Find which values in an array add up to a total

[benjicat]

I'd like to know if anyone has a function in Access VBA that accomplishes a similar goal to the challenge presented here:

http://www.mrexcel.com/pc09.shtml

Essentially I would like to have a function that will find which values in an array of values would add up to a set amount. So if I passed the function an array with {1, 2, 4, 6} and I wanted to know which of the values in that array added up to 10, the function would return and array with {4, 6}. The solution posted in the link above is intended for Excel and is based on a range of values, but I would like something similar in Access VBA that is based on an array rather than an Excel range. Is that possible?

-benjicat

 

[CT Witter]

You may want to consult
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bin_packing_problem
Also the Knapsack and Subset Sum solutions as well.

I haven't seen an access solution, so would be curious if one exists. It might be that access just doesn't have enough "horsepower" to accomplish this (maybe only smaller subsets). That is why you will see solutions for SQL Server, oracle and other programming languages.

HTH,
CT

 

[benjicat]

Thanks for the information. I didn't realize it would be such a complex problem!