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Volume By Richard Rost 
5 years ago
Calculate Cubic Volume in Microsoft Access In this video, I will show you how to take height, width, and depth and calculate the cubic volume of an area in Microsoft Access. Good for landscaping and anything else that requires you to perform volume calculations. James from Pelham, Georgia (a Silver Member) asks: I own a landscaping company. My jobs require me to calculate materials like mulch, rock, etc. in length, width, and depth based on the customer's property. For example, if we are putting down colored mulch in a plant bed that is 12'x6'x2" then I would need to calculate how much mulch I would need. If a bag of mulch is 2 cubic feet, how many bags would I need? Can you set up a "calculator" form in Access to do this? MembersMembers will see how to create a form for this data, perform the calculations in VBA code, and convert between multiple units: inches, feet, miles, meters, kilometers, etc.
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Keywordsmicrosoft access, ms access, #msaccess, #microsoftaccess, #help, #howto, #tutorial, #instruction, #learn, #lesson, #training, #database, volume, calculator, square feet, cubic feet, cubic yards, cubic inches, calculate volume, landscaping calculator
IntroIn this video, I will show you how to set up a simple volume calculator in Microsoft Access to calculate cubic measurements based on height, width, and depth. We will create a table to store project dimensions, discuss why you should avoid reserved words for field names, and build a query to calculate the total volume for each entry. This tutorial is ideal if you need to keep track of material requirements, like mulch or rock, for landscaping or similar projects in Access.TranscriptWelcome to another TechHelp video brought to you by AccessLearningZone.com.My name is Richard Rost, your instructor. In today's video, I'm going to show you how to set up a volume calculator. Given the height, width, and depth of an area, it will calculate the cubic measurement. Today's question comes from James from Pelham, Georgia, one of my silver members. James says, I own a landscaping company. My jobs require me to calculate materials like mulch, rock, etc., and length, width, and depth based on the customer's property. For example, if we're putting down a colored mulch in a plant bed that's 12 feet by 6 feet by 2 inches, then I would need to calculate how much mulch I would need. If a bag of mulch is 2 cubic feet, how many bags would I need? Can you set up a calculator for me to access to do this? Absolutely, James, let me show you how this works. This is a copy of my blank TechHelp Free Template. You can download a copy of this from my website if you want to. You can put this in pretty much any database. You could build this straight in the form without binding the controls to a table if you want to, but if you want to save your results, then store that data in a table. This way, if you want to go back and look up and say, hey, what were the dimensions of the Smith project? How much mulch did I need? Well, it's in the table. So let's create a table. Create. Table design. ID, of course. Auto number. If you want to put a description in here, you can. You could just say something like the Smith project or whatever, or an ID to link it to a customer record. That's up to you. Now we basically have three dimensions we want to store in the table: the height, the width, and the depth, but don't just put in height, width, and depth as field names. Why? Those are reserved words. There are a bunch of words in Access that you don't want to use as field names, like, for example, name. Why? Because name is a property. And if you start using it in your database, you might run into problems later, especially when you get into coding. Name is a property. So don't use it. Height is a property. Text boxes, control buttons, all those things have properties, and height and width are some of them. So we're going to use something else. By the way, I've got a whole list of all of the reserved words in Access on my website. I'll put a link in the section down below. Go click on that and check it out. There's stuff in there that I never even knew back in the day. I used to use picture as a reserved word. I used to get into problems because I'd put in something like a picture property for a customer, for example, but that's a reserved word. And I couldn't figure out why my code wouldn't work. So go check that out. So let's call this calculator height. Then let's make this a number. We're going to make it a number of type double. Double, so we can put fractional parts in this. You might want to put in four and a half feet, or two and a half inches, or whatever your unit of measurement is. Let's make the default value one, since usually you've got at least some height and width. Now I'm going to copy this, copy, paste, that way I don't have to change all the properties again. Control C, control V, calculator width, and then calculator depth. I haven't had enough coffee this morning yet, so my typing skills are off. While we're at it, let's do this too. ID, why not? Keep everything nice. You can put calculator description here if you want to, but I'm not going to go that far. So let's save this as my calculator T. Primary key, sure it finds the auto number. Let's close it, and then reopen it. Let's put some data in here. The Smith project. Let's say it's 10 feet by 5 feet by 2 feet. Now I want to be able to calculate the cubic feet here. For that, we'll use a query. So let's go over here and create query design. Let's bring in the calculator T. You can bring down all the fields if you want to. Right here, we'll make the cubic volume, which is calculator height times calculator width times calculator depth. I'll save this as my calculator Q. Let's run it and see what we got. There we go. If you've got a cubic area - height times width times depth. 10 height, 5 width, 2 depth equals 100 cubic feet. Let's plug another one in. Jones project. Let's say it's 20 by 15 by 5. That's 1500 cubic feet. If you want to build a form around this, that's easy to do. I've got a lot of other videos to show you how to take a query and build a form out of it. That's the simple part. Just like my beginner TechHelp customer list, customer form, we know how to do all this. We just use this query to build your form. That's all. Want to learn more? In the extended cut for members, I'll show you how to do mixed units. So, like James has, feet with inches. He had 12 feet by 6 feet by 2 inches. I'll show you how to build a calculator that does that. We'll build it in a form. I'll show you how to convert between metric and imperial units. So if you've got yards and you want to get meters out of it, we'll do that as well. We'll make a little conversion table, as you can see there. A little bit of code to do our recalculations. But that's all covered in the extended cut for members. Silver members and up get access to all of my extended cut videos and gold members can download my templates. How do you become a member? Click the join button below the video. After you click the join button, you'll see a list of all the different types of membership levels that are available. Silver members and up will get access to all of the extended cut TechHelp videos, live video and chat sessions, and more. Gold members get access to a download folder containing all the sample databases that I build in my TechHelp videos, plus my code vault where I keep tons of different functions that I use. Platinum members get all the previous perks plus access to my full beginner courses and some of my expert courses. These are the full length courses found on my website and not just for Access. I also teach Word, Excel, Visual Basic, ASP, and lots more. But don't worry, these free TechHelp videos are going to keep coming. As long as you keep watching them, I'll keep making more. If you liked this video, please give me a thumbs up and feel free to post any comments that you have. I do read them all. Make sure you subscribe to my channel, which is completely free, and click the bell icon and select all to receive notifications when new videos are posted. Click on the show more link below the video to find additional resources and links. You'll see a list of other videos, additional information related to the current topic, free lessons, and lots more. YouTube no longer sends out email notifications when new videos are posted, so if you'd like to get an email every time I post a new video, click on the link to join my mailing list. If you have not yet tried my free Access Level 1 course, check it out now. It covers all the basics of building databases with Access. It's over three hours long. You can find it on my website or on my YouTube channel. And if you like Level 1, Level 2 is just one dollar. It is also free for all members of my YouTube channel at any level. Want to have your question answered in a video just like this one? Visit my TechHelp page and send me your question there. Click here to watch my free Access beginner Level 1 course, more of my TechHelp videos, or to subscribe to my channel. Thanks for watching this video from AccessLearningZone.com. QuizQ1. What is the primary purpose of the volume calculator described in this video?A. To calculate cubic measurement given height, width, and depth B. To design customer invoices for landscaping jobs C. To estimate project labor costs D. To schedule appointments for landscaping projects Q2. What is the recommendation for saving calculation results in Access if you want to look them up later? A. Store them in a table B. Only use an unbound form C. Write them down manually D. Email results to yourself Q3. According to the video, why should you avoid using field names like 'height' and 'width' in Access tables? A. They are reserved words and could cause problems B. They are too vague C. They are not supported in Access D. They make tables look unprofessional Q4. What data type should you use for the dimensions (height, width, depth) to allow fractional values? A. Number type Double B. Text C. Date/Time D. Currency Q5. When calculating the cubic volume, what formula is used? A. Height times width times depth B. Height plus width plus depth C. Height divided by width times depth D. Width times depth only Q6. How can you easily create new fields with the same properties in the table design view? A. Copy and paste the existing field B. Use the import wizard C. Export the field to Excel and re-import D. Create a macro Q7. What should you do if you want to calculate materials for areas using mixed units, like feet and inches? A. Watch the extended cut for members covering mixed units and conversions B. Always convert inches to centimeters C. Only use feet, never inches D. Multiply all values by ten Q8. What additional resources are available for Silver and Gold members? A. Access to extended cut videos, downloadable templates, and code vault B. Only access to the mailing list C. Free landscaping consultations D. Free coupons for materials Q9. How can viewers access previous examples and additional resources related to TechHelp videos? A. By clicking the show more link below the video B. By subscribing to a paid magazine C. By checking the comments D. By calling technical support Q10. Why is subscribing to the mailing list recommended in the video? A. Because YouTube no longer sends out email notifications for new videos B. To receive monthly coupons C. To get discounts on landscaping services D. To vote on the next video topic Answers: 1-A; 2-A; 3-A; 4-A; 5-A; 6-A; 7-A; 8-A; 9-A; 10-A DISCLAIMER: Quiz questions are AI generated. If you find any that are wrong, don't make sense, or aren't related to the video topic at hand, then please post a comment and let me know. Thanks. SummaryToday's video from Access Learning Zone demonstrates how to set up a volume calculator using Microsoft Access. I will walk you through the steps required to calculate cubic measurements for any given area based on height, width, and depth inputs. This is a great tool if you need to determine the volume of a space and then translate that into the amount of material required for jobs such as landscaping.This question comes from a landscaping professional who often needs to calculate materials like mulch or rock for jobs. He explained that projects frequently involve measuring areas, sometimes mixing units like feet and inches, and that knowing the total volume is necessary for figuring out how many bags or loads of material are needed. For example, if he wants to fill a space that is 12 feet wide, 6 feet long, and 2 inches deep with mulch, he needs to know how many 2-cubic-foot bags are required. Let me show you how to set up a calculator for this purpose in Access. I began with my standard TechHelp Free Template, which you can also download from my website. This technique can be added to almost any existing database. You might want to simply create a form for your calculations if you only need temporary results, or you can store the dimensions and calculation data in a table so you have the option to look up prior projects in the future. The first step is to create a table. Start with the primary key as an AutoNumber. You can add a description field if you want, perhaps naming the project or linking it to a customer. The most important fields are the three dimensions, but keep in mind to avoid using reserved words for your field names. Words like name, height, and width are reserved in Access because they are already used as properties within forms and controls. Naming your fields with terms like calculator height, calculator width, and calculator depth is a safer approach that prevents future issues, especially if you plan on adding VBA code later. For these fields, use a number data type with a double field size, so you can enter fractional values if needed (like 4.5 feet or 2.5 inches). Setting a default value can also help streamline data entry, so you do not end up with null or zeroes when a new record is created. After the table is set up, you can input sample data such as a project that measures 10 by 5 by 2 feet, or another that is 20 by 15 by 5 feet. To actually calculate the volume, create a query that multiplies the three dimensions together to get cubic feet. Save and run this query, and you can quickly see the calculated results. Once the query is built, it is easy to produce a form based on that query so entering and viewing measurements and calculated volumes is convenient. I have several detailed tutorials on my website on building forms from queries, so you can refer to those for more specifics if you need guidance on that part. For anyone interested in learning even more, in the extended cut for members, I demonstrate how to handle mixed measurement units, such as combining feet and inches in the same calculation. I also show how to convert between metric and imperial units, so you can move from yards to meters or vice versa. The extended cut includes building a conversion table and using some VBA code to handle the recalculation logic. Memberships on my site come with additional benefits. Silver members and above have access to these extended cut videos, live Q&A sessions, and more. Gold and Platinum members get further perks, such as downloadable database templates, my code vault, and access to my full-length courses covering other software topics. The free TechHelp videos will always be available, so even if you do not join as a member, you can keep learning as new videos are published. If you are finding these tutorials helpful, I encourage you to subscribe to my YouTube channel and join my mailing list to be notified of new content, since YouTube no longer sends email notifications. If you are new to Access, check out my free Level 1 course, which covers all the basics of database building and is over three hours long. If you have questions you would like answered in a future TechHelp video, you are welcome to submit them through my website. You can find a complete video tutorial with step-by-step instructions on everything discussed here on my website at the link below. Live long and prosper, my friends. Topic ListSetting up a table to store calculator dataChoosing field names to avoid reserved words Creating numeric fields for height, width, and depth Setting default values for table fields Entering sample data into the calculator table Building a query to calculate cubic volume Multiplying dimensions to determine cubic measurement Saving and running queries to verify results Creating and using the calculator query for forms |
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| Keywords: TechHelp Access volume, calculator, square feet, cubic feet, cubic yards, cubic inches, calculate volume, landscaping calculator PermaLink Volume in Microsoft Access |
