Analysis Tool Pack Troubles

[S. Gillespie]

Hello

I am attempting to install the analysis tool pack, so that I am able to run
some regression analysis.

I have loaded it up from the CD and gone to the add in menu but I have been
unable to get it to install. When I click the box and hit OK the computer
comes up with an error window saying that it cannot find FunRes or some
variation of a problem around that file. I recall creating a word document
with that name a long time ago but I can not imagine what it would have to
do with this process.

When the error message finally stops popping up (after there tries) XL
appears to be loading something then at the last minute crashes. When I
restart there is no Data Analysis command as there should be.

Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Time is running
short and I need to get this regression stuff done.

Thanks a lot
Scott

PS
I have repaired permissions and I have taken the Microsoft folder out of the
library/prefs/ folder and forced XL to recreate. Still same issues.

 

[J.E. McGimpsey]

Hello

I am attempting to install the analysis tool pack, so that I am able to run
some regression analysis.

I have loaded it up from the CD and gone to the add in menu but I have been
unable to get it to install. When I click the box and hit OK the computer
comes up with an error window saying that it cannot find FunRes or some
variation of a problem around that file. I recall creating a word document
with that name a long time ago but I can not imagine what it would have to
do with this process.

When the error message finally stops popping up (after there tries) XL
appears to be loading something then at the last minute crashes. When I
restart there is no Data Analysis command as there should be.

Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Time is running
short and I need to get this regression stuff done.

Thanks a lot
Scott

PS
I have repaired permissions and I have taken the Microsoft folder out of the
library/prefs/ folder and forced XL to recreate. Still same issues.

FuncRes is part of the Analysis Toolpak Addin.

If you loaded the ATP from the CD after applying any updates to
Office, you need to reapply those updates.

 

[David J. Braden]

To add to John's comment, if you are really going just for the
regression analysis, I strongly recommend you use Excel's built-in
functions (e.g., LINEST) or, *much* better yet, the Trendline from the
Chart of your data. LINEST has been markedly improved with version 11
of Excel (not out yet for Macs); yet for earlier versions, Jerry W.
Lewis has shown that Excel's TrendLine is among the very best routines
for its set of linear (in coefficients) regression, among all of the
heavy stat packages that we test Excel against.

So, if this is simply an issue of getting ATP loaded, then I am wasting
bandwidth here. If it is solely about doing a regression, you don't need
the ATP, and will do better with alternatives I mentioned above.

HTH
Dave Braden
MVP - Excel (and a Mac guy at heart <g>)

 

[S. Gillespie]

John and Dave,

Thanks to you both. I am not comfortable enough with regression yet to pick
and choose from the individual calculations as a means of reaching my end.
I still "need" the ANOVA and summary stats to get a full picture (although I
did play with the LINEST function you recommended and am making progress!)

In any case I did manage to get everything loaded and re-apply the updates.
Everything works, but now on each start up of Excel I get a message similar
to the one that seemed to be blocking me before. " Cannot find FunRes -
please ensure file name is correct or that it is in the proper location...."

When I click the OK button everything proceeds as it should and I have a
fully functioning spread sheet. As such this issue is merely an annoyance
but I would like to find a way to keep the error from popping up each time I
start.

Have I missed something or is there an easy fix. FunRes is in the add ins
folder as I assume it should be.

Thanks for helping me to get to here and thanks for any further advice.

Scott


(e-mail address removed), David J. Braden at

 

[David J. Braden]

Scott:
Looks like there are several issues to resolve.
(1) Using ATP for ANOVA: Don't. Jerry W. Lewis posted a great workaround
for Excel's mediocraty in re ANOVA (repaired, btw, in Excel 11 on
Windows, and I assume will be OK when XL11 appears on the Mac.

(2) FunRes problems. Now *this* is the group to post for help with this,
given you are running a Mac. I honestly don't know how to solve this
one, so I suggest you repost something like "Where is FunRes?!?" and
concentrate on that. Make sure that when in the worksheet environment
that you have gone through Tools->Add-Ins, and checked both of those
that start with Analysis Toolpak. If you don't see them, then you didn't
install the ATP. If you *do* see them AND they are checked, well, I
don't know what to do. AFAIK, FunRes comes with the ATP.

(3) Post to the microsoft.public.excel.misc group for questions that
would arise for *any* version of Excel, and that are not Mac-specific---
that way you will hit a much larger set of folks who might help you
through some of your stat problems.

(4) I suggest you get a good text on stats; there are entire books
written on ANOVA alone. Jerry Green's book on econometrics does a nice
job, as many others, in explaining the basics (and a ton of other
stuff). His book is geared towards grad students.

(5) Consider not using Excel at all for this stuff. If you want to do a
stat analysis of data that you have in an Excel worksheet, you will
almost certainly do better using a dedicated package. Minitab, SAS,
SPSS, and SyStat seem to be widely distributed. An elegant (IMHO)
approach is to use S (Unix-based), S-Plus (value-aded version of S for
Windows), or R, a free and open-source clone, so to speak, of S, with
very heavy hitters chipping in.

(6) Consider Googling for Excel Add-ins for ANOVA. I would think they
are out there, for free. Still, the best solution is to know what you
are doing (see 4 above), and if you want to use Excel, definitely
knowing its limitations wrt ANOVA.

Yikes, almost forgot... ANOVA in any Mac version that you have sucks, to
put it politely.

HTH
Dave Braden
MVP - Excel

 

[S. Gillespie]

Dave:

I really appreciate your help. I am in an MBA program right now and so with
a little luck I will have a better idea of what is going on by the time they
take all my money!

Given that time to play sits at about zero right now - I will take your
advice and just avoid using my Mac for this for the time being. I have an
XP desktop, I just "needed" (read hoped) to be able to do this stuff on the
road as well.

I will keep your post for both the advice on the book and the other options
you outlined.

I am curious about the FunRes issue. FWIW I have found what the actual
FunRes file in Applications/Microsoft Office/Office/Add Ins/Analysis Tools.
That is where excel put it but doesn't seem to find it.

In any case this is a long winded way of saying thanks, once again.

I may try a repost for curiosity sake but will move forward and look to
better things.

Thanks
Scott

 

[David J. Braden]

Ahhhh, an MBA candidate: Fresh meat <g>!
I was a Prof in MBA (and PhD) programs for 11 years (U. of Rochester and
Wash. U. at St. Louis), and believe me, while others may try to take all
your money, guys who cared, and care, as much as I do about this stuff
could be less concerned about such worldly things as your money: we
would simply take your hide <vbg>

I'm on the same wavelength (I think) as you as far as the FunRes issue
goes; I'll alert a couple of folks who work in University-related mixed
environments... at this point, I also want to know WTH is going on with
that.

You are welcome to contact me at d2b4r2a1d1e1n1.o5rg, where all numbers
get replaced by, well, nothing. I know it seems weird, but spam is an
amazing thing that I just don't want to eat.

Jerry Green's text might be inappropriate for you, given all the other
stuff you are going through. I mean absolutely no diss; I fully
recognize the Hell you guys go through (I helped create it, as did my
fellow Excel-MVP Tushar Mehta). It is written for folks cranking up for
different paths than the one you are in.

In any case, know that if you have quesries (like your original) that
strike you as possibly Mac-Excel specific, this is a great group. For
more general stat stuff (since several of us who know a bit about stats
heng out there) or questions re Excel that would seem to be
platform-independent, that other group I mentioned is great.

Finally, bring your friends on board. I am genuinely impressed that you
had the resources to locate us. These groups are amazingly civil, and
almost always seriously helpful, promptly.

However, be aware that many who read these *.excel.* groups have
post-graduate training, but have also taught classes. We will help on
methodology, but other than that, well, you are on your own <vbg>

All the best,
Dave Braden
MVP - Excel

 

[Jason Kelly [MS]]

[...]

I am curious about the FunRes issue. FWIW I have found what the actual
FunRes file in Applications/Microsoft Office/Office/Add Ins/Analysis Tools.
That is where excel put it but doesn't seem to find it.

[...]

I'm not sure why Excel is unable to find the FuncRes add-in. If it still
does so after applying all the lastest Office updates, and reinstalling the
ATP with the Value Pack Installer, I would try using the Browse button in
Tools/Add-Ins and locating FuncRes that way. Perhaps that will update a
preference that will allow you to use the ATP.

Jason Kelly
Mac Excel Testing