XL: LINEST Function Returning Only One Value

ID: Q99639

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

The LINEST worksheet function returns only one value (the slope) when multiple values should be returned.


CAUSE

This problem occurs when one cell is selected when you type the LINEST formula, and press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER (in Microsoft Excel for Windows) OR COMMAND+RETURN (in Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh).

This behavior is by design of Microsoft Excel.


MORE INFORMATION

To return the additional regression statistics, select a range of cells consisting of n columns (where n represents the number of known x's) and 5 rows.

NOTE: Because LINEST is an array formula, you must enter the function as an array. To do this, press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER in Microsoft Excel for Windows, or COMMAND+RETURN in Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh.

The syntax of the LINEST function is 


   =LINEST(known_y's,known_x's)


where "known_y's" and "known_x's" are ranges on the worksheet containing the y-values and the x-values, respectively.


REFERENCES

Refer to the LINEST() section of the Microsoft Excel Function Reference for an illustration that depicts the order in which the additional regression statistics are returned.

"Microsoft Excel Function Reference," version 4.0, pages 254-258
"Microsoft Excel User's Guide 1," version 4.0, pages 153-166
"Microsoft Excel Function Reference," version 3.0, pages 138-141
"Microsoft Excel User's Guide," version 3.0, pages 277-289

Additional query words: 2.1 2.10 3.0 4.0 4.00 4.0a 4.00a 5.00a 5.00c 8.00 97 XL97 XL7 XL5 XL4 XL3 arrays 1 


Keywords          : kbdta xlformula 
Version           : WINDOWS:2.0,3.0,4.0,5.0,5.0c,7.0,97; MACINTOSH:2.0,3.0,4.0,5.0
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: April 6, 1999