According to me, 2^43 = 8.796E+12 not 1.759E+13. In addition, if you
have 43 numbers and your target value can be made up of 1, 2, 3...up to
43 numbers. The total possible number of combinations is:

SUM(n!/(n-i)!)

where ! = factorial notation, n = 43 in this case, and i =
1,2,3,4....n

Therefore possibilities = 1.642E+53


Anyway, back to topic, I tried using 43 random numbers range from
1-999. With a 1.6gHz computer, I was able to get an answer within
3sec. Thus, I am guessing it's not the computer speed.




Victor Wrote:
Morrigan,

Nice advice. I've tried your solution and it paritally worked.

In my situation there are possible 43 values that could make up one
value.
Keep in mind not all 43 numbers would give me the total I want. It
could be
20 numbers out of 43 or just 2.

So if you work it out, there are 2^43 possibilities altogether, i.e.
17,592,186,044,416.00 possiblities.

How long do I have to let solver run to find one possible solution ????
I've
left the my home computer (Athlon 1.9ghz) run all day but it still
hasn't
found a solution.

Would you know a way to set up solver so it would find a solution
quicker.
I've tried adding my contraints but it still hasn't found one
solution.

Look forward to your response.




"Stephen" wrote:

It worked!! ;-)

Many thanks for all your help in this Morrigan!!




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