fix: a readout keeps its metric prefix when the stream declares no unit

The SI prefix ladder in format_measure() was gated on a non-empty unit, so two
decimals of a small unitless value printed `0.00` -- the reading gone, not merely
coarse. That is a whole class of channels rather than a corner: a CONFIG need not
declare a unit, and a math channel never has one. Below 1e-12 the same loss
happened even with a unit, so that range falls back to three significant digits.

With no unit the prefix goes tight against the number (`585.24m`), since the space
exists to separate the number from its unit and a spaced `m` alone reads as metres.

The mock declared `unit="V"` for every data signal, which is why no probe could see
this; it now takes `--unit ''`.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/help/09-cursors.txt

@@ -22,6 +22,12 @@ owns a <b>Reset</b> button. Drag a marker to move it. The mode dropdown offers f
 • A value is the <i>nearest stored sample's</i>, never a number between two samples. Zoom in past
   the sample spacing and the line between two samples is something the plot drew, not data —
   so a reading off it would be the drawing. The hover crosshair reads the same way.
+• Every reading carries a <i>metric prefix</i> so the digits sit in <tt>1..999</tt>:
+  <tt>10.52 mV</tt>, not <tt>0.01 V</tt>. Two decimals is all an instrument landing on an
+  <tt>f32</tt> sample can claim, so without the prefix a small value would read <tt>0.00</tt>
+  and the reading would be gone. A stream that declares no unit gets the prefix anyway, written
+  tight against the number (<tt>585.24m</tt>) — the space separates the number from its unit,
+  and a spaced <tt>m</tt> with nothing after it would read as metres.
 • A marker past the newest sample reads <tt>--</tt>. With only one marker over data the row
   reads <tt>partial</tt>: a difference between a number and nothing is not a number.
 • In <tt>mix</tt> each marker also places a crossing annotation per trace, which is what lets

src/help/10-measurements.txt

@@ -27,7 +27,11 @@ set, with <b>Save</b> and <b>Delete</b>.
 • A window with too few crossings reads <tt>invalid</tt> / <tt>--</tt> rather than a plausible
   invented number. Frequency over a window holding one edge is the usual case.
 • <tt>frequency</tt> is reported in Hz and <tt>period</tt>/<tt>pulse duration</tt> in seconds;
-  every other type carries the channel's own unit.
+  every other type carries the channel's own unit. A value is written with a <i>metric prefix</i>
+  so its digits sit in <tt>1..999</tt> — <tt>636.62 mV</tt>, not <tt>0.64 V</tt> — including when
+  the stream declares no unit at all, which is always the case for a math channel: there the
+  prefix goes tight against the number (<tt>636.62m</tt>), since two decimals of an unprefixed
+  small value is <tt>0.00</tt>.
 • Cost is bounded by reading the summary pyramid the producer already maintains, not the raw
   window. The values are still exact: a bucket's sum is a sum.
 

src/ui.cpp

@@ -922,6 +922,13 @@ const char* badge_markup(BadgePhase phase) {
 /// sample is an `f32` of a value the CONFIG may scale arbitrarily, so more digits would be
 /// noise dressed as precision. Trailing zeros go, so `1.50 V` reads `1.5 V` -- "at most
 /// two decimals", not exactly two.
+///
+/// The prefix is applied **whether or not a unit is declared**, and that is the point: two
+/// decimals of an unprefixed small value is `0.00`, i.e. the reading is simply gone. A signal
+/// whose CONFIG declares no unit is ordinary (and a *math* channel never has one), so the pane
+/// showed `0.00` for every value under 5 mV of an entire class of channels. A bare prefix is
+/// written tight against the number -- `1.34m`, not `1.34 m` -- because the space is there to
+/// separate the number from its unit, and with no unit to separate, a spaced `m` reads as metres.
 std::string format_measure(double v, const std::string& unit) {
   if (!std::isfinite(v)) return "--";
   static const struct {
@@ -934,22 +941,22 @@ std::string format_measure(double v, const std::string& unit) {
   const double mag = std::fabs(v);
   const char* prefix = "";
   double scale = 1.0;
-  // No unit, no prefix: `10.52 m` is a prefix with nothing to prefix, which reads as
-  // metres. A bare number stays a bare number and simply keeps its decimals.
-  if (!unit.empty()) {
-    for (const auto& p : kPrefixes) {
-      if (mag >= p.scale) {
-        prefix = p.prefix;
-        scale = p.scale;
-        break;
-      }
-    }
-    if (mag > 0.0 && mag < 1.0e-12) {  // below the ladder: keep it in plain digits
-      prefix = "";
-      scale = 1.0;
+  for (const auto& p : kPrefixes) {
+    if (mag >= p.scale) {
+      prefix = p.prefix;
+      scale = p.scale;
+      break;
     }
   }
   char buf[64];
+  if (mag > 0.0 && mag < 1.0e-12) {
+    // Below the ladder, where scaling cannot help and `%.2f` would print `0.00` again. Three
+    // significant digits in whatever form fits, so the reading survives as a reading.
+    std::snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%.3g", v);
+    std::string out = buf;
+    if (!unit.empty()) out += " " + unit;
+    return out;
+  }
   std::snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%.2f", v / scale);
   std::string num = buf;
   if (num.find('.') != std::string::npos) {  // at most two decimals, not exactly two
@@ -958,11 +965,9 @@ std::string format_measure(double v, const std::string& unit) {
   }
   if (num == "-0") num = "0";
   std::string out = num;
-  if (prefix[0] != '\0') out += std::string(" ") + prefix;
-  if (!unit.empty()) {
-    if (prefix[0] == '\0') out += " ";
-    out += unit;
-  }
+  if (!unit.empty()) out += " ";  // the space separates the number from its unit, nothing else
+  out += prefix;
+  out += unit;
   return out;
 }