Hello,
I design ships and as a part of that create weight estimates during the design phase. Currently, the weight estimates are completed in Excel but i am wondering if Access can be used instead.
The input that we enter into the estimate includes:
the name of the item
the type
the weight
the longitudinal center of gravity (fore and aft)
the transverse center of gravity (side to side)
the vertical center (up and down)
the aft extent of the weight
the forward extent of the weight
This information can all be added stored and reported on in Access easily enough.
My question relates to something called a longitudinal weight distribution which is essentially a calculation of the weight of the vessel at a given location along its length. In excel this is done in a large table that has a column for every frame of the ship and a row for each weight item. A calculation is done to determine the weight per frame (Weight / (Forward Extent - Aft Extent)) and then using if statements, the weight per frame, for a given item, is applied in a given column (frame), if that frame is between the forward and aft extent of the weight. All the weights in each column are then summed to give a weight/frame for all the weight items in the estimate. The resultant is a table that has only the total weight per frame for each frame.
My question is how could this sort of thing be best accomplished in Access. Essentially, i want a seperate table in access to be the longitudinal distribution table and it should only have a column titled "Frame" and a column titled "FrameWeight". I am just not sure if it is possible / how best to do the calculation to get from data table to this distribution table? Any help would be really appreciated.