{=SUM()} vs =SUMPRODUCT()

MDW

unread,

Nov 14, 2006, 11:57:02 AM11/14/06

to

I've inhereted a workbook where the previous owner used a complex {=SUM()}
function to approximate a SUMPRODUCT(). It currently is working fine, but I
wonder if there are any advantages to changing the functions to be actual
SUMPRODUCT. Does using SUM in this way take up more resources/become
unstable, etc?

I'm chasing down some gremlins in my Excel workbooks and this one popped out
at me.

For reference, the current function looks something like this:

{=SUM(($A4='C:\[external-file.xls]sheet1'!$A$9:$A$15000)*(AX$1='C:\[external-file.xls]sheet1'!$C$9:$C$15000)*'C:\[external-file.xls]sheet1'!$F$9:$F$15000))}
--
Hmm...they have the Internet on COMPUTERS now!

Dave F

unread,

Nov 14, 2006, 12:01:03 PM11/14/06

to

The short answer to your question: it depends. What does it depend on?
Available memory, processor speed, etc.

Dave
--
Brevity is the soul of wit.

Duke Carey

unread,

Nov 14, 2006, 12:44:02 PM11/14/06

to

Long ago, in a galaxy far away, Excel didn't have a SUMPRODUCT() function,
and the array version of SUM() was the vehicle by which you summed the
products of arrays.

The array SUM has been stable for as long as I've used it, going on 18 or 19
years.

Bob Phillips

unread,

Nov 14, 2006, 12:48:59 PM11/14/06

to

The advantage of SUMPRODUCT is that it doesn't have to be array entered.

--

HTH

Bob Phillips

(replace xxxx in the email address with gmail if mailing direct)

"MDW" <M...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:E8A94023-5894-473A...@microsoft.com...

Bob Phillips

unread,

Nov 14, 2006, 4:22:49 PM11/14/06

to

Maybe it wasn't used in that way, but I would be interested to hear when
Excel didn't have SUMPRODUCT .

--

HTH

Bob Phillips

(replace xxxx in the email address with gmail if mailing direct)

"Duke Carey" <Duke...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:69AED033-1064-4C1E...@microsoft.com...

Duke Carey

unread,

Nov 14, 2006, 4:44:01 PM11/14/06

to

Bob -

I started using Excel in 1987. It was version 2, I think. Windows was not
yet an OS, or at least the PC didn't boot into Windows. You started DOS,
then started Windows, THEN you could run Excel. Excel was the only
application I owned that ran on Windows.

At that time Excel didn't have SUMPRODUCT. However, working in the
investment banking field, and calculating weighted averages of all kinds, I
was thrilled to be able to create array formulas that worked the way
SUMPRODUCT does.

A few years later (maybe Excel 5?) introduced SUMPRODUCT. I still use the
array form of SUM() out of old habit more than I use SUMPRODUCT

Old and not very valuable information, but that's my recollection.
Duke

Harlan Grove

unread,

Nov 14, 2006, 4:55:53 PM11/14/06

to

Bob Phillips wrote...

>Maybe it wasn't used in that way, but I would be interested to hear when
>Excel didn't have SUMPRODUCT .

...

It appeared in either Excel 4 or Excel 5. I don't remember whether 123
or Quattro Pro introduced it, but I'm fairly sure Excel's was in
response to its erstwhile competitors'.

Duke Carey

unread,

Nov 14, 2006, 4:58:02 PM11/14/06

to

Oh yeah, back then Excel allowed only one sheet per file - they weren't even
called workbooks, just worksheets. You could link between worksheet files,
and you could save a group of open worksheets as a 'workspace.' When you
opened a workspace, Excel simply cycled through the list of files and opened
each in turn.

Bob Phillips

unread,

Nov 14, 2006, 6:16:59 PM11/14/06

to

Thanks Duke. Your recollection is far better than mine. I first used Excel
in the late eighties, but I don't recall much <G>

Bob

"Duke Carey" <Duke...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:4A38AB8F-8E17-4D3D...@microsoft.com...