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
Errors and Warnings

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