XL: Goal Seek Records Incorrectly with Relative References

ID: Q146057

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, version 7.0
Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 5.0, 5.0c
Microsoft Excel for Windows NT, version 5.0
Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 5.0, 5.0a

SYMPTOMS

When you run a macro that uses Goal Seek, and the macro was recorded with relative references turned on, one of the following may occur:

Goal Seek may evaluate the wrong cells

-or-

You may receive the error message:

Runtime Error '1004'
Error in Formula

-or-

You may receive this error message if a cell reference is offsetting to a cell outside the valid spreadsheet area:

Runtime Error '1004'
Offset method of Range class failed

WORKAROUND

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about the support options available from Microsoft, please see the following page on the World Wide Web:

http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/overview/overview.asp

The following macro uses relative references and may cause a run-time error as described in the "Symptoms" section:


    Sub Recorded_GoalSeek()

      ActiveCell.Offset(1, 0).Range("A1").GoalSeek Goal:=50, _
         ChangingCell:=ActiveCell

   End Sub

To avoid the run-time error, correct the macro as follows. Note that it does not contain any relative references:


     Sub Correct_GoalSeek()

      ActiveCell.GoalSeek Goal:=50, ChangingCell:=ActiveCell.Offset(1, 0)

   End Sub

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

REFERENCES

"User's Guide," version 5.0, Chapter 6, "Seeking a Value That Solves a Formula"

For more information about the GoalSeek Method, click the Search button in Visual Basic Reference Help, and type the following:

GoalSeek

For more information about the Offset Method, click the Search button in Visual Basic Reference help, and type the following:

Offset

Additional query words:

Keywords : kberrmsg kbprg PgmOthr
Version : MACINTOSH:5.0,5.0a; WINDOWS:5.0,5.0c,7.0; winnt:5.0
Platform : MACINTOSH WINDOWS winnt
Issue type : kbbug