In best subsets regression, Minitab uses a procedure called the Hamiltonian Walk, which is a method for calculating all possible subsets of predictors, one subset per step. That is, Minitab calculates all 2**m - 1 subsets in 2**m - 1 steps, where m is the number of predictors in the model. Minitab evaluates a different subset regression at each step.
Each subset in the Hamiltonian Walk differs from the preceding subset by the addition or deletion of only one variable. The sweep operator "sweeps" a variable in or out of the regression on each step of the Hamiltonian Walk, and calculates the R2 for each subset.
For a model with multiple predictors, the equation is:
y = β0 + β1x1 + … + βkxk + ε
The fitted equation is:

In simple linear regression, which includes only one predictor, the model is:
y=ß0+ ß1x1+ε
Using regression estimates b0 for ß0, and b1 for ß1, the fitted equation is:

| Term | Description | 
|---|---|
| y | response | 
| xk | kth term. Each term can be a single predictor, a polynomial term, or an interaction term. | 
| ßk | kth population regression coefficient | 
| ε | error term that follows a normal distribution with a mean of 0 | 
| bk | estimate of kth population regression coefficient | 
|  | fitted response | 
R2 is also known as the coefficient of determination.

| Term | Description | 
|---|---|
| yi | i th observed response value | 
|   | mean response | 
|   | i th fitted response | 

| Term | Description | 
|---|---|
| MS | Mean Square | 
| SS | Sum of Squares | 
| DF | Degrees of Freedom | 

| Term | Description | 
|---|---|
| n | number of observations | 
| ei | ith residual | 
| hi | ith diagonal element of X (X' X)-1X' | 

While the calculations for R2(pred) can produce negative values, Minitab displays zero for these cases.
| Term | Description | 
|---|---|
| yi | i th observed response value | 
|   | mean response | 
| n | number of observations | 
| ei | i th residual | 
| hi | i th diagonal element of X(X'X)–1X' | 
| X | design matrix | 

| Term | Description | 
|---|---|
| SSEp | sum of squared errors for the model under consideration | 
| MSEm | mean square error for the model with all candidate terms | 
| n | number of observations | 
| p | number of terms in the model, including the constant | 

| Term | Description | 
|---|---|
| MSE | mean square error | 


Observations with weights of 0 are not in the analysis.
| Term | Description | 
|---|---|
| n | the number of observations | 
| R | the sum of squares for error for the model | 
| wi | the weight of the ith observation | 

AICc is not calculated when  .
.
| Term | Description | 
|---|---|
| n | the number of observations | 
| p | the number of coefficients in the model, including the constant | 

| Term | Description | 
|---|---|
| p | the number of coefficients in the model, including the constant | 
| n | the number of observations | 

| Term | Description | 
|---|---|
| C | the condition number | 
| λmaximum | the maximum eigenvalue from the correlation matrix of the terms in the model, not including the intercept | 
| λminimum | the minimum eigenvalue from the correlation matrix of the terms in the model, not including the intercept |