This add-in is a natural extension to the Solver add-in incorporated inExcel. SolverTable performs sensitivity analysis for an Excel optimizationmodel, and, in most cases, its output is more relevant and understandablethan the optional sensitivity output provided by Solver itself. SolverTableis very easy to use, as described below. All it requires is an existingoptimization model. That is, there must be a spreadsheet model alreadybuilt, and the corresponding Solver dialog box must already have been filledout. In this help file, we will explain how to use SolverTable and illustrateit with several screen shots.
Sections of this Help file
To help prevent macros that contain viruses from contaminating your system, by default Office for Mac displays a warning message whenever you try to open a document that contains a macro. This message appears regardless of whether the macro actually contains a virus. O For Solver that ships with Excel 2019 or Office 365: There is no “new” SolverTable add-in for either of these. As far as I’m aware, SolverTable for Excel 2016 should work fine with either of these. I’m currently using it with Office 365 and haven’t run into any problems. O For Solver that ships with Excel 2016: SolverTable 2016.zip. To help prevent macros that contain viruses from contaminating your system, by default Office for Mac displays a warning message whenever you try to open a document that contains a macro. This message appears regardless of whether the macro actually contains a virus. Solver is a free add-in for Excel 2013 with SP1 and later. For more information, search for Solver in the Office Store. The Solver add-in from Frontline Systems isn't currently available for Excel on mobile devices.
Installing SolverTable
If you clicked on the Help button of the first SolverTable dialog box,you already installed SolverTable, so you can skip this section.In general, however, to install SolverTable, copy the SolverTable.xla fileand corresponding help files (SolverTableHelp.htm and the various SolverTable_x.giffiles) to a common directory on your hard drive. Excel 2007 (see below for Excel 2003)
Start by saving this file to your hard drive: <SolverTable 2007.zip>. After you have saved the zip file, double-click on it to open it up and see the files inside.
1) Copy the SolverTable.xlam file and the corresponding help files (SolverTableHelp.htm and the various SolverTable .gif files) to a common folder on your hard drive. Chris Albright recommends creating a SolverTable folder for this purpose under Microsoft’s Library folder, i.e., c:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice12LibrarySolverTable, because this folder is in Microsoft’s “trusted” list. If you want to store the files somewhere else, e.g., D:SolverTable, then you should add this folder to the trusted list. (To do so, Click on the Office button, then Excel Options, then Trust Center, then Trust Center Settings, then Trusted Locations, and then Add new location.)
2) (One-time only step) Because of the way Solver works and the way SolverTable invokes Solver, you need to change a macro security setting on your PC. Make sure the Developer tab is visible. (If it isn’t, click on the Office button and then Excel Options. In the Popular group, check the Show Developer tab in the Ribbon option.) On the Developer ribbon, click on Macro Security and make sure the “Trust access to the VBA project object model” option is checked. (As long as you’re there, I recommend that you check the second option in the top group: “Disable all macros with notification.”)
3) In Excel, load SolverTable into memory. There are two ways to do this (see 'a' and 'b' below). Regardless of the way you use, you will know that SolverTable is loaded when you see a SolverTable item on the Add-Ins ribbon.
a) Open the SolverTable.xlam file directly by double-clicking on it in Windows Explorer. If this file is buried way down in some folder, this way might not be very convenient, but you can accomplish the same thing by putting a shortcut to this file on your desktop, so that it’s just one click away. The advantage (or disadvantage?) of this method is that if you then close Excel and reopen it, SolverTable won’t be loaded; you’ll have to load it again.
b) Click on the Office button, then on Excel Options, then on Add-Ins, and then on the Go button at the bottom. Here you see the familiar Add-ins dialog box from earlier versions of Excel. If this is your first time to load SolverTable, you will need to click on the Browse button to find the SolverTable.xlam file. Otherwise, there should be a SolverTable item in the list of available add-ins. Just check its box, and click on OK. The advantage of this second method is that if you then close Excel and reopen it, SolverTable will open automatically. In fact, it will keep opening until you uncheck SolverTable on the Add-Ins list.
Note: In versions of SolverTable for Excel 2003 and earlier, there were two add-in files, SolverTable and SolverTable1. The Excel 2007 versions simplifies this, so that there is now only a single add-in file, SolverTable.xlam.
Excel 2003
Everything you need is contained in thisself-extracting file: solvertable.exe. (Don't openit with the browser; save it to your disk first, and then open it bydouble-clicking on it in Windows Explorer.)
Just make sure that allof the SolverTable files are in the same directory and thereare only alphanumeric characters (no spaces or underscores) in the pathto these files. Then, in Excel, load the add-in with the Tools/Add-insmenu item. If this is your first time to load SolverTable, you'll needto click on the Browse button to find the SolverTable.xla file. Otherwise,there should be a SolverTable item in the list of available add-ins. Justcheck its box, and click on OK. SolverTable is no different from any otherExcel add-in; they are all loaded this way. You will know that SolverTableis loaded when you see a SolverTable menu item under Excel's Data menu.
Uninstalling SolverTable
To uninstall the add-in (remove it from memory), use Excel's Tools/Add-insmenu item and uncheck the SolverTable box.An example file
To illustrate SolverTable, we will use the standard product mix model,a version of which appears in Figure 1. (The conventions we use are thatthe inputs are in blue borders, the changing cells are in red borders,and the objective cell is in a black border.) We assume the Solver dialogbox has already been completed in the obvious way (including checks inthe Assume Linear Model and Assume Non-Negative boxes). Actually, thismodel has already been optimized, but this is not necessary for runningSolverTable.
Figure 1
Running SolverTable
The purpose of SolverTable is very much like that of an Excel data table:to vary one or two inputs and keep track of one or more outputs. The maindifference is that SolverTable runs Solver for each input value (or combinationof input values) and reports the optimal results in the table. Likedata tables, there are essentially two options: one-way tables and two-waytables, depending on whether there are one or two input cells. However,unlike Excel data tables, there can be multiple output cells for one-wayand two-way tables. In the latter case, SolverTable creates a separatetable for each output cell. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending onyour point of view), a table created by SolverTable retains no links tothe original data. If you want to change anything about the table, you'llhave to rerun SolverTable.Creating a one-way table
To illustrate a one-way table, we'll see how the optimal profit and theoptimal product mix (changing cells) vary as the number of labor hoursavailable (cell D21) varies from 2000 to 8000 in increments of 1000. Beginby selecting the Data/SolverTable menu item. This brings up the dialogbox in Figure 2. Fill it out as shown and click on OK.Installing SolverTable
Figure 2
The next dialog box, shown in Figure 3, requires you to specify theinput cell, the input values (which are assumed to be in regular increments),the output cells, and a location for the table. Note that range names canbe used if they exist. The add-in checks your entries in this dialog boxfor 'obvious' errors. For example, the input cell should not contain aformula or a label, the output range should not contain the input cell,the table location shouldn't write over existing values (unless you sayit is OK to do so), and so on. However, we won't guarantee that it checksfor everything, so be careful when making these entries. Be especiallycareful that you choose a location for the table that doesn't write overany information you don't want to lose (even though you'll be warned ifyou try to do so).
Figure 3
The table itself appears in Figure 4. (We've added the heading in row1 manually.) The small red triangles are Excel comments that SolverTableautomatically adds to a number of cells. For example, the comment in cellI4 reminds what the input cell is (in this case, D21). The comments incolumn J are the Solver messages you normally see after running Solver.For this example, they all contain the message you hope to see:'Solver found a solution. All constraints and optimality conditions aresatisfied.' However, if there is no feasible solution, say, then the commentwill alert you to this. Note that unlike an Excel data table, SolverTabledoes not put formulas at the top of the table (in row 3 of the figure),because this wouldn't make sense. However, it does put the cell addressesof the output cells. This way, you can remember which outputs are beingreported.
Figure 4
Creating a two-way table
To create a two-way table, go through the same steps as above for a one-waytable, but check the two-way option in Figure 2. Then the two-way dialogbox in Figure 5 appears. Here, we'll assume that both labor hour availability(D21) and hourly wage rate (B4) are being varied, and we want tokeep track of the optimal profit and the number of labor hours used (B21).(Any output cells can be selected.)
Figure 5
SolverTable then creates as many tables as there are output cells (ina vertical direction), as shown in Figure 6. Note that each cell in a tablecorresponds to a Solver run. For example, we see that when there are 4000labor hours available and the wage rate is $4 per hour, the optimal profitis $25,200 (top table) and all 4000 labor hours are used (bottom table).Again, there are comments in selected cells. For example, the commentsin cells I13 and J12 remind you that the input cells are D11 and B4. Thecomments in the body of each table report the Solver message, exactly aswith one-way tables.
Figure 6
As with all Solver models, it is a good idea to take a close look atthe answers and see whether they make sense. For example, in Figure 6 wesee all zeros in column L. Does this make sense? Yes, it probably does.When the labor rate is $12 per hour and all other monetary inputs stayconstant, labor is evidently too expensive for the company to make a profit.So it produces nothing!
Being creative
With some imagination, you can get SolverTable to run some really interestingsensitivity analyses. For example, suppose we want to allow the availabilitiesof all three resources (labor, metal, and glass) to change by common factor.Then we need to change the model slightly, as indicated in Figure 7. Nowthe original availabilities have been moved to column F, a change factorhas been inserted in column H, and formulas have been entered foravailabilities in column D. Specifically, the formula in cell D21 is =$H$21*F21,which is then copied down.
Figure 7
We can now do a one-way sensitivity analysis on this change factor,using the settings in Figure 8. The corresponding table appears in Figure9.
Figure 8
Figure 9
As another example, suppose you want to keep track of a functionof several cells in the model. For example, suppose you want to keep trackof the maximum number of frames of any single type produced, that is, themaximum of the changing cell values. You can't select this as an outputdirectly because it doesn't appear anywhere in the model. But thesolution is simple: Create a formula for it in some unused cell, and thenspecify this cell as an output cell.
SolverTable Difficulties
See Full List On Meiss.com
SolverTable relies on Solver. In fact, SolverTable invokes Solver for eachinput value (or combination of input values). Therefore, all of the problemsthat people have experienced with Solver are liable to occur with SolverTable.However, we have tried to overcome one of Solver's more annoying features:claiming that a model is not linear when we know it is linear. Incase you haven't run into this problem, we'll describe it first. When yourmodel is linear, you should check the Assume Linear Model box under SolverOptions. This has two advantages. First, it uses a faster algorithm (thesimplex method). Second, it is guaranteed (well, almost) to find the optimalsolution if an optimal solution exists. However, Solver uses its own rulesto check whether a model is linear. Because of numerical precision problemsinherent in computers, Solver sometimes decides that a model is notlinear, even though we know it is. In this case, it responds with an errormessage that the conditions for a linear model are not satisfied.Excel Solver Examples
SolverTable automatically checks for this error message. If Solver givesit, then SolverTable reruns Solver (for this problem) with the AssumeLinear Model box unchecked and reports the result. However, to letyou know that all of this happened, the corresponding cells of the tableare colored yellow, and the comments in these cells describe the problem.An example we encountered appears in Figure 10. This model is indeed linear.However, when we formed the one-way table, Solver thought the model wasnot linear for input values of 0.80 and 1.00, even though it agreedthat it was linear for input values of 0.90 and 1.10. Similarly, for thetwo-way table, it thought the model was not linear for 2 of the 16 inputcombinations. This is clearly strange behavior, but it happens fairly frequently.At least, SolverTable provides a solution (using a nonlinear algorithm)rather than the annoying 'conditions for linear model are not satisfied'Solver message.
Figure 10
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March 07, 2018
The Developer Tab is where you’ll find tools that you can use to record macros,access the Visual Basic Editor, add add-ins, and more. However, the DeveloperTab is disabled by default. In this post, we’ll quickly cover how to enable theDeveloper Tab for both Windows and Mac.
Developer Tab in Windows
To enable the Developer Tab in Windows:
- Click on File
- Then Options
- Then Customize Ribbon
- Then on the right side, click on the checkbox for Developer
Here’s an animated gif to further illustrate how to enable the menu for Windows:
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Developer Tab in Mac
Enabling the the menu in Mac is slightly different. To enable the Developer Tab:
Click on the main Excel menu, then Preferences:
Click on View:
Click on the checkbox labeled Developer Tab: