Applies ToAccess for Microsoft 365 Access 2024 Access 2021 Access 2019 Access 2016

You can use the string expression argument in an SQL aggregate function to perform a calculation on values in a field. For example, you could calculate a percentage (such as a surcharge or sales tax) by multiplying a field value by a fraction.

The following table provides examples of calculations on fields from the Orders and Order Details tables in the Northwind.mdb database.

Calculation

Example

Add a number to a field

Freight + 5

Subtract a number from a field

Freight - 5

Multiply a field by a number

UnitPrice * 2

Divide a field by a number

Freight / 2

Add one field to another

UnitsInStock + UnitsOnOrder

Subtract one field from another

ReorderLevel - UnitsInStock

The following example calculates the average discount amount of all orders in the Northwind.mdb database. It multiplies the values in the UnitPrice and Discount fields to determine the discount amount of each order and then calculates the average. You can use this expression in an SQL statement in Visual Basic code:

SELECT Avg(UnitPrice * Discount) AS [Average Discount] FROM [Order Details];

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