Building a Feet Inches Sixteenths (FIS) Calculator in Excel
From a few years back … and recently updated.
My approach was simply:
- transform entries from FIS to decimal format
- do the math operations
- transform the results to FIS format
In the illustrated portion of this spreadsheet, the user can enter an FIS value, factor it (up, down, zero, negative, positive), produce a running sum of those entries. Red cells are user entries, blue cells are calculated.
Screenshot
Entering Fractions
' NOTES ' ' This excerpt is taken from my Excel VBA project code ' ' This subroutine is activated by any change to the worksheet ' ' In a certain range of cells, named "Fraction Groups" (see Column E), ' the user enters the fractional portion of a measurement without a slash ' ' EXAMPLE 1 ' To represent the fraction 1/2, the user types: 12 Enter ' A subroutine converts the integer 12 to a formula reading "= 1/2" ' ' EXAMPLE 2A ' To represent the fraction 3/16, the user types: 316 Enter ' A subroutine converts the integer 316 to a formula reading "= 3/16" ' ' EXAMPLE 2B ' To represent the fraction 3/16, the user types: 3 Enter ' A subroutine converts the integer 3 to a formula reading "= 3/16" ' ' The obvious benefit is an easy and definite entry of fractions without having to enter the slash ' Entering a slash in Excel typically triggers date entry mode -- not what I wanted '
Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Excel.Range) Dim isect As Range Set isect = Application.Intersect(Target, Range("Fraction_Groups")) If Not (isect Is Nothing) Then For Each cell In isect cellVal = cell.Value If cell.HasFormula = False And cellVal <> 0 And _ (cellVal - Int(cellVal)) = 0 Then Select Case cellVal 'sixteenths (odd) no denominator Case 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 cell.Formula = "= " & Str(cellVal) & " / 16" 'fourths and eighths Case 18, 14, 38, 12, 58, 34, 78, 28, 48, 68 cell.Formula = "= " & Str(Int(cellVal / 10)) & " / " & _ Str(cellVal - Int(cellVal / 10) * 10) 'sixteenths (all) Case 116, 216, 316, 416, 516, 616, 716, 816, _ 916, 1016, 1116, 1216, 1316, 1416, 1516 cell.Formula = "= " & Str(Int(cellVal / 100)) & " / " & _ Str(cellVal - Int(cellVal / 100) * 100) End Select ElseIf cell.Value = 0 Then cell.Formula = "" End If Next cell End If