docs: add an example demonstrating define_units() usage

[jrycw]

Hello team,

As we know, define_units() powers GT.fmt_units() behind the scenes, but it seems to lack a clear example for users to quickly grasp its usage.

I’d like to propose an example that demonstrates how to use define_units() to render a string with unit annotations as a subtitle in the table header. This example highlights that define_units() can be used independently and within components that don’t yet support unit annotations (such as the table header).

Below is the final table for reference.

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[rich-iannone]

LGTM!

[rich-iannone]

@machow this looks great to me. Please merge whenever convenient!

[machow]

@rich-iannone afaict parsing the curly braces in inputs like "{{a_1}}" is not a job for define_units() (for example, we didn't list it out in the rules.

It seems like define_units() handling of curly braces may be a bug (and inconsistent)?:

from great_tables import define_units

# removes curly braces ----
define_units("{{a_1}}").to_html()
# > 'a<span style="white-space:nowrap;"><sub style="line-height:0;">1</sub></span>'

# Notice that the second piece in curly braces (b_2) still has the braces around it ----
define_units("{{a_1}} {{b_2}}").to_html()
# > 'a<span style="white-space:nowrap;"><sub style="line-height:0;">1}}</sub></span> {{b<span style="white-space:nowrap;"><sub style="line-height:0;">2</sub></span>'

What is the intended behavior of define_units? It seems like it should not parse braces, since that's afaict UnitStr.from_str() territory. So...

• UnitStr.from_str() parses pieces out of braces,
• then it passes those piece to define_units()

Does this sounds right, and this behavior of define_units() parsing 1 specific brace situation is a bug?

[jrycw]

Thanks for pointing this out! I originally thought it was a cool feature and didn’t notice that.

[machow]

I definitely think there is a cool feature tucked away in .cols_label()! You can use {{}} as a shorthand for using define_units(). For example, cols_label(some_col="Some Col {{h[_0^3]}}")

But I wonder if we skipped an important piece when initially wiring up units. Based on this PR, it seems like exposing a function similar to html() and md() might help connect the dots?

Maybe something like this?:

• explicit: cols_label(some_col = text("Some Col ", unit("h[_0^3]")))
• shorthand: cols_label(some_col = "Some Col {{h[_0^3]}}")

This would provide a bridge into other structure things:

• tab_header(title = text("Some title", unit("a_1"))

Could be nicer ways to handle though?! (Related to #439)