Bioequivalence and Bioavailability Forum • Spreadsheet failures, any recent examples?

Spreadsheet failures, any recent examples? [Software]

posted by ElMaestro – Denmark, 2019-07-18 15:43 (2523 d 00:29 ago) – Posting: # 20388
Views: 35,882

Hi all,

does anyone have recent examples of spreadsheet functions truly misbehaving with real-life realistic data?

I am not talking about for example the cases of standard deviations or variances that went funky when the application was fed extreme data ranges, or similar waterboarding of software, which was debated 10 years ago and which led regulators to conclude they were the only ones who could be trusted to make proper use of such pernicious creations.

Realistic.
Data.
Only.
Please.

I will leave it to the reader to quantitatively define what "realistic" and "recent" actually mean and I reserve the right to challenge the definitions, obviously :-D

Of course I ask because I never thought spreadsheets were or are as bad as their reputation. The users, on the other hand, are every bit as bad as their reputation. This certainly includes myself. Most likely I am the worst. But that will be the topic of another thread :-)

—
Pass or fail!
ElMaestro

Complete thread:

Spreadsheet failures, any recent examples?ElMaestro 2019-07-18 13:43 [Software]
- Spreadsheet failures, any recent examples? Ohlbe 2019-07-18 14:32
  - Spreadsheet addiction Helmut 2019-07-18 16:12
    - Nasty beast Ohlbe 2019-07-18 17:30
      - Nasty beast Helmut 2019-07-18 20:26
        
        Nasty beast Ohlbe 2019-07-19 11:32
        
        Nasty beast ElMaestro 2019-07-19 12:32
        
        Decidedly off topic Ohlbe 2019-07-19 13:38
        
        OT: R limbo 101 Helmut 2019-07-19 13:00
    - Spreadsheet addiction Shuanghe 2019-07-18 18:59
      - Spreadsheet addiction Helmut 2019-07-18 20:04
        
        OT: Spreadsheet addiction Shuanghe 2019-07-19 12:41
        
        OT: Spreadsheet addiction Helmut 2019-07-19 14:29
        
        OT: Spreadsheet addiction nobody 2019-07-19 15:53
        
        OT: Spreadsheet addiction Helmut 2019-07-19 19:32
  - Spreadsheet etc. failures zizou 2019-07-20 00:18
    - As designed ☺ Helmut 2019-07-20 02:12
      - As designed ☺ ElMaestro 2019-07-20 09:08
        
        To round or not to round… Helmut 2019-07-20 12:53
        
        To round or not to round… ElMaestro 2019-07-20 19:59
        
        floating-point math is always more complex than you think it is mittyri 2019-07-20 22:43
- Spreadsheet failures, any recent examples? Ohlbe 2020-12-10 18:43
  - Floating point arithmetic, again Helmut 2020-12-10 19:12
    - Floating point arithmetic, again ElMaestro 2020-12-10 19:40
      - Floating point arithmetic, again Ohlbe 2020-12-10 20:18
        
        Floating point arithmetic, again ElMaestro 2020-12-10 21:38
        
        Floating point arithmetic, again Ohlbe 2020-12-10 21:46
        
        Floating point arithmetic, again ElMaestro 2020-12-10 22:05
        
        Depressed Ohlbe 2020-12-10 23:35
        
        Depressed ElMaestro 2020-12-11 07:59
    - Floating point arithmetic, again Ohlbe 2020-12-10 20:13
  - From bad to worse Ohlbe 2020-12-10 22:11
    - From bad to worse mittyri 2020-12-11 00:22
    - All is good Helmut 2020-12-11 00:36
      - Float is float PharmCat 2020-12-18 20:53
        
        Float is float! Helmut 2020-12-20 23:27
        
        rational solution in R mittyri 2020-12-21 13:49
        
        related stuff Helmut 2021-01-14 12:53
        
        related stuff SDavis 2021-02-09 12:02
        
        related stuff ElMaestro 2021-02-09 19:55