ACC: Round or Truncate Values to Desired Number of Decimals

• Microsoft Access versions 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 7.0, 97

SUMMARY

Moderate: Requires basic macro, coding, and interoperability skills.

The Format property of a control can round a Number or Currency field to the desired number of decimal places. However, this does not change the underlying data, which may contain additional digits that the control does not display. If you add the values in this control, the sum is based on the actual values and not on the displayed values. This may make the total seem inaccurate.

This article describes four user-defined functions that you can use to round or truncate data to two decimal places so that the displayed and formatted value and the actual numeric or currency data are the same.

This article assumes that you are familiar with Visual Basic for Applications and with creating Microsoft Access applications using the programming tools provided with Microsoft Access. For more information about Visual Basic for Applications, please refer to your version of the "Building Applications with Microsoft Access" manual.

NOTE: Visual Basic for Applications is called Access Basic in Microsoft Access versions 1.x and 2.0. For more information about Access Basic, please refer to the "Introduction to Programming" manual in Microsoft Access version 1.x or the "Building Applications" manual in Microsoft Access version 2.0

MORE INFORMATION

The functions are presented in two styles. The first style is appropriate for the AfterUpdate property of a form control to ensure that the data entered matches the data that is displayed. The second style is for use in expressions and calculated controls.

To round or truncate numbers to two decimal places, create a new module and add the following functions.

   '******************************************************
   ' Declarations section of the module
   '******************************************************

   Option Explicit
   Const Factor = 100

   '=====================================================
   ' RoundAU and TruncAU are designed to be added to the
   ' AfterUpdate property on a form control.
   '=====================================================
   Function RoundAU(X As Control)
      X = Int(X * Factor + .5) / Factor
   End Function

   Function TruncAU(X As Control)
      X = Int(X * Factor) / Factor
   End Function

   '=====================================================
   ' RoundCC and TruncCC are designed to be used in
   ' expressions and calculated controls on forms and reports.
   '=====================================================
   Function RoundCC(X)
      RoundCC = Int (X * Factor + 0.5) / Factor
   End Function

   Function TruncCC(X)
      TruncCC = Int (X * Factor) / Factor
   End Function

Examples of Using the Round and Truncate Functions

The following examples use the sample database Northwind.mdb (or NWIND.MDB in version 2.0 or earlier).

CAUTION: Following the steps in these examples will modify the sample database Northwind.mdb (or NWIND.MDB in version 2.0 or earlier). You may want to back up the Northwind.mdb (or NWIND.MDB) file and perform these steps on a copy of the database.

Example 1

Use the TruncAU() function to the AfterUpdate property of a form:

1. Open the sample database Northwind.mdb.

2. Create a new module called Rounding, and type the procedures in the preceding section.

3. Open the Products form in Design view, and add the TruncAU() function to the AfterUpdate property of the UnitPrice field (or Unit Price field in version 2.0 or earlier):

         Form: Products
         --------------
         Control Name: Unit Price
            AfterUpdate: =TruncAU([UnitPrice])
   
      If a user accidentally enters $23.055 instead of $23.05, the TruncAu()
      function catches the mistake and changes the value to $23.05. If you
      use the RoundAu() function instead, the function changes the value to
      $23.06. If you use neither function, the value is displayed as $23.06,
      but the entered value, $23.055, is used in any calculations.
   
   

Example 2

Use the RoundCC() function with an expression in a report's group footer. This example assumes that you have already created the Rounding module in step 2 of Example 1:

1. Open the sample database Northwind.mdb.

2. Open the Summary Of Sales By Year report in Design view and use the RoundCC() function in the ControlSource property of two controls in the report's group footer:

         In Microsoft Access 7.0 and 97:
   

         Report: Summary of Sales By Year
         --------------------------------
         Control Name: QuarterSales
            ControlSource: =Sum(RoundCC([SubTotal]))
   
         Control Name: YearTotal
            ControlSource: =Sum(RoundCC([SubTotal]))
   
         In Microsoft Access 1.x and 2.0:
   
         Report: Summary of Sales By Year
         --------------------------------
         Control Name: Total Sales for Quarter
            ControlSource: =Sum(RoundCC([Order Amount]))
   
         Control Name: Total Sales for Year
            ControlSource: =Sum(RoundCC([Order Amount]))
   
      If you use RoundCC(), the report sums the values displayed in the
      report, even though the actual values may contain hidden digits.
   
   

      10 = 1 decimal place
     100 = 2 decimal places
    1000 = 3 decimal places, etc.

Limitations

These functions should only be used with Currency data. If used with Double or Single numbers, you may still receive minor rounding errors. The reason for this is that Single and Double numbers are floating point. They cannot store an exact binary representation of decimal fractions. Therefore there will always be some error. However, Currency values are scaled integers and can store an exact binary representation of fractions to 4 decimal places.