old_contents: #!/bin/env python
  #Copyright ReportLab Europe Ltd. 2000-2004
  #see license.txt for license details
  #history http://www.reportlab.co.uk/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/public/reportlab/trunk/reportlab/lib/units.py
  __version__=''' $Id$ '''
  
  inch = 72.0
  cm = inch / 2.54
  mm = cm * 0.1
  pica = 12.0
  
  def toLength(s):
      '''convert a string to  a length'''
      try:
          if s[-2:]=='cm': return float(s[:-2])*cm
          if s[-2:]=='in': return float(s[:-2])*inch
          if s[-2:]=='pt': return float(s[:-2])
          if s[-1:]=='i': return float(s[:-1])*inch
          if s[-2:]=='mm': return float(s[:-2])*mm
          if s[-4:]=='pica': return float(s[:-2])*pica
          return float(s)
      except:
          raise ValueError, "Can't convert '%s' to length" % s
new_contents: #!/bin/env python
  #Copyright ReportLab Europe Ltd. 2000-2004
  #see license.txt for license details
  #history http://www.reportlab.co.uk/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/public/reportlab/trunk/reportlab/lib/units.py
  __version__=''' $Id$ '''
  
  inch = 72.0
  cm = inch / 2.54
  mm = cm * 0.1
  pica = 12.0
  
  def toLength(s):
      '''convert a string to  a length'''
      try:
          if s[-2:]=='cm': return float(s[:-2])*cm
          if s[-2:]=='in': return float(s[:-2])*inch
          if s[-2:]=='pt': return float(s[:-2])
          if s[-1:]=='i': return float(s[:-1])*inch
          if s[-2:]=='mm': return float(s[:-2])*mm
          if s[-4:]=='pica': return float(s[:-4])*pica
          return float(s)
      except:
          raise ValueError, "Can't convert '%s' to length" % s
  
subject: fix pica conversion thanks to Paul McNett