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Last month, I posted to Mac Mojo about Solver and Excel
2008, where I explained that the Excel team was working hard to bring Solver
functionality back for Office 2008 customers.
Today, I am delighted to
announce that Solver is definitely coming back to Excel 2008. This is
very, very, very good news for anyone that uses Excel for linear
programming or nonlinear optimization problems (Mac-using MBA students, I'm
looking at you...).
Here are the three things you should know:
- Solver for Excel 2008 will be free.
- Solver for Excel 2008 will be available as a download from the Web
site of Frontline Systems (www.solver.com/mac).
- Solver for Excel 2008 will be available by mid-September (just in
time for back to school!).
So how was this accomplished, and how
does it work?
Technical Approach
Developing a Solver for Excel
2008 presented some interesting technical challenges. In Excel 2004, Solver
relies on Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to function. Since VBA is not a
part of Office 2008, we had to find a way of identifying those areas that needed
VBA and replacing them with something equivalent.
Many people don't
realize this, but Solver is not actually a Microsoft product. Rather, the Solver
code is owned and developed by a Nevada firm called Frontline Systems. Frontline
creates and sells a line of industrial-strength Solver products that are used in
commercial and government settings. Their basic, free version of Solver has
shipped with Excel for many, many years.
Frontline are the most
knowledgeable people on the planet when it comes to Solver, and, once MacBU
began hearing from customers about Solver's absence, we began working with
Frontline to figure out how to solve the problem (pardon the pun).
The
final solution was to package up Solver's functionality into its own Mac OS X
application, Solver.app, and then use AppleScript to communicate between Solver
and Excel. This approach is simple, elegant, uses proven Apple technologies, and
results in an experience that is very, very similar to that of using Solver in
Excel 2004.
(It's also worth pointing out that this approach required us
to 'eat our own dogfood' - Solver was developed using the same AppleScript
techniques we recommend for other developers who want to build on top of
Office 2008.)
How It Works
We have attempted to
make the process of obtaining and using Solver as simple as
possible.
Obtaining Solver
The process of downloading Solver is
(eerily!) similar to the process for getting any other Mac software off the
Internet:
- Download Solver for Excel 2008 from the Frontline Web site.
- Unpack Solver by double-clicking it.
- Move the unpacked Solver.app to your /Applications folder (or to any other
folder you like).
- If you plan to use Solver a lot, drag the icon to your Dock.
That's it! You're all installed.
Using
Solver
Once Solver is on your machine, it's ready to start working with
Excel. To use Solver:
- Launch Excel 2008.
- Build (or load) the workbook with your Solver model.
- Click the Solver icon in your Dock (or double-click the Solver icon in your
/Applications folder). Solver will open (see Figure 1).
- At this point, you use Solver much as always - by selecting cells and ranges
in Excel to serve as constraints or targets, setting your options for the model,
and then clicking 'Solve'. Solver will attempt to solve the model and will let
you know if it finds a solution.
Figure
1 - Solver.app Running On Mac OS X
Next
Steps
As mentioned, above, Solver will be available as a free download
from Frontline's Web site by mid-September.
We will put up a notice right
here on Mac Mojo when the bits are available for download; if you read Mac Mojo
through RSS, you'll be notified very quickly (and if you don't get Mojo through
RSS, why not? Try Safari or NetNewsWire
for a great RSS experience). Frontline will also have an announcement on their
Web site.
I'd like to close on a personal note. One of the first things I
learned first-hand at Microsoft is that software is a team sport: nothing
happens in this business unless a lot of good people, each with their own unique
talents, work very hard to make it happen. This project (especially coming
together as quickly as it did) was no exception. In addition to the thanks owed
to my colleagues in Excel, all of us here at MacBU owe a huge "THANK YOU" to our
friends at Frontline Systems, who were above-and-beyond professional,
responsive, and just plain wonderful to work with.
So: Solver. Free
download. Mid-September. Watch this space for details.
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