Compare saved what-if scenarios

Use Tools > Scenarios > Add to store the current values of selected input cells, then Tools > Scenarios > View to compare them. In Scenario Manager, Cancel restores the prior values and removes reports created during that dialog session; use OK when you intend to keep the report.

Scope and profit model

This exercise is based on Gnumeric 1.12.62 GTK desktop dialog definitions and implementation, plus the upstream manual’s menu documentation. It has not been executed natively and does not certify the older installed 1.12.57 runtime. Use a disposable .gnumeric workbook with English controls.

On one sheet enter labels Units, Price, Unit cost and Fixed cost in A2:A5. Set B2=100, B3=20, B4=12 and B5=300. In A7 enter Profit, and in B7 enter =B2*(B3-B4)-B5. The baseline profit is 500. Save the workbook.

The changing-cell range will be B2:B5. B7 is a result formula and must not be included. This exercise stores assumptions supplied by you; it does not optimize them or solve for a target result.

Store two distinct cases

1. Select B2:B5 and choose Tools > Scenarios > Add.
2. Enter Base as Scenario name. Verify Changing cells is B2:B5 on the current sheet.
3. Add a comment recording the meaning: “100 units at price 20; unit cost 12 and fixed cost 300.” Confirm with OK.
4. Change B2 to 120 and B3 to 22, leaving the two cost inputs unchanged. B7 should become 900.
5. Add another scenario over B2:B5, named Upside, with a matching comment. Confirm.

The source validates that changing cells belong to the current sheet and rejects duplicate or invalid scenario names. If adding fails, check those prerequisites instead of broadening the range across sheets or reusing Base for a different case.

Manually restore B2=100 and B3=20 before the preview exercise. This establishes a clear pre-dialog state of 500 without changing the already saved Upside assumptions.

Preview and cancel deliberately

Open Tools > Scenarios > View. In Scenario Manager select Upside and click Show. Expect B2=120, B3=22 and B7=900. Select Base and Show; expect 100, 20 and 500. The Changing Cells and Comment display should help confirm which stored case you selected.

Show Upside once more, then click Cancel. The documented implementation restores the values present before this manager session, so the working sheet should return to Base’s 100/20/500 state. This is a preview cancellation, not a deletion of the stored Upside scenario.

Do not assume that clicking a scenario name alone applies it; Show is the application control. Likewise, distinguish the saved assumptions from whatever temporary values are currently visible on the sheet.

Create a report you intend to keep

Reopen Scenario Manager. On its Options tab set Result Cells to B7, then use Create Report. Check that the report compares the changing inputs and profit result for Base and Upside: 500 and 900 respectively.

Click OK to finish this manager session and retain its report. Do not use Cancel after creating a report you want to keep: the implementation explicitly deletes reports created during that session when Cancel is used. Report creation also restores temporary preview values before generating the summary, so check the main sheet state after closing rather than assuming the last preview remains applied.

Add a changed case without overwriting history

Set B2=90, B3=18, B4=12 and B5=300. Profit should be 240. Save this as a new scenario named Cautious rather than repurposing Base. Reopen the manager and create another report for B7, retaining it with OK. Verify the three expected profits are 500, 900 and 240.

If you included B7 accidentally, restore the original formula from the fixture before rebuilding the scenarios. If a session-created report disappears after Cancel, recreate it and use OK; do not interpret the disappearance as failure to save the workbook.

Save, close and reopen the .gnumeric file. Check the scenario names, comments, input ranges and retained report. Treat a report as a record of the comparison at creation time; generate a new one after changing the model rather than assuming an older sheet is current.

Official references

Gnumeric menu documentation, captured 20 October 2026; official Gnumeric 1.12.62 source archive, scenario-add.ui, scenario-manager.ui and dialog-scenarios.c. The recovered source supplies the specific Show, OK and Cancel behavior; no native scenario execution is claimed.