MINA in Collabora Office: Find a Minimum When Text Counts as Zero

• Introduced: original Collabora release and launch date are not established by the sources reviewed.
• Availability: documented in Collabora Office 26.04 help, scoped to the desktop-help release.
• Platform scope: online and mobile deployments are not inferred from desktop documentation.
• Checked: October 14, 2026. Function-specific documentation and independent calculations; no native Collabora test was performed.

=MINA(argument1;[argument2];...)

Collabora documents up to 255 arguments, including numbers, text, cell references and ranges. Text participates as zero. The product help also explicitly states that MINA returns 0 when it encounters no numeric or text value and no error. This is a documented empty-input result, not a claim that every error is ignored.

Use English function names and semicolons as shown. A range supplied as one argument may contain many cells; the argument limit is not a 255-cell range limit. This guide uses ordinary nonnumeric text where the zero rule is central.

Enter A2:A5 as numeric 12, numeric 7, text Pending, numeric 20.

=MINA(A2:A5)
=MIN(A2:A5)

Expected results are 0 and 7. MIN ignores the text in this range, while MINA includes its zero contribution. For a direct control, =MINA(12;"Pending";7) has expected result 0.

This does not mean Pending was successfully converted into a measured quantity. If the task is finding the lowest completed score, allowing an unfinished label to manufacture a zero may be the wrong policy. Choose the function based on the intended meaning of the input.

Put numeric -6, numeric -2, and text Pending in C2:C4.

=MINA(C2:C4)

Expected result: -6. The text contributes zero, which is greater than both negative values. The numerical minimum therefore remains -6 even though the text still participates under the function’s rule.

Changing -6 to numeric 3 gives expected -2. Changing the remaining -2 to numeric 4 gives expected 0, now contributed by the text. Checking only positive test data would conceal this dependence on the sign of the actual measurements.

Create three independent two-cell ranges:

• E2:E3 contains numeric 0 and numeric 8
• G2:G3 contains text Pending and numeric 8
• I2:I3 is genuinely empty, with no formulas or errors

=MINA(E2:E3)
=MINA(G2:G3)
=MINA(I2:I3)

All three have expected result 0, but the reasons differ: a measured zero, text assigned zero, and the documented no-value fallback. A single aggregate value cannot identify which situation occurred.

Keep the original inputs visible and record the inclusion policy. ISNUMBER can distinguish the explicit numeric and text controls cell by cell. Do not use MINA returning zero as proof that a genuine zero measurement exists.

Enter numeric 12, numeric 7, text Pending, numeric 20 in K2:K5. The numeric-only span is:

=MAX(K2:K5)-MIN(K2:K5)

Expected result: 13, from 20-7. A text-sensitive version, =MAXA(K2:K5)-MINA(K2:K5), has expected result 20, from 20-0. MAXA applies the corresponding text-as-zero maximum rule.

Neither calculation is universally better. The second span includes a constructed zero contribution from Pending. State that interpretation if it is intentional; otherwise, use a numeric-only measurement policy.

The terse reference does not establish every direct-versus-reference numeric-text, Boolean or explicit empty-string coercion case. The worked labels are nonnumeric text, and the empty-range control uses genuinely empty cells. Errors remain outside the no-value statement because the official condition specifically excludes encountered errors.

A minimum also does not return the identity of the source record. If several records share the same minimum, deciding which record to display is a separate lookup or reporting rule. Preserve complete rows when sorting so the reported value stays attached to its correct source.

• Collabora Office 26.04: MINA.
• Editorial testing standards.

The function-specific Collabora documentation was reviewed. Worked results are independent arithmetic or documented type-rule controls, not captured output from the application. Client-specific entry procedures and the boundaries identified above remain subject to native verification.