Thanks Peo,

I followed your advice with a small data set and it did work, thanks a lot.
The problem, however, is that when I tried to replicate what you taught me
in a large data set (5000 rows), I got an error message that read: "Too many
adjustable cells". If you or somebody else has an alternate route, I would
love to know what it is. Otherwise I will thank you for your pointer. I
learned something new.

Have a terrific week-end!

Al

"Peo Sjoblom" wrote:

Yes, I just did a quick test suing your example, I put your example in A1:B2
with the salaries in B2:B8, in C2:C8 I put 1, in D2 I put

=SUMPRODUCT(B2:B8,C2:C8)

set target cell $D$2, equal to value of 51, click add and select $C$2:$C$8,
then from dropdown binary, then OK and solve, the result looked like

Names Salaries
Peter 89 0 51
Paul 41 1
John 76 0
Richard 59 0
Santiago 10 1
Earl 52 0
Carl 22 0


hope it isn't too warped up, as you can see the 2 1s indicates where
solution is, before solver was applied there were only ones in C2 C8 now the
only ones are those for Paul and Santiago and if you apply an autofilter and
filter on 1 in column C you will get those 2 names visible only in column A
and their salaries in B. It might take a few minutes with a larger data set
but it certainly can work

--

Regards,

Peo Sjoblom

http://nwexcelsolutions.com




"atmbonda" wrote in message
...
Thanks Peo,
Please let me clarify the question. You have the following

EE Name Salary
Peter 89
Paul 41
John 76
Richard 59
Santiago 10
Earl 52
Carl 22

I want to find the employees whose total salaries = 51.
Because the dataset here is not huge, I see that those employees are Paul
&
Santiago. I am wondering how can I have the answer by using a formula in
the
case of a large data set. Will your suggestion work in this case?

Thanks again.

al


"Peo Sjoblom" wrote:

You need the solver add-in for this

"put the data set in let's say A2:A8, in B2:B8 put a set of ones {1,1,1
etc}
in the adjacent cells
in C2 put 8, in D2 put

=SUMPRODUCT(A2:A7,B2:B7)


select D2 and do toolssolver, set target cell $D$2 (should come up
automatically if selected)


Equal to a Value of 8, by changing cells $B$2:$B$7, click add under
Subject
to the constraints of:
in Cell reference put


$B$2:$B$7


from dropdown select Bin, click OK and click Solve, Keep solver solution
and look at the table


2 1
4 0
5 0
6 1
9 0
13 0


there you can see that 4 ones have been replaced by zeros and the
adjacent
cells to the 2 ones total 8 "



adapt to fit


--


Regards,

Peo Sjoblom

http://nwexcelsolutions.com



"atmbonda" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I have a large data file in 2 columns:
1st column = Employee ID
2nd Column = Salary

I want to find combinations of salaries whose total equals a certain
amount
and identify those employees. Please any suggestions on how should I
proceed?
What formula to use?

Thanks for your assistance.

al