Mac Mojo: The Office for Mac Team Blog - Solver For Excel 2008: Available By Mid-September

Mac Mojo: The Office for Mac Team Blog - Solver For Excel 2008: Available By Mid-September http://www.officeformac.com/ms/blog Last month, I posted to Mac Mojo about <a href="http://www.officeformac.com/blog/Excel-2008-And-Solver">Solver and Excel 2008</a>, 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: <ol>     <li>Solver for Excel 2008 will be free.</li>     <li>Solver for Excel 2008 will be available as a download from the Web site of Frontline Systems (<a href="http://www.solver.com/mac">www.solver.com/mac</a>).</li>     <li>Solver for Excel 2008 will be available by mid-September (just in time for back to school!).</li> </ol> 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 <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/mac/developers/default.mspx">same AppleScript techniques</a> 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: <ol>     <li>Download Solver for Excel 2008 from the Frontline Web site.</li>     <li>Unpack Solver by double-clicking it.</li>     <li>Move the unpacked Solver.app to your /Applications folder (or to any other folder you like).</li>     <li>If you plan to use Solver a lot, drag the icon to your Dock.</li> </ol> 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: <ol>     <li>Launch Excel 2008.</li>     <li>Build (or load) the workbook with your Solver model.</li>     <li>Click the Solver icon in your Dock (or double-click the Solver icon in your /Applications folder). Solver will open (see Figure 1).</li>     <li>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.</li> </ol>   <center> <img height="269" alt="Solver for Excel 2008" width="400" src="http://www.solver.com/mac/solverforexcel2008.jpg" /> Figure 1 - Solver.app Running On Mac OS X</center>   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 <a href="http://www.officeformac.com/blog/blog_rss/synopsis.xml">get Mojo through RSS</a>, why not? Try <a href="http://www.apple.com/safari/">Safari</a> or <a href="http://www.newsgator.com/Individuals/NetNewsWire/default.aspx">NetNewsWire</a> 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.    Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:08:20 GMT Web Crossing(r) Unix-v6.4 built Jan 14 2010 18:50:13 (source:1372 2010-01-14 15:39:31 -0800)/Unix-6.4 (http://webcrossing.com/) http://backend.userland.com/rss