
- time today + 3 workdays
- time now + 3 workdays
- time + 3 workdays

# number of days until specified date
- time days until 31 december

# the start date of current year
- time start of year

# the start date of specified year
- time start of 2021

# the end date of current year
- time end of year

# the end date of specified year
- time end of 2021


# get information about date
- time 31 December, 2021 18:00:00
- time 31/12/2021 18:00:00
- time 12/31/2021 18:00:00

# calculate the difference between two dates
- time 25 December, 2021 - 31 December, 2021
- time 31-11-2019 - 21-11-2019
- time 11/31/2019 - 11/21/2019

Time Options

The following options are available. Simply launch Alfred, type ca and select any of the options below. View the configuration section for more info.

  • Set base timezone Base time zone used to calculate dates in your time zone, search and select your zone from the list and press Return to save it.
  • Add date format Configure a new date format so the date is displayed the way you want, for example j F, Y, g:i:s a (more information about available values for date)

VAT (Value Added Tax)

With this you can calculate the VAT for a given amount. Like time, VAT is also triggered with a keyword. By default, the keyword is "vat" but you can change the keyword in the workflow.

Given the following query

vat of 400 (with a 16% VAT configured, a percentage you can configure)

Calculate Anything will provide the following conversions:

  • VAT of 400 = 64 (the VAT amount)
  • 400 plus VAT = 464 (the Amount plus VAT)
  • 400 minus VAT = 344.82 (the Amount minus VAT, useful if you have a final amount and want to know the VAT applied)

Keywords

Keywords are words that can be used when writing a query in natural language. For example, by default, the keyword "ounces" will be converted to "oz", "kilometers" will be converted to "km" and "dollars" will be converted to "USD". Keywords allow the user to type in a more natural way.

'units' => [
    'hours' => 'hr',
    'hour' => 'hr',
    'kilometers' => 'km',
    'ounces' => 'oz',
    'ounce' => 'oz',
    'hakunamatata' => 'year',  // try adding this
    ...
],

If the user the types:
1 hakunamatata to months, the result will be 12

There is no limit to the keywords that you can add.

Stop Words

Stop words are words that can be used in the query when using natural language, for example 100km to cm. Here the stop word is "to".

Stop words are useful for two things:

  1. Allow the user to write more naturally
  2. Check if the query has to be processed

For example:

100km equals meters

If the word "equals" is not registered in the stop_words array then it won't be processed. After processing, stop words are removed so 100km to cm is understood as 100km cm.

You can modify stop words in the same keys file, for example /lang/en_EN-keys.php.

'units' => [
    'hours' => 'hr',
    'hour' => 'hr',

    'stop_words' => ['to', '=']
    ...
],

Performance

For currency, percentage and unit conversions, Calculate Anything will only process the query if it begins with a digit and has at least 3 characters. Time and VAT conversions need a keyword because they are not often used.

Deleting cache

The workflow stores information about currency rates, to clear the cache open alfred and type _caclear

Changelog

The Changelog is available here.

Contributors

biati-digitaltinkertrainpyrmontjun6leeauguslwwkeyboardchrismessinaemresaracoglumatthewmcvickaryockflightmansamtwang817

Issues