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View Full Version : Solution for rounding errors (Life Safety schedule)



patricks
2008-05-08, 07:44 PM
I just figured out a way to overcome the rounding errors that can happen when you have calculated totals in a schedule, specifically the Life Safety schedule that we use, which shows the number of occupants allowed per room.

I originally got the schedule and schedule key posted by Jake Boen in this thread:
http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=33275

We have since added that to our standard project template.

Now just yesterday I noticed a discrepancy between the number of occupants calculated for each room, and the calculated total shown at the bottom of the Occupants column. This of course happens because the calculated number of occupants for each room is rounded to the nearest whole number (can't have less than a whole person hah), but the total listed for that column uses the un-rounded values, and then rounds that total value to the nearest whole number. This made my total occupant load off by 1.

So what I did is made the calculated value a hidden field, and then added a new calculated value that is just an integer instead of a number field, and the formula was just set to equal the original calculated value. When that new column full of straight integers was added up, the total shown below the column was correct.

Just wanted to throw that out there for those dealing with these rounding issues. I know some people have reported this issue when scheduling areas. This method could work, but you would need to set your areas to calculate with zero decimal places, and then make your second calculated value an integer.

Below you can see the schedule with the normal calculated field, the schedule with the integer field that comes from the calculated field, and the value itself with the formula.