STANDARDIZE Function in Calligra Sheets: Z-Scores and Worked Examples

=STANDARDIZE(x; mean; stdev)
=STANDARDIZE(4;3;7)
=STANDARDIZE(A2;AVERAGE($A$2:$A$9);STDEVP($A$2:$A$9))

setParamCount(3) establishes exactly three arguments with no optional/default values in the inspected function registration. The C++ wrapper assigns x=args[0], m=args[1], s=args[2] and checks s>0; otherwise it returns an internal Value::errorVALUE(). It computes (x−m)/s when valid. [K2, K3]

Documentation punctuation discrepancy: KDE’s older XML/handbook syntax line prints STANDARDIZE(x; mean, stdev), mixing ; and ,. The same official documentation’s worked example uses semicolons for both separators, STANDARDIZE(4; 3; 7), and the source requires three ordered arguments. Accordingly this review demonstrates =STANDARDIZE(x;mean;stdev) in the documented English semicolon style, while explicitly not claiming native parser or locale testing. The comma in the syntax line is not evidence of an alternative Calligra argument convention. [K1, K2, K4]

The output is dimensionless: if x, mean and stdev are all measurements in millimetres, their units cancel. STANDARDIZE is often called a z-score transformation, but calculating a z-score does not itself prove the data follow a normal distribution. [I1]

1. Start a blank worksheet. Enter the eight numeric observations below in A2:A9, with A1 = Measurement. Leave H2:H4 free for the summary and J2:J9 for row-by-row standardized outputs.
2. Enter H2 =AVERAGE(A2:A9) → independently expected 5, H3 =STDEVP(A2:A9) → 2, H4 =STDEV(A2:A9) → approximately 2.138089935299.
3. In J2, enter =STANDARDIZE(A2;$H$2;$H$3) and fill/copy through J9. The $ signs lock the mean and population standard deviation as the formula is copied. [I1]
4. Compare each J-row with the expected outputs and enter the additional controls after the data table. All results are independently calculated. [I1]

Additional independent checks, entered outside those ranges:

The L8 formula illustrates that negative numeric observations are permitted when the third argument is positive. [I1]

The same observation can have different valid standardized values depending on which standard deviation describes your reference distribution. In this exact dataset, using STDEVP(A2:A9) gives −1.5 for the first observation; using STDEV(A2:A9) gives about −1.403121520040. Neither is universally “correct”; document whether eight numbers form your entire population or are a sample and choose the estimator accordingly. [I1]

To create a sample-SD z-score column, use =STANDARDIZE(A2;$H$2;$H$4) in K2 and fill through K9; do not mix the K and J values in a single analysis. STDEV and STDEVP are different registered functions and have distinct denominators for a nonconstant dataset. [K1, I1]

Suppose two measurement processes report different units. Enter B2 = 110, B3 = 100, B4 = 5 for a value, mean and standard deviation of the first process, then C2 = 1.1, C3 = 1.0, C4 = 0.05 for a rescaled process. Enter =STANDARDIZE(B2;B3;B4) in B6 → 2 and =STANDARDIZE(C2;C3;C4) in C6 → 2. Both readings lie two of their respective standard deviations above their stated means. [I1]

This demonstrates scale invariance when mean and standard deviation are converted consistently. Do not use it as a proof that the two processes have equal quality, identical distributions, or comparable clinical significance.

When the denominator comes from a user-maintained cell such as G3, a formula can guard before invoking the standardization step:

=IF(G3>0;STANDARDIZE(G2;G4;G3);"Review SD")

Here G2 holds the observation, G4 the mean, and G3 the positive standard deviation. The guard logic is recommended mathematically, but nested IF evaluation order and text/Boolean coercion were not separately native-tested in this run. If your sheet uses different locale separators, adapt only after checking that local installation. [K3, I1]

Not performed: native Sheets evaluation of any test, localized decimal/argument separators, import/export round-trip, high-precision benchmarks or screenshots. A source-level error value cannot be converted into an asserted UI #VALUE! or #NUM! message without observing the app.

Official 26.08.2 code specifically implements a three-argument STANDARDIZE with the (x−mean)/s expression and an internal error for s≤0; the handbook’s mixed punctuation must be treated as a documentation discrepancy rather than a tested parser feature. [K1–K4]

Microsoft Excel also documents a STANDARDIZE function and says Excel returns a #NUM! error if its third argument is nonpositive. That is Excel-specific evidence and does not prove the exact Calligra-visible error, name preservation in XLSX/ODS, or locale compatibility. The numeric-only example arithmetic is comparable. [M1, K3]

Pinned target: Calligra 26.08.2, associated with KDE Gear’s October 8, 2026 announcement; source commit 72123cc643f6625351139e7df294544255a1056f. Calligra primarily describes Linux packages and Flatpak, with Windows under development. No native function runtime was observed on any platform. [K2, K5]

Official KDE references checked 2026-10-13: AVERAGE — arithmetic mean, STDEV — sample SD, STDEVP — population SD, VAR — sample variance, VARP — population variance, COUNT and STANDARDIZE.

• [K1] KDE Sheets handbook, meaning, old mixed punctuation, three argument descriptions, documented 4/3/7 example: https://docs.kde.org/stable_kf6/en/calligra/sheets/functions.html#STANDARDIZE.
• [K2] Pinned registration, three required formula arguments, single return: https://github.com/KDE/calligra/blob/72123cc643f6625351139e7df294544255a1056f/sheets/functions/statistical.cpp#L326-L333.
• [K3] Pinned implementation, explicit nonpositive SD error test and (x−m)/s: https://github.com/KDE/calligra/blob/72123cc643f6625351139e7df294544255a1056f/sheets/functions/statistical.cpp#L2522-L2540.
• [K4] Pinned KDE XML, help syntax and example punctuation inconsistency: https://github.com/KDE/calligra/blob/72123cc643f6625351139e7df294544255a1056f/sheets/functions/statistical.xml.
• [K5] Official release/platform, 2026-10-08 announcement and current download statements: https://kde.org/announcements/gear/26.08.2/ · https://calligra.org/download/.
• [M1] Microsoft Excel STANDARDIZE, Excel-specific function semantics/errors: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/functions/standardize-function.
• [I1] Independent arithmetic, 2026-10-13: checked by direct (x−m)/s and Python statistics.mean/pstdev/stdev; no native application run.