SolverTable add-in for Excel 2013
This add-in is a natural extension to the Solver add-in developed by Frontline Systems. SolverTable performs sensitivity analysis for an Excel optimization model, and, in most cases, its output is more relevant and understandable than the optional sensitivity output provided by Solver itself.
SolverTable is very easy to use, as I describe below. All it requires is an existing optimization model. That is, there must be a spreadsheet model already built, Solver must be installed, and the Solver settings for the model should be in place. This document explains how to use SolverTable, and it illustrates the procedure with several screen shots.
Sections of this Help file
Versions of SolverTable
Loading SolverTable
Unloading SolverTable
An example file
Running SolverTable
Creating a one-way table
Creating a two-way table
Being creative
Other Notes
Versions of SolverTable
I developed SolverTable in the late 1990s, and I have been enhancing and modifying it ever since. It has always presented a challenge because it invokes Solver, and Solver has some behind-the-scene idiosyncrasies that make it difficult to program for. This caused problems (for a few users, certainly not for all users) with SolverTable for Excel 2003 and earlier, and for Excel 2007.
The current version of SolverTable was rewritten explicitly for Excel 2013. The main difference between SolverTable 2010 and 2013 is that the latter starts each Solver run from the original Solver solution, the one in your workbook. It’s hard to tell whether this is an advantage for all models, but it seems to work well. Another minor difference is that SolverTable 2013 gives you the option of using, or not using, MultiStart if the GRG Nonlinear solver is being used. (MultiStart is sometimes useful for avoiding local, as opposed to global, optimal solutions.) There are a few other under-the-hood changes in SolverTable 2013, but they are technical and won’t be...