Frequently Asked Questions

General questions

How long will Formula Forge be available for free?
Honestly, we don't know. We reserve the right to charge or require licenses for its use, but will give fair notice if we choose to do so.
Can I use Formula Forge offline?
Unfortunately not. Formula Forge, like all add-ins for Office 365, can be used only when connected to the web. Furthermore, the math view uses a web-based typesetting service provided by MathJax.org. Hence it is available only when it can reach the MathJax site.
Why doesn't Formula Forge work in Excel for the web with my browser?
Formula Forge does not work with Internet Explorer after Release 11.657, which fails to typeset the math view and fails to draw boxes in the tree view that are wide enough to contain symbols such as SQRT. Please follow Microsoft's recommendation to use Edge instead of Internet Explorer: it is faster and has better features. If you are having problems with another browser, please let us know.
Why doesn't Formula Forge recognize my formula?
Formula Forge does not recognize R1C1 notations for references. Neither does it recognize structured references, such as Inventory[InStock], to columns in tables. This may change in a future release.
Can Formula Forge misinterpret my formula?
Unfortunately, yes. Formula Forge treats identifiers such as ABCD2 and A1234567 as references to cells, not as user-defined names, even though they exceed Excel's limits on the maximum numbers of rows and columns in a spreadsheet. Please let us know if it gets anything else wrong.

Questions about values in the tree view

Why won't Formula Forge show me values in the tree view?
Formula Forge will not compute values for the elements in your formula if it is on a protected worksheet. To ensure accuracy, Formula Forge temporarily writes elements in your formula into the cell from which it came, and it gets their values from Excel. It cannot do this if your worksheet is protected. Unprotect the sheet if you want to see values.
But my worksheet isn't protected and I still can't see values in the tree view!
Formula Forge also refuses to compute values for a formula on a protected workbook. It hides its computation of values by displaying a new sheet named Formula Forge at work, and it cannot create that sheet if your workbook is protected. Unprotect the workbook if you want to see values.
Why does Formula Forge change the value of my formula?
As just noted, Formula Forge temporarily copies elements in your formula into its cell to get their values from Excel. See our Terms of Use for more information about this behavior.
Why does Excel show inconsistent values in the tree view?
Formula Forge uses Excel repeatedly to compute values for all elements in a formula like RND()+1. In response, Excel produces one random value for RND() by itself and another for it in RND()+1. These are highly unlikely to differ by exactly 1. A future release of Formula Forge may evaluate volatile functions differently.
When else might Formula Forge show incorrect values in the tree view?
Formula Forge does not update the values in the tree view if you make changes in your spreadsheet. It may also show incorrect values for expressions in array formulas or in functions like SUMPRODUCT, which treat their arguments as array formulas.