Fractions rounded to 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64, 1/128

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The formatted display of fractional measurements in Excel leaves a lot to be desired. This example and the formulas shown below were generously provided by Bernie Deitrick as a follow-up to a posting 2000-08-04 in the microsoft.public.excel.misc newsgroup. Bernie's formulas will be simplified after comments from Harlan Grove and corrections from by Ron Rosenberg on 2003-01-03

The corrections to be made will allow the numbers to be treated arithmetically, though they are being formatted strictly for display. The other formulas showing mixed feet, inches and fractional inches will still requidre something more than these simplified formulas, and will be text to allow feet and inch marks to appear next to figures even if strictly Feet and fractional feet.

I believe the formula on this page will need some revision based on the following advice by Ron Rosenberg on 2003-01-26

Disadvantage of  # #/##  formatting,
  A1:  26
  B2:  =MROUND(A1,1/32)    formatted   as   # #/##  -- MROUND is in Analysis Tookpak
displays in B2  as    26 0/1  as would the non Analysis Toolpak Function version 
  B2:  =ROUND(A1*32,0)/32     formatted  as   # #/##

---------------- Examples for 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64 -----------
for 4ths
=ROUND(A1*4,0)/4 -- format as 0 #/##

for 8ths
=ROUND(A1*8,0)/8 -- format as 0 #/##

for 16ths
=ROUND(A1*16,0)/16 -- format as 0 #/##

for 32nds
=ROUND(A1*32,0)/32 -- format as 0 #/##

for 64ths
=ROUND(A1*64,0)/64 -- format as 0 #/##

Simplified Formulas: Bernie Deitrick sent (2005-03-04) sent me a simplied means of redoing his previous work -- see how long it takes me to actually change formulas used. For Feet and fractional inches.

formula for cell E7:
=INT(A1/12)&"' "&INT(MOD(A1,12))&""&IF(INT(A1)<>A1," " & TEXT(ROUND((A1-INT(A1/12)*12-INT(MOD(A1,12)))*128,0)/128,"##/###"),"")&""""

instead of his previous original beautiful formulas that is shown here to show some neat worksheet functions usage from his Aug 2000 examples: =INT(A1/12)&"' " & TEXT(MOD(A1,12),"0" &IF(ABS(MOD(A1,12)-ROUND(MOD(A1,12),0))>1/256, " 0/"&CHOOSE(MATCH(MIN(ABS(ROUND(MOD(A1,12)*{2,4,8,16,32,64,128},0)-MOD(A1,12)*{2,4,8,16,32,64,128})/{2,4,8,16,32,64,128}),ABS(ROUND(MOD(A1,12)*{2,4,8,16,32,64,128},0)-MOD(A1,12)*{2,4,8,16,32,64,128})/{2,4,8,16,32,64,128},0),2,4,8,16,32,64,128),""))&""""

	A	B	C	D	E
1	26.0827	Fr: Simple Decimal To: Simple Fractions	Fr: Decimal Inches To: Fractional Inches	Fr: Decimal Feet To: Inches and Fractional Inches	Fr: Decimal Inches To: Feet, Inches and Fract. Inches
2	Down to 4ths	26	26"	26' 1"	2' 2 0/4"
3	Down to 8ths	26 1/8	26 1/8"	26' 1"	2' 2 1/8"
4	Down to 16ths	26 1/16	26 1/16"	26' 1"	2' 2 1/16"
5	Down to 32nds	26 3/32	26 3/32"	26' 1"	2' 2 3/32"
6	Down to 64ths	26 5/64	26 5/64"	26' 1"	2' 2 5/64"
7	Down to 128ths	26 11/128	26 11/128"	26' 0 127/128"	2' 2 11/128"
8
9	This spreadsheet gives formulas used to display decimal values given in cell A1 as fractions with the denominator being variable and chosen as the smallest among 2,4,8,16.... as appropriate. Equations developed by Bernie Deitrick

b1	Fr: Simple Decimal To: Simple Fractions
b2	26	=TEXT(A1,"0"&IF(ABS(A1-ROUND(A1,0))>1/8," 0/"&CHOOSE(ROUND(MOD(A1,1)4,0),4,2,4),"")) =MROUND(A1,1/4) -- Analysis Toolpak Function -- format as 0 ##/## =ROUND(A14,0)/4 -- Without the Analysis Toolpak Function -- format as 0 ##/##
b3	26 1/8	=TEXT(A1,"0"&IF(ABS(A1-ROUND(A1,0))>1/16," 0/"&CHOOSE(ROUND(MOD(A1,1)*8,0),8,4,8,2,8,4,8),"")) =MROUND(A1,1/8) -- Analysis Toolpak Function -- format as 0 ##/##
b4	26 1/16	=TEXT(A1,"0"&IF(ABS(A1-ROUND(A1,0))>1/32," 0/"&CHOOSE(ROUND(MOD(A1,1)*16,0),16,8,16,4,16,8,16,2,16,8,16,4,16,8,16),"")) =MROUND(A1,1/16) -- Analysis Toolpak Function -- format as 0 ##/##
b5	26 3/32	=TEXT(A1,"0" &IF(ABS(A1-ROUND(A1,0))>1/64, " 0/"&CHOOSE(MATCH(MIN(ABS(ROUND(A1{2,4,8,16,32},0)-A1{2,4,8,16,32})/{2,4,8,16,32}),ABS(ROUND(A1{2,4,8,16,32},0)-A1{2,4,8,16,32})/{2,4,8,16,32},0),2,4,8,16,32),"")) =MROUND(A1,1/32) -- Analysis Toolpak Function -- format as 0 ##/##
b6	26 5/64	=TEXT(A1,"0" &IF(ABS(A1-ROUND(A1,0))>1/128, " 0/"&CHOOSE(MATCH(MIN(ABS(ROUND(A1{2,4,8,16,32,64},0)-A1{2,4,8,16,32,64})/{2,4,8,16,32,64}),ABS(ROUND(A1{2,4,8,16,32,64},0)-A1{2,4,8,16,32,64})/{2,4,8,16,32,64},0),2,4,8,16,32,64),"")) =MROUND(A1,1/64) -- Analysis Toolpak Function -- format as 0 ##/##
b7	26 11/128	=TEXT(A1,"0" &IF(ABS(A1-ROUND(A1,0))>1/256, " 0/"&CHOOSE(MATCH(MIN(ABS(ROUND(A1{2,4,8,16,32,64,128},0)-A1{2,4,8,16,32,64,128})/{2,4,8,16,32,64,128}),ABS(ROUND(A1{2,4,8,16,32,64,128},0)-A1{2,4,8,16,32,64,128})/{2,4,8,16,32,64,128},0),2,4,8,16,32,64,128),"")) =MROUND(A1,1/128) -- Analysis Toolpak Function -- format as 0 ##/##

c1	Fr: Decimal Inches To: Fractional Inches
c2	26"	=TEXT(A1,"0"&IF(ABS(A1-ROUND(A1,0))>1/8," 0/"&CHOOSE(ROUND(MOD(A1,1)*4,0),4,2,4),""))&""""
c3	26 1/8"	=TEXT(A1,"0"&IF(ABS(A1-ROUND(A1,0))>1/16," 0/"&CHOOSE(ROUND(MOD(A1,1)*8,0),8,4,8,2,8,4,8),""))&""""
c4	26 1/16"	=TEXT(A1,"0"&IF(ABS(A1-ROUND(A1,0))>1/32," 0/"&CHOOSE(ROUND(MOD(A1,1)*16,0),16,8,16,4,16,8,16,2,16,8,16,4,16,8,16),""))&""""
c5	26 3/32"	=TEXT(A1,"0" &IF(ABS(A1-ROUND(A1,0))>1/64, " 0/"&CHOOSE(MATCH(MIN(ABS(ROUND(A1*{2,4,8,16,32},0)-A1*{2,4,8,16,32})/{2,4,8,16,32}),ABS(ROUND(A1*{2,4,8,16,32},0)-A1*{2,4,8,16,32})/{2,4,8,16,32},0),2,4,8,16,32),""))&""""
c6	26 5/64"	=TEXT(A1,"0" &IF(ABS(A1-ROUND(A1,0))>1/128, " 0/"&CHOOSE(MATCH(MIN(ABS(ROUND(A1{2,4,8,16,32,64},0)-A1{2,4,8,16,32,64})/{2,4,8,16,32,64}),ABS(ROUND(A1{2,4,8,16,32,64},0)-A1{2,4,8,16,32,64})/{2,4,8,16,32,64},0),2,4,8,16,32,64),""))&""""
c7	26 11/128"	=TEXT(A1,"0" &IF(ABS(A1-ROUND(A1,0))>1/256, " 0/"&CHOOSE(MATCH(MIN(ABS(ROUND(A1{2,4,8,16,32,64,128},0)-A1{2,4,8,16,32,64,128})/{2,4,8,16,32,64,128}),ABS(ROUND(A1{2,4,8,16,32,64,128},0)-A1{2,4,8,16,32,64,128})/{2,4,8,16,32,64,128},0),2,4,8,16,32,64,128),""))&""""

d1	Fr: Decimal Feet To: Feet and Fractional Inches
d2	26' 1"	=INT(A$1)&""&IF(INT(A$1)<>A$1," " & TEXT(ROUND((A$1-INT(A$1))*4,0)/4,"##/###"),"")&""""
d3	26' 1"	=INT(A$1)&""&IF(INT(A$1)<>A$1," " & TEXT(ROUND((A$1-INT(A$1))*8,0)/8,"##/###"),"")&""""
d4	26' 1"	=INT(A$1)&""&IF(INT(A$1)<>A$1," " & TEXT(ROUND((A$1-INT(A$1))*16,0)/16,"##/###"),"")&""""
d5	26' 1"	=INT(A$1)&""&IF(INT(A$1)<>A$1," " & TEXT(ROUND((A$1-INT(A$1))*32,0)/32,"##/###"),"")&""""
d6	26' 1"	=INT(A$1)&""&IF(INT(A$1)<>A$1," " & TEXT(ROUND((A$1-INT(A$1))*64,0)/64,"##/###"),"")&""""
d7	26' 0 127/128"	=INT(A$1)&""&IF(INT(A$1)<>A$1," " & TEXT(ROUND((A$1-INT(A$1))*128,0)/128,"##/###"),"")&""""

e1	Fr: Decimal Inches To: Feet and Fractional Inches
e2	2' 2 0/4"	`=INT(A1/12)&"' "&INT(MOD(A1,12))&""&IF(INT(A1)<>A1," " & TEXT(ROUND((A1-INT(A1/12)12-INT(MOD(A1,12)))4,0)/4,"##/##"),"")&""""`
e3	2' 2 1/8"	`=INT(A1/12)&"' "&INT(MOD(A1,12))&""&IF(INT(A1)<>A1," " & TEXT(ROUND((A1-INT(A1/12)12-INT(MOD(A1,12)))8,0)/8,"##/##"),"")&""""`
e4	2' 2 1/16"	`=INT(A1/12)&"' "&INT(MOD(A1,12))&""&IF(INT(A1)<>A1," " & TEXT(ROUND((A1-INT(A1/12)12-INT(MOD(A1,12)))16,0)/16,"##/##"),"")&""""`
e5	2' 2 3/32"	`=INT(A1/12)&"' "&INT(MOD(A1,12))&""&IF(INT(A1)<>A1," " & TEXT(ROUND((A1-INT(A1/12)12-INT(MOD(A1,12)))32,0)/32,"##/##"),"")&""""`
e6	2' 2 5/64"	`=INT(A1/12)&"' "&INT(MOD(A1,12))&""&IF(INT(A1)<>A1," " & TEXT(ROUND((A1-INT(A1/12)12-INT(MOD(A1,12)))64,0)/64,"##/##"),"")&""""`
e7	2' 2 11/128"	`=INT(A1/12)&"' "&INT(MOD(A1,12))&""&IF(INT(A1)<>A1," " & TEXT(ROUND((A1-INT(A1/12)12-INT(MOD(A1,12)))128,0)/128,"##/###"),"")&""""`

Preparation of Data on this Page

A second sheet was copied from the original Excel spreadsheet supplied by Bernie and the formulas used were displayed as follows:

A12: B2
B12: (pasted from B2)
C12: =GetFormula(indirect(A12))

The original section was converted to HTML with XL2HTMLX, and the formulas section was converted to HTML with XL2HTML with macros described on my HTML page.

This page is a continuation of the carpentry and fractions area on my Formula page.
You can find some macros for conversions in an example spreadsheet. Look for "feet-inch.xls" download at www.steel-link.com/2002/downloads/other.cfm This site is about tools and references for steel fabricating and detailing. Has AutoCad files, bolt calculation program, some fonts, things of interest to those working with steel.
Conversion of Feet and Inches to Decimal Values, John Lacher, CPA
allmath.com: Metric Conversion Tool, JAVA/HTML, more Martindale's Calculators On-Line Center (Over 18,135 calculators).

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Fractions rounded to 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64, 1/128

Preparation of Data on this Page

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