Excel may sometimes fail to recognize functions from an open xla add-in file when these functions appear in an xls workbook file that was made on another computer. The problem is that Excel is looking for a copy of the xla file in the location where it was kept in the computer that made the workbook. The solution is to reconfigure the workbook's add-in links by using Excel's Edit-Links procedure. Here is a description of how to apply this procedure when you have this problem with workbook files that use functions provided by Simtools.xla:
  1. To begin this Edit-Links procedure, the Simtools.xla add-in should already be open in Excel. (To check, look for "SimTools" in Excel's Tools menu.) The active workbook should be an xls workbook file that was made on another computer. The problem is that formulas in this workbook that contain Simtools functions are getting "#NAME?" error values on your computer.
  2. In Excel's Edit menu, select the Links option, which launches a dialogue box called "Links".
  3. In the "Links" dialogue box, make sure that the source file Simtools.xla is selected, and then click the "Change Source" button, which launches another dialogue box called "Change Links".
  4. In the "Change Links" dialogue box (which resembles a standard dialogue box for finding files), navigate to the folder that contains your open copy of the Simtools.xla file (typically in a folder named "Library"), and select this Simtools.xla file. Then click "OK" to close the "Change Links" dialogue box.
  5. Finally, click "OK" to close the "Links" dialogue box.

The functions in the workbook should now work on your computer. You may want to save the reconfigured workbook file now.

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