Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

Here's what Help says for the RANK function:

RANK
Returns the rank of a number in a sample.
Syntax
RANK(Value; Data; Type)
Value is the value, whose rank is to be determined.
Data is the array or range of data in the sample.
Type (optional) is the sequence order.
Type = 0 means descending from the last item of the array to the first (this is the default),
Type = 1 means ascending from the first item of the range to the last.

My concern is with the description of Type. "[D]escending from the last item...to the first" implies that the smallest item is at the top of the list. "[A]scending from the first item...to the last" implies that the smallest item is at the top of the list. Perhaps a rewrite is in order? May I suggest:

Type = 0 means descending from the first item of the range to the last (this is the default).
Type = 1 means ascending from the first item of the range to the last.

That makes a lot more sense to me, and appears to be consistent with the actual function output. One could wish that the default was the reverse...