1. General Topics Home
2. Introduction
   1. Getting Started
   2. Using The Help File
   3. Top Dozen Functions
   4. Golden Rules
   5. Excel 2007
3. Menu Options
   1. Go To
   2. Function Selector
   3. CalculateFull
   4. Calculate WorkSheet
   5. Trace Facility
   6. Quick Paste Example
   7. Tutorials
   8. Function Finder
   9. Examples
   10. Help
   11. Excel"s Function Wizard
   12. Access Internet
   13. Usage of Functions (Audit)
   14. Uninstall
4. Business Functions Date Arithmetic
   1. Time Periods
   2. Inclusive and Exclusive Dates
   3. Using Daycount
   4. Examples of DayCount
   5. Annual Date Sequences
   6. ProjMode and Inclusive Dates
   7. Date Rolling Convention
5. Techniques
   1. Rate Projections Functions Walkthrough
   2. Accruals and Cash
   3. Repeating Formulae
   4. Range Names and References
   5. Optional Parameters
   6. Using PmtsPerYear
   7. Modelling Seasonality
   8. Calculating Interest
   9. Using Business Functions in VBA (Visual Basic for Applications)
   10. Array Functions
   11. Volatility
   12. Annual Equivalent Rates
   13. Array Function
   14. Auto Multi Functions
   15. Variable Plurality
   16. GoalSeek
6. Worked Examples
   1. Introduction To the Worked Examples
   2. Daycount
   3. General Projections
   4. Business Plans
   5. Cashbasis And Periods
   6. Using Timebases
   7. Using Dates
7. How to ...
   1. How To Generate a time scale for a structured financing
   2. How To Project Rents off a Rental Forecast
   3. How To Run a model on different time bases
   4. How To Isolate The Cause of a Errors in Cells using Trace
8. Utilities - Information
   1. Introduction to the Utilities
   2. Audit
   3. Synchronized Range Insert/Delete
   4. Database Edit
   5. Insert Macro Button
   6. Link Analyser
   7. Range Describer
   8. PrintScript (beta)
   9. Create Local Range Name
9. Utilities - Formatting
   1. Number Formats
   2. Apply BF"s Color Palette
   3. Bullets
   4. Color Cells
   5. Conditional Formats
10. Utilities - Validating
    1. Validation DropDowms
    2. Validation Standards
11. Utilities - Operations
    1. Select Excel Function
    2. Array Function Tools
    3. Sort Sheets
    4. Range Value
    5. Named Range Manager
    6. Enforce WorkBook Settings
    7. Monte-Carlo
    8. TimeChart
12. Customising Business Functions
    1. The ".ini" file
13. Resources On The Web
    1. Forum
    2. Online Help
    3. Templates
14. Appendix 1
    1. Conversion of Input Strings to Values
    2. List of Holidays
    3. Acknowledgements and Trademarks
    4. Published Editions Changes in Behaviour
    5. Range Handling And Constraints
    6. Dates in Excel and Business Functions
    7. Old Composite DayCount Format
    8. DayCount in Excels"s Functions
15. Appendix 2 Key Formulae
    1. NPV of Annual To Periodic CashFlows - CorrectionM
    2. Interest - Simple, Annual, Continous and Discount Factors
16. Appendix 3 New and Retired Functions
    1. New Functions
    2. Obsolete Functions
    3. Discontinued Functions
    4. Deprecated Functions

How To Isolate The Cause of a Errors in Cells using Trace

• Press the F2 key. This highlights the input cells to the function. Do any of them look odd? If they have errors (i.e. NUM!) this is cause in error in your function.
  
• With a NUM! cell highlighted, select the Trace Facility from the BF menu. Look at the first few statements. Is it reporting an error? It almost certainly is. If so, it will tell you which variable is in error, and why. If you don"t see the error there, look further on in the Trace output. If there is an error thrown up by the function itself (i.e. the calculations) this will show up later in the Trace output.
  
• With the NUM! cell highlighted, Press Alt-I F (insert function). This does not insert a function, actually, but brings up the Excel function wizard. Here you can see each of your input variables evaluated one by one. Do they all calculate OK? Any errors in the inputs? Any range names pointing to ranges that don"t exists? Are there any nonsensical dates?
  
• Count the number of arguments in your function. Do they match the required number for the function?
  
• If you still have problems, load the example spreadsheet for that function - the easiest way to do this is through the Quick Reference. One by one, change the argument values so that they match your problem case. You should see when you have found the argument that is giving the problems.

• Are you sure the function exists? Go Alt-I F to bring up Excel"s function wizard. Does the function Wizard recognise the function and show you each of its arguments?
  
• Activate the BF Selector. Is the function you require listed?
  
• Bring up an example of the function using the Quick Reference