APPLICATION OF ELECTRONIC SPREADSHEETS TO LINEAR AND INTEGER PROGRAMMING.

Because the spreadsheet has a matrix-like form and because most of the computations in linear optimization algorithms are carried out on a matrix, linear and integer programming problems can be solved. For each category of problems, the steps to follow and the techniques to use are discussed. We found that solving linear and integer programming problems with spreadsheets is time-consuming both in terms of data entry and computation time for large problems. Nevertheless, for problems that are solved on a matrix, these techniques can minimize round-off errors during computation and can be used in other spreadsheet applications as well.