I must agree with Bob.

No matter how much computing power you have available, it is *very* easy to
bring the program to it's knees with *deficient* formulas/coding.

What can seem to operate efficiently in a 100 X 100 worksheet, can STOP an
entire machine if inserted in a 10,000 row database sheet.
And think what *will* happen with the XL07 *million* row program!

For example:

A Vlookup() formula, with an additional Vlookup() function call inserted for
error checking in a 40,000 X 150 database sheet can take 20 minutes to load
and/or recalc, where replacing it with an Index() and Match() combo can
reduce that to under 10 minutes.
Mind you, I'm *not* advocating XL's use as a database, just showing
comparisons.

AND ... *don't* try this at home ... BUT ...

=SUM($A$1:A1)

If used to produce a running total, works beautifully for several hundred
rows,
*BUT*
Just copying down 15,000 - 20,000 rows, can take more then 2 or 3 minutes.
AND - deleting that column of formulas can take in excess of 30 - 45
minutes.

SO, you should/must *always* be in the market for shorter, more efficient,
and/or smarter solutions.

--
Regards,

RD

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"Bob Phillips" wrote in message
...

"MartinW" wrote in message
...

With the amount of computing power that is available these days
there is no real need to shorten processes (make it work no matter how
long winded and that's good enough is all that it really requires),
however,
I still like to cut corners wherever I can. Old Habits...etc, etc.

I think there is. It is very easy to bring a spreadsheet to its knees with
poor design, coding, etc. Keep looking to cut those corners.