# The shortcuts for measurement units: cm and dm

I have to write a math book and I'm using often the following measurement units: centimeter (cm), decimeter (dm). Can you provide me the shortcut which will output cm and dm. For meter(m) I've found the following shortcut \meter -> m.

• Use siunitx. If you need to write numerical values, it produces a correct unbreakable thin space between number and unit. May 17 '16 at 19:06
• \meter is not a standard macro, so you must have included some package that defines it. siunitx, as @Bernard mentions is one such package. May 17 '16 at 19:26
• OT, but the unit is called 'metre' (I know it's common in the US to spell it 'meter' but in technical writing the international standard applies). May 17 '16 at 20:32

When you use siunitx the shortcuts are already there. \dm and \cm are already provided: see page 36 of siunitx manual (version from 2016/03/01). Shorter shortcuts you will not find. (There are two packages siunits and siunitx, I prefer the latter.)
• By default those will only work inside \si or \SI of course, though you can make them available outside these as well, with the free-standing-units class option. (And by the way, there are other packages for units as well, e.g. units.) May 17 '16 at 20:28
• You could with siunitx define your own shortcuts: \newcommand{\DM}[1]{\SI{#1}{\dm}} and use it as \DM{2.5} May 24 '16 at 13:43
• Was that addressed to me? I'm not sure what you were trying to say, the point I was trying to make is that \documentclass{article}\usepackage{siunitx}\begin{document}1\,\dm\end{document} will throw an error. May 24 '16 at 13:51
• to be used like this:\begin{document}\SI{1}{\dm}\end{document}‌​. Therefore my suggestion. May 24 '16 at 13:55
• Yes, I'm obviously aware of \SI, but your answer says nothing about that (or \si or the free-standing-units option), which I think it should. Looking at the answer alone, a user might think that the code I posted above should work. (Sorry if I'm unclear or nitpicking.) May 24 '16 at 13:59