Math Formula required for the following:
I am working on a database program that requires its records to be
printed in a straight numerical order according to how many records a
person inputs, how many records they want to print per page and the
number of records they want to cut (guillotine) and staple together to
form a set/'book'. For ease of cutting and stapling, the formula needs
to number the records correctly so that once the printed sheets are
grouped as a set and cut, the records are automatically arranged in
their numerical order.
EXAMPLE: I have 1000 records and I wish to print 4 records per A4
sheet. I also want 20 records in a stapled 'book'. Each 'book' will
have 20 records numbered in numerical order. 'Book' 1 that is
guillotined from the first quarter portion of the first 20 sheets will
have 20 pages numbered 1 - 20. 'Book' 2 is guillotined from the 2nd
quarter of the first 20 sheets and will have 20 pages numbered 21-40.
'Book' 3 is guillotined from the 3rd quarter of the first 20 sheets
and will have pages numbered 41-60. 'Book' 4 is guillotined from the
4th quarter of the first 20 sheets and will have pages numbered 61-80.
Now, this is where the formula has to account for a variable in the
recurring pattern. 'Book' 5 will come from the first quarter of the
next 20 sheets (e.g. printed A4 sheets 21-40) and will have 20 pages
numbered 81-100. 'Book' 6 will come from the 2nd quarter and will have
20 pages numbered 101-120. 'Book' 7 will come from the 3rd quarter and
have 20 pages numbered 121-140. 'Book' 8 will come from the 4th
quarter and have 20 pages numbered 141-160. 'Book' 9 will come from
the 1st quarter of the 3rd set of 20 sheets (printed A4 sheets 41-60)
and will have pages numbered 161-180. 'Book' 10 will come from the 2nd
quarter and have 20 pages numbered 181-200. AND SO ON..........
So, if the formula is true, and my longhand calculations are correct,
the 25th A4 sheet printed should have record numbers 85 (1st quarter),
105 (2nd quarter), 125 (3rd quarter) and 145 (4th quarter). The 50th
A4 sheet printed should have record numbers 170, 190, 210 and 230. At
the end of printing, for 1000 records, there should be 50 finished
'books'.
THE QUESTION:
What is the formula for ensuring each record gets its proper page
number printed based on the user inputting variables such as total
number of records, records per printed page and number of
pages/records per guillotined set/book?
Thank you for your help! |
Request for Question Clarification by
tox-ga
on
04 Aug 2006 20:21 PDT
Hi there,
Would an excel sheet that shows you, for a given record number, what
page and which quarter that the record should be on, meet your
requirement?
The excel sheet would consist of a series of algebraic/conditional
formulas that you'd be able to see.
Cheers,
Tox-ga
|
Clarification of Question by
waddsy-ga
on
06 Aug 2006 16:39 PDT
Hi Tox, Thank you for your initial query. I am consulting with others
re your response and will get back to you soon. ATM, your suggestion
of an excel sheet would help to see how the example would function but
I need the final answer to account for all variables. For example,
let's say the user wants to print 1000 records and have 3 records per
A4 sheet, grouped 10 per 'book'......... or .... let's say a user
wants to have 5000 records and have 10 per sheet, grouped 20 per
'book'. In this latter example, the records (and numbering) would be
hard set to either print across the A4 sheet then down, or straight
down for the first column then straight down for the second column.
I'll get back to you soon with a further response to your
clarification. Kind regards, Neil
|
Clarification of Question by
waddsy-ga
on
06 Aug 2006 18:04 PDT
Hi again tox,
we think your idea of a speadsheet makes sense. I don't have any other
solutions so this approach may be of help. BTW, my computer program
needing this functionality is being built with Filemaker Pro so I
should be able to incorporate a similar solution worked via Excel.
Once again, the answer needs to account for the variables stated:
1. No. of Records (e.g. 1000) The user can input any number for this variable.
2. No. of Records per A4 Sheet (e.g. 4) I only allow the user to
select 2, 3, 4 or 10 for this variable.
3. No. of Records per Set/'Book' (e.g. 20) This variable could be set
to only allow the user to select from a value list of let's say 10 or
20.
4. Record Number (e.g. assigned automatically as the records generate)
(e.g. 1-1000 in straight order)
5. Record Number for Print Placement according to the formula (e.g.
1-1000 but in a specific order, according to the first 4 variables, so
that the records in each set/'book' are numbered in numerical order
after they are guillotined)
Thank you again for your interest in providing an answer!
Kind regards,
Neil
|
Request for Question Clarification by
hedgie-ga
on
22 Aug 2006 22:08 PDT
Hi,
If you are happy with the answer given in the comment, it may be good
idea to 'expire' the question. If the problem is still open, it
may help if you post what is still a problem.
Is the formula given Lemonteh-ga working?
re:
" I too don?t know what happened to it from the Google Answers site.."
If you review the GA FAQ (see bottom of the page) you will note that
posting of email addresses is discouraged on GA:
"Should I post my email address to Google Answers if someone asks for it?
To protect your privacy, we recommend that you not post your email
address or any other personal information about yourself on Google
Answers..."
http://answers.google.com/answers/faq.html#aboutpriv
Personal info can be deleted. There are other sites which allow one to find
an consultant to exchange private emails with. GA works differently.
Hope this helps.
Hedgie
|
