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4.9. Multiple Simulations All Show the Same Data

Applies to: @RISK for Excel 5.0.0 (initial release only)

I'm running multiple simulations, but the Simulation Data report in Excel shows the same data for all of them.

Multiple simulations should have different input data if you tell Excel to use a different random number seed for each simulation, and they should have different output data if the above is true or if you have one or more RiskSimtable( ) functions and later calculations depend on them.

There was a bug in @RISK 5.0.0 that simply duplicates Simulation 1 data for the other simulations in the Simulation data report in Excel. All other graphs and reports are correct. The bug was fixed in @RISK 5.0.1 and never occurred in the @RISK component of The DecisionTools Suite.

If you have @RISK 5.0 initial release (not part of The DecisionTools Suite), please visit palisade.com/Updates to update your software. If you are unable to update your software, here are three alternatives to choose from:

Create a separate sheet within your workbook and fill it with RiskData functions. Please see the example in Placing Iteration Data in Worksheet with RiskData( ).
If you have many RiskData( ) functions, they may slow down your simulation. As an alternative, you can insert the RiskData functions after the simulation ends, as follows:
1. Run a simulation.
2. At end of simulation, in Excel click Insert | Worksheet to insert a blank worksheet.
3. Highlight (number of iterations per simulation) rows in column A, and type this:
  =RiskData(cell_reference_or_quoted_name_of_input_or_output, 1, COLUMN( ))
  Then press Ctrl-Shift-Enter. The formula will appear in the formula bar with curly braces { }, and the data from simulation #1 will be inserted.
4. Re-highlight the same cells, and then drag to the right for as many columns as you have simulations. The data from the other simulations will be inserted.
5. Remember to delete that extra worksheet before running a new simulation, or all those rows and column of RiskData() functions will slow down the simulation.
If you're handy with VBA programming, you could program a macro to do steps 1-4 automatically at the end of simulation. At the least you could use Excel's Record Macro feature to capture the process as you do it once, and then after that you could run your macro manually.
After a simulation, click on the Data icon. The Data window is not the same as the Simulation data report in Excel, and the Data window will bring up the iteration data correctly for all simulations. Then you can highlight them and copy/paste them into your worksheet. This might be a little easier than typing function names.

Additional keywords: Simtable

Last edited: 2013-04-11

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