Separator of Calc function arguments

I noticed that comma is used instead of semicolon to separate arguments of Calc functions in examples of some new or updated help pages (see e.g. new SUMIF vs. old SUMIFS).

Shouldn’t the separators be consistent? Do we have any agreement about this?

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HI Stan

I think the semicolon is the right character to use, avoiding confusion between English and European number notation.

Does it makes sense?

Olivier

Comma separation has been fairly standard across many spreadsheets, certainly since the 1980’s, is used in almost all spreadsheet documentation, and initial impressions would be Calc is not compatible with those [existing] spreadsheets or Excel. This would be a significant change likely to disenfranchise new users.

Calc supports either. Is this defined in the OpenDocument Format? Could it be configurable in the documentation?

My Excel 365 uses a semicolon.

ODF does not define how the formula is presented to the user. It defines how the formula is written in the file. And there it is a semicolon.

Weird - SUMIF function - Microsoft Support =SUMIF(B2:B25,">5"). Is that because you are using a European setting?

I haven’t used Excel for years but I exchange files used by both Calc and Excel.

Semicolon is used in the wiki articles to ensure the examples work in all locales. So semicolon should be used in Help as well.

Thanks for all the feedback, it makes perfect sense for me to use the semicolon as I have to use it also in my locale.