XL: LINEST or REGRESS Error Value When X-Values Dependent

ID: Q96436

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition
Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
Microsoft Excel for Windows NT, version 5.0
Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 3.x, 4.x, 5.0, 5.0c
Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 3.x, 4.0, 5.0, 5.0a

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel, the LINEST, TREND, and REGRESS functions (the REGRESS function is available in the Analysis ToolPak add-in macro) may return a #NUM! error value.

CAUSE

This problem will occur if any set of known x-values is dependent on any other set of known x-values.

MORE INFORMATION

A set of known x-values is considered to be dependent on another set of known x-values when the first set is a multiple of the second set. For example, consider the following four sample number sets:


   Set A       Set B          Set C          Set D
   ------------------------------------------------

   1           1              4              7
   2           2              8              9
   3           3              12             11
   4           4              16             13
   5           5              20             15

Set B is dependent on Set A (and A is dependent on B) because each element in Set B is equal to its corresponding element in Set A (Set A*1=Set B).

Set C is dependent on Set A (and A is dependent on C) because each element in Set C is equal to four times its corresponding element in Set A (Set A*4=Set C).

Set D is not dependent on any of the other sets (and the other sets are not dependent on Set D) because it is not an even multiple of any of the other sets.

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Excel Function Reference," version 4.0, pages 254-258
"Microsoft Excel Function Reference," version 3.0, pages 138-141

Additional query words: 3.00 4.00 8.00 97 98 XL98 XL97 XL7 XL5 XL4 toolpack tool pack pak regression


Keywords          : kbtool kbualink97 xlformula 
Version           : WINDOWS:3.0,4.0,5.0,5.0c,7.0,97; MACINTOSH:3.0,4.0,5.0,5.0a,98
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS 
Issue type        :

Last Reviewed: July 29, 1999