I tried to get Apple's Numbers app to solve circular references, but all I got was a warning: "This formula can't reference its own cell or depend on another formula that references this cell." Normally, this is good advice, but there are some problems that can't be solved without a circular reference. MS Excel is very good at this and does it through iteration until a solution is reached. Excel's Preferences allow the user to set the Maximum Iterations and the Maximum Change between iterations in order to arrive at a solution. Sometimes, a solution cannot be reached within the specified number of iterations, but most of the time, the problem is solved. In my work, this feature is exceedingly valuable.
I'm an Apple fan and would love to be able to use Numbers instead of Excel, but this is one show-stopper for me. Does anyone know how to get around this apparent inability of Numbers to solve circular references?
Last edited by JoBoy; 01/07/11 12:28 AM.
