AutoHotkey Community

[animeaime]

Functions: autoByteFormat

Description

• Converts from a specified size (in byes) to an equivalent value in byte(s)/KB/MB/GB/TB - uses the most appropriate unit.

Download
autoByteFormat.zip

Requirements
AHK v1.0.48+



Functions
autoByteFormat(size, decimalPlaces = 2)
Converts from a specified size (in byes) to an equivalent value in byte(s)/KB/MB/GB/TB - uses the most appropriate unit.

See the wiki page for file size for details on what each of these units are. This function uses the "Binary Measurement" (see the conversion table for details).

Parameters
size - integer size (in bytes)
decimalPlaces - decimal places to round result. If return is in bytes, no rounding is done, since it's an integer.

ReturnValue
Formatted size in bytes(s)/KB/MB/GB/TB

Format:

if size = 1 (byte)
returns "1 byte"

else if size < 1KB (1024 bytes)
returns "X bytes"

else if size < 1MB (1024 * 1024 bytes)
returns "X KB"

else if size < 1GB (1024 * 1024 * 1024 bytes)
returns "X MB"

else if size < 1TB (1024 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 bytes)
returns "X GB"

else
returns "X TB"

"X" is the rounded value (to the specified decimal places), in the appropriate units.

Remarks
Size MUST be greater than or equal to zero.



Code

[Laszlo]

Thanks for posting this. You probably know it already that MB, GB and TB means 1e6, 1e9 and 1e12 bytes, respectively, if disk manufacturers use them to specify the capacity of their drives, so there will be always some confusions.

[animeaime]

I used KB, MB, GB, and TB as they are commonly defined (like shown in the file's properties)

e.g.
1KB = 1024 bytes.

Hopefully, this doesn't cause too much confusion. I'll add a link to the wiki page for file size to shed light where otherwise might have been confusion. Thanks for the heads up.
_________________
As always, if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask.

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[SKAN]

There is an API function for this: StrFormatByteSize64, but I guess the function is limited to GB.
A working example can be found here.

[Guest]

You should stop requiring readers to download a zip file from your account on autohotkey.net (or anywhere else for that matter).

There are three reasons I say this.

First, I have noticed that several of your functions are only a couple of hundred bytes long. There is no reason to not post it in the forum, so readers can look at the code without having to download and unpack.

Second, by posting the code in the forum, readers can see when the topic/code was last edited (alerting the reader to an update/change).

Third, your account on autohotkey.net will not be maintained forever (as will posting in the forum). If your account becomes inactive for a long period of time, I believe that the account (and its contents will be deleted). I know that after not having accessed my account for about a year, I was sent a notice that if I did not login, my account would be deleted. So, if (and when) you move on, the linked downloads may not be available.

Finally (and this is just my personal reaction). After having downloaded several of your short functions, I am now not inclined to download and examine the zip files if the function (as in this case) seems to me to be 'trivial' and hardly worth the time to examine (maybe my loss). Whereas if the code is posted, I am more likely to examine it and then decide if it is worth keeping.

This topic of posting/downloading has come up in the forum before (although I cannot locate it now), and if I recall correctly, most readers that replied to the topic prefered that the code be posted.

Thanks for reading this.

[polyethene]

[animeaime]

[animeaime]

[SKAN]

[Laszlo]

StrFormatByteSize... seems to round the result to only 3 digits, which are sometimes too few.

[animeaime]

Also, for some odd reason, an example they gave isn't the rounded result, and it only has one digit of precision.

[TheGood]

[animeaime]

I know this may sound rude, and I appoligize before saying it. Since it can cause confusion, I'm not sure what to do then. Do you have a recommendation?

Would removing the phrase "properly defined" do the job ? I realize this can be confusing, and I want to clear up that confusion.

The function uses the measurement I've seen used in every program I've used (including windows itself). I mean, the StrFormatByteSize function that SKAN pointed out uses the same format.

So, I'm at a loss. Truthfully, at this point, I'm confused about who is confused. The ONLY time I have ever heard the decimal usage of GB is by the makers of hard drives to save some of their money. I mean, every program, even Windows, uses the binary, but still the hard drive manufactures want to "claim" my computer with 160 024 174 592 bytes between it's four partions is a 160GB hard drive when every program says that all I have is autoByteFormat(160 024 174 592) = 149.03 GB.
_________________
As always, if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Add OOP to your scripts via the Class Library. Check out my scripts.

[Krogdor]

animeaime, although that definition is the most commonly used, the Wikipedia article clearly states that for the powers of two definition, the proper prefix is Ki, Mi, Gi, etc. rather than K, M, G, etc. because those prefixes are used to denote powers of ten. However, the article is a bit contradictory, since the conversion table states the binary definition for the Kilo, Mega, Giga, etc prefixes...

In my opinion, the binary definition is definitely the one that should be used in this function, and you have clearly stated that you have used it, so I think you have done everything correctly.

[animeaime]

Thank you all for your input on this matter - the function will remain as it is.

I changed "properly defined" to "commonly defined" as suggested by Krogdor.
_________________
As always, if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Add OOP to your scripts via the Class Library. Check out my scripts.