[AccessD] Calculating mileage

Tina Norris Fields tinanfields at torchlake.com
Sun Oct 2 11:09:01 CDT 2011


Dear John,

I love it!  Do the records in your database have any connection at all 
to the odometer readings?  (Probably not.)  So, you need a way to 
calculate travel distances between physical addresses.  I t would seem 
that a mapping program of some sort would provide the solution - just as 
Google Maps and MapQuest tell you how far it is from home to the VA 
hospital in Ann Arbor, for instance.

It's not yet clear to me how to get your addresses out of the database 
and into the mapping program, but, there's got to be a way.  Thanks for 
a great puzzle - don't know how much help I'm going to be in its 
solution, but I'm going to give it a solid effort.

T

Tina Norris Fields
tinanfields at torchlake.com
231-322-2787


On 9/28/2011 7:08 AM, jwcolby wrote:
> But... I have database records already in a database.  This is not 
> about defining a solution for data that does not exist and I would 
> otherwise have to enter.  This is about defining a solution for data 
> that I (and any other user) must enter into the database to use the 
> inmate pass program.
>
> *It is already in the database*
>
> This is about building a small program to do these calculations about 
> data that has and *is going to* accumulate in the course of doing 
> business.
>
> It appears that I am not able to get across to this list the fact that 
> the records already exist in a database.
>
> Forget that I am driving.  *Just please forget that fact.*   I never 
> said anything about actually driving these miles, being in a car or 
> anything else related to automobiles.
>
> Now...
>
> I have records in a database which have addresses in them.  I need to 
> calculate driving distances between those addresses.
>
> Pleeeeeeaaaaaaase, I do not want nor do I need anything related to 
> logging miles driven in a car.
>
> I need a function which takes two addresses and hands back miles 
> between those points, actual miles that would be driven.
>
> BUT I AM NOT DRIVING THOSE MILES.  The records are somehow just 
> magically (poof) appearing in a table!
>
> John W. Colby
> www.ColbyConsulting.com
>
> On 9/27/2011 11:31 PM, Darryl Collins wrote:
>> Can't add much value to your historical data issue John, but for your 
>> future
>> records, well I guess it depends on how much effort and money you 
>> want to
>> put into this.
>>
>> There are 'turnkey' solutions already out there for exactly this sort of
>> reporting.  These folks will report on miles / kilometres travelled 
>> and way
>> much more for about $40 a month.
>>
>> <<http://www.gpsinsight.com/low-cost-gps-tracking>>
>>
>> It actually looks like a bit of over engineering for what you are 
>> after, but
>> the concept is exactly what I am talking about.  Let the GPS record the
>> mileage for you and just download it to you PC.  You might find the 
>> service
>> above is worth the $40 per month for your needs.  Dunno.  Anyway, 
>> that seems
>> a lot easier than stuffing around with tracking online maps etc
>>
>> Although the cheapest and best solution I would have thought was the one
>> already suggested. Use a smart phone app, or better still, an old 
>> fashion
>> paper log book.
>>
>> Cheers
>> Darryl
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
>> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of jwcolby
>> Sent: Wednesday, 28 September 2011 12:36 PM
>> To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
>> Subject: Re: [AccessD] Calculating mileage
>>
>> >  I would have thought a standard GPS unit would do this for you pretty
>> much automatically
>>
>> Do what for me?  A gps gets you from one place to another.  I need 
>> code to
>> calculate mileage between
>> two points.
>>
>> I have a database of trips I have taken, hundreds of existing 
>> records.  I
>> need to calculate the
>> mileage of those trips so that I can apply for a tax refund.
>>
>> Maybe I am missing something here.  How is a a gps or a smart phone or a
>> paper log going to help me
>> get mileage calculations for existing and future data records in a 
>> database?
>>
>> John W. Colby
>> www.ColbyConsulting.com
>>
>> On 9/27/2011 7:17 PM, Darryl Collins wrote:
>>> I would have thought a standard GPS unit would do this for you 
>>> pretty much
>>> automatically, although I have bugger all experience in this area.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
>>> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of jwcolby
>>> Sent: Tuesday, 27 September 2011 9:53 PM
>>> To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
>>> Subject: [AccessD] Calculating mileage
>>>
>>> Before tax time I need to add a module to my inmate checkout to 
>>> calculate
>>> mileage for all legs of a
>>> trip with the inmates.  The database contains records of where we go 
>>> - the
>>> midpoints points - with
>>> addresses, but the database does not have my start / end point (home).
>>>
>>> 1) Home to prison
>>> 2) Prison to first destination in the db
>>> 3) First destination to second destination (if any)
>>> 4) Second destination to third destination (if any)
>>> 5) Last destination to prison
>>> 6) Prison to home
>>>
>>> I thought I would try to use Microsoft Streets and trips to do the
>> mapping,
>>> though I am open to
>>> using Google Maps if there is a programming interface available to 
>>> the VBA
>>> language.
>>>
>>> I could of course manually enter the trips into Streets and trips, 
>>> get the
>>> mileage and build a table
>>> of all the "legs" that I have ever done but that is error prone and 
>>> forces
>>> me to do the whole thing
>>> manually.  Also this is in use by other people so it would be nice to
>> build
>>> a module that would also
>>> calculate their legs, which I certainly do not want to do myself 
>>> manually.
>>>
>>> If for tax purposes I just assume that we always start from home and 
>>> end
>> at
>>> home I could use
>>> something like Streets and trips (which I have) to calculate all of 
>>> these
>>> legs for each trip and
>>> place them in a table.  At tax time I then have a mileage log for 
>>> the IRS.
>>>
>>> I have never used Streets and Trips for this purpose.  I do know 
>>> that it
>> has
>>> an API and VBA
>>> available for it.  If anyone uses it for this purpose and has a library
>> (or
>>> a function) written to
>>> do this that they would share that would be great.  Or a web or help
>>> resource for this.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>



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