Collabora Office VSTACK: Vertical Arrays and Width Padding
Append complete row blocks vertically, verify output dimensions and understand error padding without confusing stacking with a key-based merge. Scoped to the new Linux desktop source build.
Verification status: See the evidence and test scope described in this guide. How formula examples are checked
VSTACK puts arrays one below another in argument order. The result has the sum of input heights and the maximum input width. Columns align by position, not by matching header names or identifiers.
Syntax and omitted arguments
=VSTACK(Array; Array_1; ...)
At least one array is required. Additional arrays are optional because the argument list may stop after any complete input. The checked shared stacking evaluator rejects an explicitly missing slot, such as VSTACK(A2:B3;;D2:E2), using internal IllegalParameter. The help’s generic optional-argument sentence should not be taken as permission to leave holes between supplied blocks.
The examples use small rectangular ranges and a single-cell range. They do not establish a safe maximum size or every possible coercion from scalar types.
Step by step: append a second batch
Enter A2:B3 as two records:
101 8
102 5
Enter D2:E2 as [103,9], and G2 as 104. Treat the first column as a fictional ID and the second as quantity. No header row is included in these ranges.
=VSTACK(A2:B3;D2:E2)
The independent expected 3×2 matrix is:
101 8
102 5
103 9
The first block contributes two rows; the second contributes one. Both have width two, so no padding is needed. Reversing the arguments produces [103,9], [101,8], [102,5]. VSTACK preserves block order instead of sorting IDs.
Unequal widths produce error padding
For =VSTACK(A2:B3;G2), the second input has only one column. The expected matrix is:
101 8
102 5
104 #N/A
The help shows #N/A in padded positions, and the evaluator creates internal FormulaError::NotAvailable. That marker represents an error value, not text, zero or a fabricated quantity. The result still has two columns because the widest input sets its width.
=VSTACK(G2;A2:B3) puts the short row first, so its missing second value remains in the first row. =VSTACK(A2:B3) retains the original 2×2 values as the one-input case.
Advanced: combine three sources without hiding a schema gap
=VSTACK(A2:B3;D2:E2;G2) produces four rows and two columns. The last row remains [104,#N/A]. Counts provide a useful independent check: 2+1+1 = 4 rows and maximum width max(2,2,1) = 2.
A missing quantity may indicate an incomplete source record. Do not replace it with zero unless zero has the intended business meaning. VSTACK has no custom pad argument; a separate error-handling formula can also mask original source errors, so any fallback needs deliberate scope.
Matching widths do not prove matching schemas. If one block is [ID,Quantity] and another is [Quantity,ID], stacking them by position would yield a misleading table without necessarily producing an error. Standardize field order and units before combining blocks. Similarly, including each source’s header row would copy those headers repeatedly; VSTACK does not identify or remove them automatically.
What stacking does not do
It does not remove duplicate records, sort the result, join by ID or reconcile conflicting values. Those operations require separate criteria. A row appearing twice is retained twice in the straightforward concatenation model.
The examples concern values and dimensions, not copying all cell formatting, widths or table metadata. A formula result also does not establish that source ranges were moved or edited.
Array entry, errors and compatibility
The versioned help describes array-formula entry and a Ctrl+Shift+Enter hint. This guide does not verify that interaction, automatic spill, output resizing or overwrite handling in the new Qt desktop. The displayed matrices are independent/source-derived layouts, not screenshots.
When a result has unexpected #N/A positions, compare input widths first. When rows are in the wrong order, inspect argument order and source ordering. An explicit missing argument is a source-predicted parameter error, while a shorter valid input leads to padding; those are different conditions. No general maximum-allocation or cross-platform behavior is certified.
Product scope and verification
This guide covers the new Collabora Office desktop for Linux, source build coda-26.04.4.3-1, commit 81339d176148d0d5c81ff05d82540f58f8aaa117, mapped from the vendor’s Linux Flathub package. The 26.04 VSTACK help and exact evaluator source were checked on October 18, 2026. The desktop announcement and package manifest explain the narrow product mapping; the manifest is a mutable source publication, not proof of an installed binary.
No Collabora runtime or other spreadsheet engine was executed. The matrices are independent/source-derived expectations, and the typed input setup is instructional. No native screenshots or interface tests are represented. Classic, Online, CODE, mobile, Windows and macOS parity is not established.
The original Collabora introduction release is unknown from the checked evidence. The help identifies COM.MICROSOFT.VSTACK and places the function outside OpenFormula 1.3; that compatibility limitation is not a retirement or deprecation notice. Import/export and recalculation in other products were not tested.