Bug 166193 - NETWORKDAYS wants more description in wiki about locale influence
Summary: NETWORKDAYS wants more description in wiki about locale influence
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Documentation (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
25.2.2.2 release
Hardware: All All
: medium normal
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2025-04-15 10:08 UTC by kirsche40
Modified: 2025-04-17 11:34 UTC (History)
1 user (show)

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Crash report or crash signature:


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Description kirsche40 2025-04-15 10:08:55 UTC
Description:
I generated a new Calc document and tried the example from wiki [1] or recent html help [2]. In the end I got an "Err:259".

Cell input is:
=NETWORKDAYS("2020-01-01"; "2020-12-31"; {"2020-01-01", "2020-04-10", "2020-04-13", "2020-05-08", "2020-05-25", "2020-08-31", "2020-12-25", "2020-12-28"})

The same happens if I try the DATE funftion as mentioned in the html help.

[1] https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Calc_Functions/NETWORKDAYS/en
[2] https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-US/text/scalc/01/func_networkdays.html?DbPAR=CALC#bm_id3151254


Version: 25.2.2.2 (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 7370d4be9e3cf6031a51beef54ff3bda878e3fac
CPU threads: 8; OS: Windows 10 X86_64 (10.0 build 19045); UI render: default; VCL: win
Locale: de-DE (de_DE); UI: en-US
Calc: CL threaded

Steps to Reproduce:
1. generate a new Calc document

2. go to any cell an input:
=NETWORKDAYS("2020-01-01"; "2020-12-31"; {"2020-01-01", "2020-04-10", "2020-04-13", "2020-05-08", "2020-05-25", "2020-08-31", "2020-12-25", "2020-12-28"}) 

3. hit enter

Actual Results:
"Err:259"

Expected Results:
8 specified holiday dates, and default 5-day workweek: 254


Reproducible: Always


User Profile Reset: No

Additional Info:
calculate correct workdays for given period of time
Comment 1 Mike Kaganski 2025-04-15 11:00:39 UTC
(In reply to kirsche40 from comment #0)
> Cell input is:
> =NETWORKDAYS("2020-01-01"; "2020-12-31"; {"2020-01-01", "2020-04-10",
> "2020-04-13", "2020-05-08", "2020-05-25", "2020-08-31", "2020-12-25",
> "2020-12-28"})
> 
> Actual Results:
> "Err:259"

1. Please check if the "Err:259" is the real actual result. Isn't it "Err:539"?
2. Please check your options, to see if the colon "," is an array row or column separator in your Calc's formula setting. It is likely, that you should use your locale's row/column separator (e.g., for me those are ";" and ".", respectively; and both work - the function doesn't care what shape the passed array is).

For me, the following *three* variants work OK:

=NETWORKDAYS("2020-01-01"; "2020-12-31"; {"2020-01-01";"2020-04-10";"2020-04-13";"2020-05-08";"2020-05-25";"2020-08-31";"2020-12-25";"2020-12-28"})

=NETWORKDAYS("2020-01-01"; "2020-12-31"; {"2020-01-01"."2020-04-10"."2020-04-13"."2020-05-08"."2020-05-25"."2020-08-31"."2020-12-25"."2020-12-28"})

=NETWORKDAYS("2020-01-01"; "2020-12-31"; {"2020-01-01"|"2020-04-10"|"2020-04-13"|"2020-05-08"|"2020-05-25"|"2020-08-31"|"2020-12-25"|"2020-12-28"})

The function NETWORKDAYS is not broken, as far as I can tell. But you may want to add some details to the wiki.

Olivier: should we create a template about the symbols used as separators, to add to all help articles? Something like "The function arguments separators and inline array separators depend on the locale, and are configured on Options->Calc->Formula"?
Comment 2 kirsche40 2025-04-15 12:15:48 UTC
(In reply to Mike Kaganski from comment #1)
> 1. Please check if the "Err:259" is the real actual result. Isn't it
> "Err:539"?
Sorry, it's a typo. It is indeed "Err:539".

> 2. Please check your options, to see if the colon "," is an array row or
> column separator in your Calc's formula setting. It is likely, that you
> should use your locale's row/column separator (e.g., for me those are ";"
> and ".", respectively; and both work - the function doesn't care what shape
> the passed array is).
That does the trick. If I change my Calc's formula setting it works... A layer 8 problem. :(

> Olivier: should we create a template about the symbols used as separators,
> to add to all help articles? Something like "The function arguments
> separators and inline array separators depend on the locale, and are
> configured on Options->Calc->Formula"?
In my opinion this would fix the issues in the wiki articles. I started on a german installation of LibreOffice and used the example from the german wiki page (https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Calc_Functions/NETWORKDAYS/de), without success. Therefore I would prefer this solution.

An differend approach could be a changed behaviour on switch to a different locale for the UI. I did this to check the example from the english wiki (https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Calc_Functions/NETWORKDAYS/en), again without success. It happens because the old "german" separator was still used. Could there be an automatic switch to the proper separator OR at least a hint that the current settings could make trouble? On the other side, an automatic change could lead to much more confusion...
Comment 3 Olivier Hallot 2025-04-17 11:19:56 UTC
(In reply to Mike Kaganski from comment #1)
> (In reply to kirsche40 from comment #0)

> Olivier: should we create a template about the symbols used as separators,
> to add to all help articles? Something like "The function arguments
> separators and inline array separators depend on the locale, and are
> configured on Options->Calc->Formula"?

Doy refer to the wiki (community maintained) or the Help? The second has it described in Using Inline Array Constants in Formulas, of https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-US/text/scalc/01/04060107.html?DbPAR=CALC. 

please advise.
Comment 4 Mike Kaganski 2025-04-17 11:34:52 UTC
(In reply to Olivier Hallot from comment #3)
> (In reply to Mike Kaganski from comment #1)
> > Olivier: should we create a template about the symbols used as separators,
> > to add to all help articles? Something like "The function arguments
> > separators and inline array separators depend on the locale, and are
> > configured on Options->Calc->Formula"?
> 
> Doy refer to the wiki (community maintained) or the Help?

I mean help. In case of wiki, if I had wording, I'd change it myself :-)

> The second has it described in Using Inline Array Constants in Formulas, of
> https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-US/text/scalc/01/04060107.html?DbPAR=CALC. 

But my point is: we should somehow refer to it *every time* we provide an example for *any single* function, where a separator may be different.