Normalization

[sys_analyst47 via AccessMonster.com]

Hi,
I am developing a inter dept application which will help us out to track the
auto loan application receiving, status of application, daily activity of
staff & few more things beside that. The problem which i am facing to design
tables is this I have a contract which needs to be issue to customer if the
loan has approved which is based on 36 fields which are as under just suggest
me is there any way to split this ?? if i will split this in different tables
I have to setup a mail merge with Word So will i be able to do that??

Customer identification
Customer name Branch
Sales officer
Local purchase order date
Vendor
Vendor address
Brand
Model
Year of Make
Color
Chassis no
Engine no
Original cost
Insurance cost
Total cost Down payment
Total deferred payment
1st installment date
Last installment date
1st installment amount
Last installment amount
Place of registration
Vehicle owner name
Passport no
Debt account
Commission amount in no
Commission amount in words

this is my customer table from where i generate contract.
The idea a customer record is entered there should be no redundancy. Please
don't forger that I have to issue contracts by mail merge. Or is there any
way to design report for contracts. it contains 12 pages for one customer.
can we design such a report???

 

[John W. Vinson]

Hi,
I am developing a inter dept application which will help us out to track the
auto loan application receiving, status of application, daily activity of
staff & few more things beside that. The problem which i am facing to design
tables is this I have a contract which needs to be issue to customer if the
loan has approved which is based on 36 fields which are as under just suggest
me is there any way to split this ?? if i will split this in different tables
I have to setup a mail merge with Word So will i be able to do that??

A mailmerge can easily be based on a Query. You certainly do not need to have
it all in one table!

Customer identification
Customer name Branch
Sales officer
Local purchase order date
Vendor
Vendor address
Brand
Model
Year of Make
Color
Chassis no
Engine no
Original cost
Insurance cost
Total cost Down payment
Total deferred payment
1st installment date
Last installment date
1st installment amount
Last installment amount
Place of registration
Vehicle owner name
Passport no
Debt account
Commission amount in no
Commission amount in words

Each type or "Entity" - real-life person, thing, or event - should have its
own table. A Customer is an entity; an automobile is a different kind of
entity; a payment is yet a third type of entity. I'd suggest at LEAST tables
such as:

Customers
CustomerID <autonumber primary key>
LastName
FirstName
PassportNo <you might be able to make this the primary key if every customer
will have one, but I doubt that is the case>

SalesOfficers
OfficerID <your company's employee number or an autonumber>
LastName
firstName
<other biographical or contact data>

Vehicles
VehicleID <I think the VIN is pretty standard>
Make
Model
ModelYear
Color
<other vehicle specific fields>

Loan
LoanNo <primary key, your unique loan number>
LoanDate
PrincipalAmount
<other loan terms>


Fields which can be derived from other fields should not exist in your table,
period - they should instead be calculated on the fly. Amount in words is one
example. If the monthly payment can be calculated from the loan amount,
interest rate and term, then it should be calculated, not stored.

this is my customer table from where i generate contract.
The idea a customer record is entered there should be no redundancy. Please
don't forger that I have to issue contracts by mail merge. Or is there any
way to design report for contracts. it contains 12 pages for one customer.
can we design such a report???

Sure.

 

[sys_analyst47 via AccessMonster.com]

Hi,
I am developing a inter dept application which will help us out to track the

[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]

me is there any way to split this ?? if i will split this in different tables
I have to setup a mail merge with Word So will i be able to do that??

A mailmerge can easily be based on a Query. You certainly do not need to have
it all in one table!

Customer identification
Customer name Branch

[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]

Commission amount in no
Commission amount in words

Each type or "Entity" - real-life person, thing, or event - should have its
own table. A Customer is an entity; an automobile is a different kind of
entity; a payment is yet a third type of entity. I'd suggest at LEAST tables
such as:

Customers
CustomerID <autonumber primary key>
LastName
FirstName
PassportNo <you might be able to make this the primary key if every customer
will have one, but I doubt that is the case>

SalesOfficers
OfficerID <your company's employee number or an autonumber>
LastName
firstName
<other biographical or contact data>

Vehicles
VehicleID <I think the VIN is pretty standard>
Make
Model
ModelYear
Color
<other vehicle specific fields>

Loan
LoanNo <primary key, your unique loan number>
LoanDate
PrincipalAmount
<other loan terms>

Fields which can be derived from other fields should not exist in your table,
period - they should instead be calculated on the fly. Amount in words is one
example. If the monthly payment can be calculated from the loan amount,
interest rate and term, then it should be calculated, not stored.

this is my customer table from where i generate contract.
The idea a customer record is entered there should be no redundancy. Please
don't forger that I have to issue contracts by mail merge. Or is there any
way to design report for contracts. it contains 12 pages for one customer.
can we design such a report???

Sure.

Thanks for your quick revert, well may i send you a copy of my database. if i
will keep separate vehicle table, sales table, customer table & Loan amount
table. How a user in one go will input the information .... can you please
suggest me on that. Please provide me your email so that i will send you a
copy of my database have a look into this and suggest me. I would really
appreciate your help

 

[John W. Vinson]

Thanks for your quick revert, well may i send you a copy of my database. if i
will keep separate vehicle table, sales table, customer table & Loan amount
table. How a user in one go will input the information .... can you please
suggest me on that. Please provide me your email so that i will send you a
copy of my database have a look into this and suggest me. I would really
appreciate your help

You would use appropriate Forms with Subforms. There are some tutorials and a
good video for how to get started posted below.

I'm sorry, but designing your database for you goes beyond what I'm
comfortable doing as an unpaid volunteer on these newsgroups. I do provide
fee-based consulting services but my time is fully booked up at present. You
may want to see if you can find someone locally or use a jobs forum to request
someone's paid services.


Here are those resources:

Jeff Conrad's resources page:
http://www.accessmvp.com/JConrad/accessjunkie/resources.html

The Access Web resources page:
http://www.mvps.org/access/resources/index.html

Roger Carlson's tutorials, samples and tips:
http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/

A free tutorial written by Crystal:
http://allenbrowne.com/casu-22.html

A video how-to series by Crystal:
http://www.YouTube.com/user/LearnAccessByCrystal

MVP Allen Browne's tutorials:
http://allenbrowne.com/links.html#Tutorials

 

[Steve]

Hello Majid,

I provide help with Access, Excel and Word applications for a small fee. If
you need help with your database, contact me.

Steve
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Jeff Boyce]

Majid

These newsgroups offer FREE assistance and are (usually) "staffed" by
volunteers. The Code of Conduct for these newsgroups prohibits soliciting
paid work.

Before you do business with someone who solicits paid work here, ask
yourself if you are comfortable working with someone who knowingly violates
the rules here.

To make best use of the free assistance here, describe what you have and
what you have already done in more detail.

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Access MVP

--
Disclaimer: This author may have received products and services mentioned
in this post. Mention and/or description of a product or service herein
does not constitute endorsement thereof.

Any code or pseudocode included in this post is offered "as is", with no
guarantee as to suitability.

You can thank the FTC of the USA for making this disclaimer
possible/necessary.

 

[John... Visio MVP]

Hello Majid,

I provide help with Access, Excel and Word applications for a small fee.
If you need help with your database, contact me.

Steve

Stevie - Normalization? We all know that you are not normal!


Stevie is our own personal pet troll who is the only one who does not
understand the concept of FREE peer to peer support!
He offers questionable results at unreasonable prices.

These newsgroups are provided by Microsoft for FREE peer to peer support.
There are many highly qualified individuals who gladly help for free. Stevie
is not one of them, but he is the only one who just does not get the idea of
"FREE" support. He offers questionable results at unreasonable prices. If he
was any good, the "thousands" of people he claims to have helped would be
flooding him with work, but there appears to be a continuous drought and he
needs to constantly grovel for work.

Please do not feed the trolls.

John... Visio MVP

 

[sys_analyst47 via AccessMonster.com]

Majid

These newsgroups offer FREE assistance and are (usually) "staffed" by
volunteers. The Code of Conduct for these newsgroups prohibits soliciting
paid work.

Before you do business with someone who solicits paid work here, ask
yourself if you are comfortable working with someone who knowingly violates
the rules here.

To make best use of the free assistance here, describe what you have and
what you have already done in more detail.

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Access MVP

Hi,
I am developing a inter dept application which will help us out to track

[quoted text clipped - 43 lines]

way to design report for contracts. it contains 12 pages for one customer.
can we design such a report???

Thank you very much for giving me information on that. Even I was not willing
to pay like this. As all the time everyone is getting assistance from this
forum. Well thanks a lot.

 

[John W. Vinson]

Thank you very much for giving me information on that. Even I was not willing
to pay like this. As all the time everyone is getting assistance from this
forum. Well thanks a lot.

I think there may be a language barrier both ways here, Majid; I can't tell if
your "thanks a lot" is sincere appreciation or sarcastic. Do you still need
help (other than someone downloading your database and fixing it for you,
which again would not generally be a free service)?

 

[sys_analyst47 via AccessMonster.com]

I think there may be a language barrier both ways here, Majid; I can't tell if
your "thanks a lot" is sincere appreciation or sarcastic. Do you still need
help (other than someone downloading your database and fixing it for you,
which again would not generally be a free service)?

Well i fix it by the way ... tell me one thing is it possible that i have a
combo box i will put assume a customer ID in it and this will fetch product
sold from another table ...if so please let me know exactly how to do tht

 

[John W. Vinson]

Well i fix it by the way ... tell me one thing is it possible that i have a
combo box i will put assume a customer ID in it and this will fetch product
sold from another table ...if so please let me know exactly how to do tht

Yes it is possible. However you will need to help me: I do not know the
structure of your tables, and I do not know where the product sold is to be
found.

Please post a description of your tables in the form

Customers
CustomerID
LastName
FirstName
...

OtherTable
Thisfield
Thatfield
...

and indicate how the tables are related.

 

[sys_analyst47 via AccessMonster.com]

Yes it is possible. However you will need to help me: I do not know the
structure of your tables, and I do not know where the product sold is to be
found.

Please post a description of your tables in the form

Customers
CustomerID
LastName
FirstName
...

OtherTable
Thisfield
Thatfield
...

and indicate how the tables are related.

Customer identification - Unique no assigned to every customer
Customer name Branch
Sales officer
Product
Local purchase order date
Vendor
Vendor address
Brand
Model
Year of Make
Color
Chassis no
Engine no
Original cost
Insurance cost
Total cost Down payment
Total deferred payment
1st installment date
Last installment date
1st installment amount
Last installment amount
Place of registration
Vehicle owner name
Passport no
Debt account
Commission amount in no
Commission amount in words

based on the above mentioned fields my contract is generating. Now i have
another table Named as discrepancy the reason for that table is if there is
any error in customer finance application form i will have to return that
particular application. Fields of discrepancy are as under:

Customer No (FK)
Customer Name
Product
Branch
date of discrepancy - Will be same as Local purchase order date
Discrepancy reason

Now, if i will put the Customer Number i will get the customer name, product,
branch, date of local purchase order.
Tell me what will be the control for Customer number (Combo box or text box)
& similarly what will be the control for the rest of the fields. and which
property do i need to set

 

[John W. Vinson]

Customer identification - Unique no assigned to every customer
Customer name Branch
Sales officer
Product
Local purchase order date
Vendor
Vendor address
Brand
Model
Year of Make
Color
Chassis no
Engine no
Original cost
Insurance cost
Total cost Down payment
Total deferred payment
1st installment date
Last installment date
1st installment amount
Last installment amount
Place of registration
Vehicle owner name
Passport no
Debt account
Commission amount in no
Commission amount in words

Ok. So you completely ignored or dismissed the earlier advice about how to
normalize your table? That's why you're having trouble!

A customer *does not have a chassis number*.
A customer *does not have an installment date*.
A customer *does not have a commission amount*.

Or do you want to limit your database so that each customer can own one and
only one vehicle, and have one and only one insurance policy?

based on the above mentioned fields my contract is generating. Now i have
another table Named as discrepancy the reason for that table is if there is
any error in customer finance application form i will have to return that
particular application. Fields of discrepancy are as under:

Customer No (FK)
Customer Name
Product
Branch
date of discrepancy - Will be same as Local purchase order date
Discrepancy reason

Now, if i will put the Customer Number i will get the customer name, product,
branch, date of local purchase order.
Tell me what will be the control for Customer number (Combo box or text box)
& similarly what will be the control for the rest of the fields. and which
property do i need to set

It sounds like you want to COPY the customer name, product, and so on from the
(non-normalized) Customer table into the Discrepancy table.

Don't.

That's not how relational databases work! You should store customer specific
information - *once and once only* - in the Customer table, and noplace else.
The discrepancy table will have a CustomerNo to LINK it to the Customer table,
but it will not contain any other fields from that table.

You can enter data into the table by using a Form based on the Customer table,
with a Subform based on the Discrepancy table, using Customer No as the
master/child link field. On the subform you will have fields such as the date
of discrepancy, reason, resolution etc.

 

[David W. Fenton]

A mailmerge can easily be based on a Query. You certainly do not
need to have it all in one table!

Yes, true. But if your query has any user-defined functions or uses
any VBA functions that are not supported by the Jet/ACE expression
service, it won't work. I almost always use a temp table for writing
data that is exported or used for mail merge.

And I'd also recommend Albert Kallal's Word Merge utility, which
I've used quite successfully in one of my apps:

http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal/msaccess/msaccess.html

(search for Super Easy Word Merge in the page)

 

[sys_analyst47 via AccessMonster.com]

[quoted text clipped - 46 lines]

Commission amount in no
Commission amount in words

Ok. So you completely ignored or dismissed the earlier advice about how to
normalize your table? That's why you're having trouble!

A customer *does not have a chassis number*.

A customer *does not have a commission amount*.

Or do you want to limit your database so that each customer can own one and
only one vehicle, and have one and only one insurance policy?

based on the above mentioned fields my contract is generating. Now i have
another table Named as discrepancy the reason for that table is if there is

[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]

& similarly what will be the control for the rest of the fields. and which
property do i need to set

It sounds like you want to COPY the customer name, product, and so on from the
(non-normalized) Customer table into the Discrepancy table.

Don't.

That's not how relational databases work! You should store customer specific
information - *once and once only* - in the Customer table, and noplace else.
The discrepancy table will have a CustomerNo to LINK it to the Customer table,
but it will not contain any other fields from that table.

You can enter data into the table by using a Form based on the Customer table,
with a Subform based on the Discrepancy table, using Customer No as the
master/child link field. On the subform you will have fields such as the date
of discrepancy, reason, resolution etc.

So you want me to break the customer info, like Customer no, Name & Passport
number, and what about the vehicle information then ???? If i split it like
this how i will generate my contract which is based on mail merge & in mail
merge i think we can only take one table at one time.. Please suggest me if i
will generate a query based on the suppose non normalized customer table &
just fetch customer no,name, date based on that i make a table & then a form
for discrepancy and here i will just add one field for discrepancy. I know
its just a way out ...

And if i split the customer info as mentioned above and vehicle info separate
?? the problem which i am looking is that how I will generate contract which
is purely replying on the above non normalized data ... or either i will make
a query which will take info from 2 - 3 tables and will create a table and
basis on that table i will generate the contract .. in addition to this a
user who is going to put information for the contract i will have to make a
sub form ???? means i dun want to make it complicated .. and I asked for the
wayout for searching like user put customer no in suppose combo box and the
information from other table will fetch in text box.

 

[John W. Vinson]

So you want me to break the customer info, like Customer no, Name & Passport
number, and what about the vehicle information then ????

In a Vehicle table.

If i split it like
this how i will generate my contract which is based on mail merge & in mail
merge i think we can only take one table at one time..

You are mistaken.

You CAN base a mailmerge on a query.

As David Fenton pointed out in another thread, the query may not work if it
contains Access or VBA functions... but a simple join query *DOES INDEED* work
as the source of a mailmerge.

Even if it doesn't (for performance, or because you do need such a function),
you can maintain your data better if the tables are normalized. You can use a
(non-normalized) table as the source for the merge; empty it with a Delete
query and populate it with multitable data from your normalized queries with
an Append query.

Please suggest me if i
will generate a query based on the suppose non normalized customer table &
just fetch customer no,name, date based on that i make a table & then a form
for discrepancy and here i will just add one field for discrepancy. I know
its just a way out ...

I do not understand your question.

And if i split the customer info as mentioned above and vehicle info separate
?? the problem which i am looking is that how I will generate contract which
is purely replying on the above non normalized data ... or either i will make
a query which will take info from 2 - 3 tables and will create a table and
basis on that table i will generate the contract .. in addition to this a
user who is going to put information for the contract i will have to make a
sub form ???? means i dun want to make it complicated .. and I asked for the
wayout for searching like user put customer no in suppose combo box and the
information from other table will fetch in text box.

Don't confuse DATA STORAGE - in tables, normalized - with DATA DISPLAY - a
Report, a printed contract, which can be an Access Report, a MailMerge from a
query, perhaps a MailMerge from a temporary table, perhaps even generated
using VBA and Word automation. Unless your contracts are one-time-only
printouts and you never need to deal with repeat customers or other repeating
data, your maintenance will be much easier with normalized tables.

 

[sys_analyst47 via AccessMonster.com]

So you want me to break the customer info, like Customer no, Name & Passport
number, and what about the vehicle information then ????

In a Vehicle table.

If i split it like
this how i will generate my contract which is based on mail merge & in mail
merge i think we can only take one table at one time..

You are mistaken.

You CAN base a mailmerge on a query.

As David Fenton pointed out in another thread, the query may not work if it
contains Access or VBA functions... but a simple join query *DOES INDEED* work
as the source of a mailmerge.

Even if it doesn't (for performance, or because you do need such a function),
you can maintain your data better if the tables are normalized. You can use a
(non-normalized) table as the source for the merge; empty it with a Delete
query and populate it with multitable data from your normalized queries with
an Append query.

Please suggest me if i
will generate a query based on the suppose non normalized customer table &
just fetch customer no,name, date based on that i make a table & then a form
for discrepancy and here i will just add one field for discrepancy. I know
its just a way out ...

I do not understand your question.

And if i split the customer info as mentioned above and vehicle info separate
?? the problem which i am looking is that how I will generate contract which

[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]

wayout for searching like user put customer no in suppose combo box and the
information from other table will fetch in text box.

Don't confuse DATA STORAGE - in tables, normalized - with DATA DISPLAY - a
Report, a printed contract, which can be an Access Report, a MailMerge from a
query, perhaps a MailMerge from a temporary table, perhaps even generated
using VBA and Word automation. Unless your contracts are one-time-only
printouts and you never need to deal with repeat customers or other repeating
data, your maintenance will be much easier with normalized tables.

Well i normalized the data & here are the details
customer:
customer number
cm name
installment amount
installment date

Vehicle:
customer number
Purchase order date
brand
model
year of make
color
chassis no
Insurance amount
total cost
profit amt
selling price
downpayment
deferred selling price
registration

and after that i create a subform. Correct me if i am wrong i will create a
query which will generate a table on basis of that i will prepare my contract.
Please tell me how can i make my contract by report because for one customer
there are 12 pages of contract how can i design 12 continuous pages in access
? is it possible

And just tell me one simple thing .. for amount i kept data type number & in
general i mentioned decimal with 2 digit after point but again in form when i
put a value it's getting round off ?? how can i set this

 

[sys_analyst47 via AccessMonster.com]

So you want me to break the customer info, like Customer no, Name & Passport
number, and what about the vehicle information then ????

In a Vehicle table.

If i split it like
this how i will generate my contract which is based on mail merge & in mail
merge i think we can only take one table at one time..

You are mistaken.

You CAN base a mailmerge on a query.

As David Fenton pointed out in another thread, the query may not work if it
contains Access or VBA functions... but a simple join query *DOES INDEED* work
as the source of a mailmerge.

Even if it doesn't (for performance, or because you do need such a function),
you can maintain your data better if the tables are normalized. You can use a
(non-normalized) table as the source for the merge; empty it with a Delete
query and populate it with multitable data from your normalized queries with
an Append query.

Please suggest me if i
will generate a query based on the suppose non normalized customer table &
just fetch customer no,name, date based on that i make a table & then a form
for discrepancy and here i will just add one field for discrepancy. I know
its just a way out ...

I do not understand your question.

And if i split the customer info as mentioned above and vehicle info separate
?? the problem which i am looking is that how I will generate contract which

[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]

wayout for searching like user put customer no in suppose combo box and the
information from other table will fetch in text box.

Don't confuse DATA STORAGE - in tables, normalized - with DATA DISPLAY - a
Report, a printed contract, which can be an Access Report, a MailMerge from a
query, perhaps a MailMerge from a temporary table, perhaps even generated
using VBA and Word automation. Unless your contracts are one-time-only
printouts and you never need to deal with repeat customers or other repeating
data, your maintenance will be much easier with normalized tables.

Well i normalized the data & here are the details
customer:
customer number
cm name
installment amount
installment date

Vehicle:
customer number
Purchase order date
brand
model
year of make
color
chassis no
Insurance amount
total cost
profit amt
selling price
downpayment
deferred selling price
registration

and after that i create a subform. Correct me if i am wrong i will create a
query which will generate a table on basis of that i will prepare my contract.
Please tell me how can i make my contract by report because for one customer
there are 12 pages of contract how can i design 12 continuous pages in access
? is it possible

And just tell me one simple thing .. for amount i kept data type number & in
general i mentioned decimal with 2 digit after point but again in form when i
put a value it's getting round off ?? how can i set this

 

[sys_analyst47 via AccessMonster.com]

So you want me to break the customer info, like Customer no, Name & Passport
number, and what about the vehicle information then ????

In a Vehicle table.

If i split it like
this how i will generate my contract which is based on mail merge & in mail
merge i think we can only take one table at one time..

You are mistaken.

You CAN base a mailmerge on a query.

As David Fenton pointed out in another thread, the query may not work if it
contains Access or VBA functions... but a simple join query *DOES INDEED* work
as the source of a mailmerge.

Even if it doesn't (for performance, or because you do need such a function),
you can maintain your data better if the tables are normalized. You can use a
(non-normalized) table as the source for the merge; empty it with a Delete
query and populate it with multitable data from your normalized queries with
an Append query.

Please suggest me if i
will generate a query based on the suppose non normalized customer table &
just fetch customer no,name, date based on that i make a table & then a form
for discrepancy and here i will just add one field for discrepancy. I know
its just a way out ...

I do not understand your question.

And if i split the customer info as mentioned above and vehicle info separate
?? the problem which i am looking is that how I will generate contract which

[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]

wayout for searching like user put customer no in suppose combo box and the
information from other table will fetch in text box.

Don't confuse DATA STORAGE - in tables, normalized - with DATA DISPLAY - a
Report, a printed contract, which can be an Access Report, a MailMerge from a
query, perhaps a MailMerge from a temporary table, perhaps even generated
using VBA and Word automation. Unless your contracts are one-time-only
printouts and you never need to deal with repeat customers or other repeating
data, your maintenance will be much easier with normalized tables.

Well i tried to normalized the data & here are the details
customer:
customer number
cm name
installment amount
installment date

Vehicle:
customer number
Purchase order date
brand
model
year of make
color
chassis no
Insurance amount
total cost
profit amt
selling price
downpayment
deferred selling price
registration

and after that i create a subform. Correct me if i am wrong i will create a
query which will generate a table on basis of that i will prepare my contract.
Please tell me how can i make my contract by report because for one customer
there are 12 pages of contract how can i design 12 continuous pages in access
? is it possible

And just tell me one simple thing .. for amount i kept data type number & in
general i mentioned decimal with 2 digit after point but again in form when i
put a value it's getting round off ?? how can i set this

 

[John W. Vinson]

and after that i create a subform. Correct me if i am wrong i will create a
query which will generate a table on basis of that i will prepare my contract.
Please tell me how can i make my contract by report because for one customer
there are 12 pages of contract how can i design 12 continuous pages in access
? is it possible

Since I have no idea what's on your contract, all I can say is I Don't Know.
You can put "page break" controls on a Report, so you could put some fields on
the report, a page break, some other controls, and so on. You might have some
complexity because a report is limited to 22" total height, however you can
use a report with multiple subreports to get around this limit.

And just tell me one simple thing .. for amount i kept data type number & in
general i mentioned decimal with 2 digit after point but again in form when i
put a value it's getting round off ?? how can i set this

The default Number size is "Long Integer". Select this field in table design
view and look at the Properties in the lower left. A Long Integer is, by
definition, a whole number.

If the field represents money, don't use a Number datatype at all, use
Currency (oddly, it's a datatype of its own, not a special case of Number).
That will give you four decimals. Currency can be used for any type of number,
not just money values, if four decimal places are appropriate; otherwise you
can use Single (floating point, about 7 digits precision), Double (floating
point, about 14 digits), or Decimal (you pick the scale and precision).