Enable Solvertable In Excel

Albright, Winston Textbooks

For more information on our books, including errata, click on any of the following covers:

Excel has a really powerful tool that allows you to conduct optimization, solve systems of simultaneous equations, and perform complex multi-variable regression or non-linear regression. This tool is called the Excel Solver Add In. And although it comes with every purchase of Excel it has to be enabled in your installation before you can use Read more about How to Enable the Excel Solver Add-In. This version of SolverTable was created for the Mac in October 2020. The essence of SolverTable has always been that it makes multiple uninterrupted Solver runs. For technical reasons, this is not possible in Excel for Mac, which explains why a version of SolverTable had never been available for the Mac.

New additions:

·BigPicture gone: The BigPicture add-in used in our books is no longer available. Because of poor sales, Palisade decided in 2020 to discontinue it. The Excel diagram files accompanying many of our model examples can still be opened, but now the diagrams they contain won’t be “smart” as they were with BigPicture.

Download & Install – OpenSolver for Excel. Excel Details: Analytics is a free online magazine covering the wider world of optimisation and data analysis. 15-January-2021: We have recently released the beta version of OpenSolver 2.9.4.Free feel to read the release notes for the changes and new features added. To enable Solver, click ‘Tools’ then ‘Addins’. Within the Addin box, check ‘Solver.xlam’ then hit ‘OK’. To use Solver, start Excel 2011 and create or open your workbook. When you're ready to use Solver, click the Solver button on the Data tab (the bundled version of Solver doesn't use the menu Tools Solver.).

·SolverTable for Mac now available: As of October 2020, a version of my SolverTable add-in is now available for Mac users. Because of differences between Windows and the Mac, this version is slightly different from the Windows version, but it has the same capabilities and produces the same results. See the Free downloads page for a link to this version.

·DADM_Tools add-in: See the top of the Free downloads page for links to this free add-in I developed in 2019.

·Array formulas and ctrl+shift+enter: For years, we (and everyone else) have been telling users to enter array formulas, such as formulas involving MMULT, by pressing ctrl+shift+enter. This still works, but in Excel 365, where Microsoft introduced dynamic arrays (see the next bullet), it is not necessary. Regardless of whether the result is a single cell or a multiple-cell range, such formulas work by pressing enter or ctrl+shift+enter. Confusing? You bet! See the article https://exceljet.net/dynamic-array-formulas-in-excel, for example.

·@ symbols in add-in functions: Starting in 2020 (or 2019?), we were surprised to see @ symbols next to @RISK functions, such as =@RiskNormal(0,1) instead of =RiskNormal(0,1). (They can also appear next to Palisade’s PrecisionTree functions, Palisade’s StatTools functions, and even my RandGen functions such as Normal_, discussed on my Free downloads page. In short, they can, depending on the version of Excel you are using, appear next to “user-defined functions” (UDFs) in any Excel add-in. Where did these @ symbols come from? Are they necessary? Should you delete them? After talking at length with a key programmer at Palisade, I learned that these @ symbols are Microsoft’s attempt to deal with a new feature, dynamic arrays. Unfortunately, regardless of whether you use dynamic arrays, the @ symbols can affect you. The whole issue is complex, but the following document, borrowed (with permission) from a Palisade website, provides more explanation: Dynamic Arrays and Add-In Functions.docx. It appears that the best practice, at least for now, is to leave these @ symbols alone but to ignore them. And if you are creating your own @RISK models (or models in any Excel add-in), there is no need to type the @ symbols; if they appear later, just ignore them.

·Business Analytics: Data Analysis and Decision Making, 7^th edition: This edition was released in Spring 2019.

·Practical Management Science, 6^th edition: This edition was released in Fall 2017. It is accompanied by plenty of materials at the Cengage MindTap site.

·Excel tutorial: The Excel tutorial that used to be available has been revised extensively. It is now called ExcelNow!, and it is available at excelnowtutorial.com at a very reasonable price. A version of ExcelNow! without videos is available at the Free downloads page.

·Analysis ToolPak Guide: Some users have expressed a desire to use Excel’s built-in Analysis ToolPak add-in, instead of Palisade’s StatTools (or my DADM_Tools add-in), for data analysis. Although Analysis ToolPak hasn’t been updated for years and has definite limitatons, it does have the advantage that it’s free and built into Excel. Therefore, I have written an Analysis ToolPak Guide that’s now available in the Free Downloads page.

·Mac users: There seems to be an increasing number of students using Mac computers, and the question is whether they are compatible with the software in our books. There are two answers, one positive and one negative. First, as we have seen with many of our students at Indiana, it is possible, and fairly easy, to install Windows emulation software on Macs, the two most common being Bootcamp (free) and Parallels (not free). Then everything appears to work fine. You are simply running Windows on a Mac. Second, however, if you are running the Mac OS with Excel 2011 for the Mac, then all bets are off. This version of Excel is basically a different product from Excel for Windows, with a very different look and feel. Excel 2016 (or Excel 365) for the Mac is a better choice. Its ribbon structure is very much like Excel for Windows, although it still has a menu bar that has some redundancies, given the ribbons. However, some of the features in Excel for Windows, notably quick analysis, flash fill, and Power Pivot, are still missing in Excel for the Mac. (These missing features are apparently being added through time, but we have no way of knowing when they might appear.) Bottom line (in my opinion): If you want to use a Mac and get the most from Excel, you should install Windows emulation software.

Enable Solver Table In Excel Spreadsheet

·Missing Palisade software?All new copies of our Business Analytics: Data Analysis and Decision Making and Practical Management Science books should give you access to the Palisade suite. If you have purchased used books and your access code has already been used, you can purchase electronic resources atwww.cengagebrain.com. Due to royalties and legal agreements, we are not allowed to offer these resources free of charge.

Visit any of the following links for free downloads and information about software:

·Free Downloads

·Palisade_Software

·Solver

Visit the Cengage site for our books.

Send e-mail to albright@indiana.edu

Albright and Winston are both retired from the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Updated: 1/26/2021

Mac Users Using Excel 2016 or Excel Online

Get the new Solver App for Excel 2016 and Excel Online this free Solver app works equally well in desktop Excel 2016 and Excel Online – and handles the smallest to the largest, most challenging optimization models. Users can obtain Solver immediately from Microsoft AppSource. Over 100,000 existing “cloud Solver” users will receive the new version automatically. When your model gets to big for the free add-in contact us about upgrading.

If you're still using Excel 2008 for Mac, you can download Solver for Excel 2008 here -- but we highly recommend an upgrade to Excel 2011, for many reasons including a better Solver!

Using the Excel 2011 Solver for Mac

Enable Solvertable In Excel

Starting with Excel 2011 Service Pack 1 (Version 14.1.0), Solver is once again bundled with Microsoft Excel for Mac. You do not have to download and install Solver from this page -- simply ensure that you have the latest update of Excel 2011 (use Help - Check for Updates on the Excel menu).

To enable Solver, click ‘Tools’ then ‘Addins’. Within the Addin box, check ‘Solver.xlam’ then hit ‘OK’.

To use Solver, start Excel 2011 and create or open your workbook. When you're ready to use Solver, click the Solver button on the Data tab (the bundled version of Solver doesn't use the menu Tools Solver.) . The Solver Parameters dialog should appear, in the language of your Microsoft Excel 2011 installation. Click here for Solver Help, applicable to both Excel 2010 for Windows and Excel 2011 for Mac.

Use the Solver Parameters dialog to select your objective, decision variables, and Constraints. Then click the Solve button. Solver will seek the optimal solution to the problem. When it's finished, the Solver Results dialog will appear, and the final values of the decision variables will appear in your workbook in Excel. To pause or stop Solver while it's solving, press the ESC key, and click Stop (or Continue) when the Trial Solution dialog appears.

Caution:Don't make changes yourself in Excel or your workbook while Solver is solving. Changes in Excel while Solver is solving, will have unpredictable results, including crashes in Solver or Excel. See the FAQ about Solver as a Separate Application.)

If You Updated to Excel 2011 SP1 and Installed Solver from Solver.com

If you've previously updated to Excel 2011 Service Pack 1 and after doing this, you've also downloaded and installed the Solver package formerly available on this page, you'll be fine, but you can encounter a problem (involving which version of Solver gets loaded and used) which we can easily help you solve. Just email us at at support@solver.com.

Enable Solver Table In Excel Shortcut

Read the FAQ to learn how Solver for Excel 2011 was developed, special considerations in using this Solver versus the one in Excel 2008, and what to expect in the future.

The History of the Excel 2011 Solver for Mac

Before Microsoft began bundling the Solver with Excel for Mac, Frontline Systems worked with Microsoft's Mac Business Unit to bring you a faster, easier to use, and more powerful Solver. The version that we provided was free and 100% compatible -- your existing Solver models would work without any changes, whether they're from Excel 2004 or 2008 for Mac, or Excel 2003, 2007 or 2010 for Windows.

Matches New Solver for Excel 2010 for Windows

Solver for Excel 2011 for Mac has the same new features and user interface as Solver for Excel 2010 for Windows -- which is greatly enhanced over Solver for Excel 2007.

Includes New Evolutionary Solving Method

Based on genetic algorithms, this method complements Solver's linear programming and nonlinear optimization methods. Use it to find solutions for models with IF and LOOKUP functions.

Global Optimization for Nonlinear Models

Automatically run the GRG Nonlinear Solver from multiple, intelligently chosen starting points, to find better solutions when the old Solver would be 'trapped' in a local optimum.

New user interface matches Excel 2010