1. Adding Solver Add In

Solver for Microsoft Excel 2008 for Macintosh is available and you can download it, free, right now. It was our way of re-introducing ourselves to the Mac community. This version of Solver is a Frontline Systems product and is supported by us -- but we owe a big THANK YOU to Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit for (i) asking us to do this and (ii) supporting our efforts intensively with AppleScript help, QA testing, and localization. Madden 25 for mac free download.

Frontline Systems developed the original Solver for Excel on both Macintosh and Windows. For many years, we've offered Solver upgrades for Windows users, that have gotten more and more powerful over time -- but we haven't been active on the Mac. We're now applying more development resources to the Macintosh, motivated by the Mac's resurgence in the market and the move to Intel processors. But the catalyst for this move has been Microsoft's Mac Excel team.

Solver In Excel

Solve optimization models in Excel Online and Excel on iPad, upward compatible from Solver in Excel. Download & Install. SolverStudio runs as an Excel add-in file for Excel 2007-2013. (The tools we use mean that Excel 2003 is not supported.) The download includes all the required components, including IronPython, PuLP, standard Python (CPython), the GNU Linear Programming Kit (GLPK), and AMPL and GAMs support files. Solve optimization models in Excel Online for Office 365, Excel Web App for SharePoint 2013, or Excel 2013. With the Solver App, created by Frontline Systems, developers of the Solver in Microsoft Excel, you can define and solve optimization problems in your Excel workbook, using the Excel Online in Office 365, the Excel Web App in SharePoint 2013, or desktop Excel 2013.

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.

Solver for Mac Excel 2008 looks and behaves very much like Solver for Excel 2004.

• Nov 26, 2012 Como instalar Herramienta Solver en Excel para Mac - Duration: 1:46. Blanca Luque Castillo 26,947 views. Linear Programming: Employee Scheduling with Excel Solver - Duration: 13:10.
• 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.

If you open a workbook with a Solver model that you created in Excel 2004, or in most other versions of Excel, the model will appear automatically in this dialog -- you can just click Solve.

Read the FAQ to learn how Solver for Excel 2008 was developed, special considerations in using this Solver versus the one in Excel 2004, and what to expect in the future.

What You Need

To use Solver, you must have Excel 12.1.2 or later. To check your version, start Excel and select About Excel from the Excel menu. You can get 12.1.2 three ways: (i) use Microsoft AutoUpdate, which runs weekly by default if you've opted in; (ii) start Excel and select Check for Updates from the Helpmenu; (iii) to download 12.1.2 manually, go here and click Downloads at the top of the page. If you're starting from 12.1.0, you must install 12.1.1, then install 12.1.2.

You may also be interested in:

• Try our Solver Tutorial to learn more about building Solver models and getting solutions.
• Premium Solver Platform for Mac offers far more power, speed and flexibility than the Standard Excel Solver while allowing all your existing models, even your VBA code, to be used as-is.
• If you are a developer of optimization or simulation applications, check our Solver SDK Platform. It's available for Windows and Linux -- but contact us for news about availability of the SDK for Mac OSX.

Free Downloads

Watch this page for free downloads as they become available.

·DADM_Tools add-in: For various reasons, some users of our DADM and PMS books prefer not to use the Palisade add-ins discussed in these books. To provide another alternative, I created my own add-in called DADM_Tools that provides much of the basic functionality of the Palisade software. This add-in, written in Excel’s VBA language, is not used in the books but it is available here for free. Because it is totally free, no support is available. However, it is very easy to use, and it is compatible with Excel for Windows and Excel for Mac. Here is a link to instructions: DADM_Tools Help.docx. Here is a link to the add-in: DADM_Tools.xlam.

·Random Functions Add-Ins: The DADM_Tools add-in mentioned in the previous bullet includes, among other things, a simulation program. For technical reasons, the custom functions I developed to generate random numbers from various probability distributions are not included in the DADM_Tools add-in.

oFor Windows users, the random functions are contained in a special type of add-in (an XLL that works only with Excel for Windows 2010 or higher). First read the following: RandGen Add-In.docx (updated 1/24/2019). Then install the add-in by running the Setup file in: RandGenSetup.zip.

oFor Mac users, the random functions are in the following add-in: Random Functions for the Mac.xlam.

·Excel tutorial: Here is the free version of my Excel tutorial: Excel Tutorial for Windows.xlsx. (It provides information for upgrading to a more complete version called ExcelNow!.) You can also download a version of the tutorial for the Mac: Excel Tutorial for the Mac.xlsx. By comparing these, you can see which features in Excel for Windows are not included in Excel for the Mac.

·Analysis ToolPak Guide: This is a supplement to our books for those of you who would like to use Excel’s built-in Analysis ToolPak add-in, rather than StatTools, for statistical analysis. The zip file contains a pdf version of the guide and accompanying data files: Analysis ToolPak Guide.zip

·SolverTable Add-in: Each version below has a corresponding Help file (a Word file) that you should read before contacting me about problems. Each zip file below contains only two files: the .xla or .xlam add-in file and the Word help file. You should unzip both to the same folder (any folder of your choice) and then read the help file for more instructions. The next two bullets address some possible problems users have had.

Excel Solver Add-in Download

oSolverTable fix: For those of you who have problems with SolverTable, here are instructions for a possible fix: Fixing SolverTable.docx.

oMissing Solver Reference: Here is another possible fix for SolverTable: Missing Solver Reference.docx

oSolverTable tip for international users: A user from outside the US discovered why his SolverTable wasn’t working. The problem was in the numerical settings (decimal symbols and list separators), and the fix was to change these in Windows settings. I’m not sure how common this problem might be, but if you’re outside the US and your SolverTable isn’t working, this is worth a try.

oA strange SolverTable problem: Reynold Byers and his students at Arizona State discovered that in a straightforward integer-constrained model, SolverTable gave slightly suboptimal solutions. I originally thought this had to do with the Integer Optimality setting, but that wasn’t it. They found that the decimal input being varied, something like from 0 to 0.6 in increments of 0.1, was not being set to exactly 0.4, say, but instead to something like 0.400025 – a slight roundoff – and this was enough to cause the suboptimal solutions. Great detective work on their part, but I’m not sure how to fix the problem. Anyway, be aware!

oFor 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.

oFor Solver that ships with Excel 2016: SolverTable 2016.zip

¨This version is basically the same as the 2013 version.

oFor Solver that ships with Excel 2013: SolverTable 2013.zip

¨This version wasn’t created because SolverTable 2010 wouldn’t work with Excel 2013. Rather, I made some technical changes in the software. Probably the main change is that this version now starts each Solver run from the original solution in the decision variable cells. (In previous versions, it started each Solver run from the previous Solver solution.)

¨Modified on 10/5/2015 to open the Help file in a simpler manner (less possibility of an error occurring).

oFor Solver that ships with Excel 2010:SolverTable 2010.zip

¨Modified on 10/5/2015 to open the Help file in a simpler manner (less possibility of an error occurring).

¨Modified on 4/26/2012 to fix a problem with long worksheet names. Basically, Excel allows worksheet names to be no longer than 31 characters. SolverTable creates a hidden sheet with its settings, and the name of the sheet is the model sheet name plus the suffix “_STS”. So if the name of your model sheet has from 28 to 31 characters, this would create an error. SolverTable now warns you before the error occurs.

¨Modified on 12/5/2011 to fix a potential sheet-naming problem.

¨Modified on 11/8/2011 to fix a potential problem where a user mistakenly selects the Simplex LP method on a nonlinear model. The previous code could get into an infinite loop in this case. A similar fix was made (see below) to the 2007 and 2003 versions. However, this 2010 version might not work correctly in 2007 or 2003 because of a subtle code change Frontline Systems made in its 2010 version of Solver.

¨Modified on 10/7/2010 to fix a bug that occurred when a user mistakenly ran SolverTable from an STS sheet (not a model sheet)

¨Modified on 9/24/2010 to make it compatible with the GRG Nonlinear Multistart option

¨Modified on 9/3/2010 to be compatible with 64-bit Office 2010.

oFor Solver that ships with Excel 2007:SolverTable 2007.zip

¨Modified on 4/26/2012 – see point 2 above for the 2010 version

¨Modified on 12/5/2011 – see point 3 above for the 2010 version

¨Modified on 11/8/2011 – see point 4 above for the 2010 version

¨Modified on 10/7/2010 to fix a bug that occurred when a user mistakenly ran SolverTable from an STS sheet (not a model sheet)

oAn interesting use of SolverTable: One way to use SolverTable is to let the Input cell(s) (for a one-way or two-way table) be the initial value(s) of decision variable cell(s). For a linear model, the only point in doing this would be to check that Solver indeed gets to the optimal solution regardless of the initial values. For a nonlinear model, this could be used to check whether there are local optima that Solver might get to, depending on the initial values it starts from. For example, for problem 7.48 of PMS 3e, which has exactly two decision variable cells, it is easy to show that Solver gets to the global optimum only for some initial values of the decision variable cells. (Thanks to Tom Schriber for this suggestion.)

·StatPro and StatBasics Add-Ins

oStatPro for Excel 2007 and later: Although I no longer support StatPro, I tinker with it from time to time, and this version is the result: StatPro New.zip. It doesn’t have all of the options from the original StatPro (stepwise regression is missing, e.g.), but it has some new features and a slightly different interface. It is contained in a single .xla file, and it does work with Excel 2007 and later versions. To load it, just double-click the .xla file.

oStatPro for the Mac: Some of you have requested a version of StatPro for the Mac, that is, for the Mac version of Excel. This was originally impossible because Excel 2008 didn’t even have VBA, the programming language. That changed in Excel 2011, but the VBA interface is quite different from the one in Excel for Windows. Anyway, I gave it a shot, and you can try out this version: StatPro for Mac.zip. However, you’re completely on your own; I provide no support for this version.

oStatBasics for Excel 2007: StatBasics for Excel 2007.zip. This is a mini version of StatPro I created (mostly to sharpen my programming skills). It provides only the basics: summary measures and useful statistical charts. Installation instructions are in the zip file. Try it out, but keep in mind that I do not provide support for it.

• NCAA March Madness simulation: Here is the simulation for 2019: March Madness 2019 with Data Table.xlsx. Also, here is a version that calculates the probability of a perfect bracket, i.e., successfully predicting the winner of each game: March Madness Probabilities 2013.xlsx. (I didn’t update this file after 2013, but you can if you like. The probability of picking all winners will still be infinitesimally small.)
• Transient queueing analysis: Transient Queue.xlsm Did you know that you can analyze queues with time-varying behavior (e.g., arrival rates that increase during peak periods of the day) with spreadsheets, using analytical approximations, not simulation or steady-state analysis? This is indeed possible, as Wayne Winston has pointed out in the 4th edition of his Operations Research book. Although Wayne's approach is to use Excel formulas, this file uses a VBA program to perform the calculations. Enjoy!
• Automating Sudoku with VBA: Sudoku.xlsm (or Sudoku16.xlsm) If you love the laborious effort of working Sudoku puzzles—the pencil marks, the erasing, etc.—then you should not open these files. But if you want to see how powerful VBA programs can be, check it out the Sudoku.xlsm file. (You can check out the VBA code to see how it works.) And if you want to go a step farther, with 16x16 grids instead of the usual 9x9 grids, check out the Sudoku16.xlsm file. (Note: I changed these files slightly in April 2016. Specifically, the Sudoku.xlsm file now has an Algorithm sheet that walks you through the algorithm implemented in the VBA code. The VBA code is a bit hard to follow – a lot of nested loops – but the algorithm itself is quite straightforward.)

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

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Adding Solver Add In

Updated: 10/8/2019