Score a Weighted Tasting Rubric with Missing Marks in Gnumeric

A missing score is not automatically a zero, and a score out of 20 should not automatically outweigh one out of 5. Build a fictional recipe-tasting rubric with four different criteria, explicit weights and a final result that remains unavailable until every input is valid.

This example evaluates a fictional recipe, not people. It is not designed for school grades, hiring, medical or other consequential decisions.

Scope and score policy

Use free Gnumeric desktop on Linux, following the official 1.12-series manual. Examples use English functions and comma separators; match your installed locale if it differs. The original calculations were independently checked, not executed in Gnumeric. No native save/reopen or screenshot evidence is claimed.

Each criterion contributes a fixed number of points to a 100-point total. A full mark earns all of that criterion’s weight; zero earns none. A blank or text entry means not ready, not zero. This tutorial deliberately does not redistribute the weight of missing marks.

Build one recipe’s rubric

Create a blank workbook and enter A1:D5. The word “blank” below is an instruction to leave D5 empty, not text to type.

Row	A: Criterion	B: Weight points	C: Maximum mark	D: Mark
2	Flavor	40	10	8
3	Texture	25	5	4
4	Appearance	20	20	15
5	Ease of preparation	15	10	blank

These are plain numbers: type 40, not 40%. The weights are already points out of 100. All four criteria must have a positive weight and a positive maximum. Scores may be fractional, but must stay between zero and the maximum.

Put Input status in E1 and Weighted points in F1.

Gate each row before doing arithmetic

Enter this in E2 and copy it down through E5:

=IF(COUNT(B2:D2)<>3,"MISSING OR TEXT",IF(OR(B2<=0,C2<=0,D2<0,D2>C2),"OUT OF RANGE","OK"))

The first test requires three numeric cells. Only then does the second test compare their values. E2:E4 should be OK, while E5 should be MISSING OR TEXT. A typed apostrophe-number such as '8 is text and must not pass merely because it looks numeric.

Enter this in F2 and copy it down through F5:

=IF(E2="OK",B2*D2/C2,"")

Expected F2:F4: 32, 20, 15; F5 displays empty. The arithmetic is “weight × fraction of the available mark”: 40 × 8/10 = 32, not 40 × 8.

Use ordinary Enter, not array-formula entry. This is four independent row formulas. If needed, review relative and fixed references before copying.

Refuse an incomplete final score

Put labels in H2:H4 and formulas in I2:I4:

Label	Formula	Initial result
Total weight points	=SUM(B2:B5)	100
Ready rows	=COUNT(F2:F5)	3
Final score out of 100	=IF(COUNT(F2:F5)<>4,"NOT READY",IF(SUM(B2:B5)<>100,"CHECK WEIGHTS",SUM(F2:F5)))	NOT READY

The completed contributions currently add to 67, but that is not a final score. Do not show =SUM(F2:F5) on its own as the recipe result: SUM ignores the empty-looking missing contribution. Likewise, do not divide 67 by the completed weight of 85 and quietly publish 78.82 out of 100. That would answer a different question by redistributing the missing criterion’s weight.

For the final result to be numeric, all four row contributions must exist and the weight total must equal 100. Keep I4 formatted as an ordinary number, for example two decimal places. Formatting 79 as a percentage would display 7,900%, not 79%.

Complete the evaluation and challenge it

Enter 8 in D5. F5 becomes 12, Ready rows becomes 4, and the final result becomes 79. Check it independently: 32 + 20 + 15 + 12 = 79.

Make each temporary change separately, restoring the baseline before the next test:

Change	Expected consequence
Clear D5	NOT READY; no final numeric score
Set D5 to 0	E5 is OK, F5 is 0, final score is 67
Set D3 to 6	Above maximum 5: OUT OF RANGE and NOT READY
Set C3 to 0	OUT OF RANGE and NOT READY; no attempted division by zero in F3
Change B5 from 15 to 10	Weight total 95 and CHECK WEIGHTS
Replace D2 with text '8	MISSING OR TEXT and NOT READY
Set every mark equal to its own maximum	Final score 100

Restore the intended marks 8, 4, 15, 8 and weights 40, 25, 20, 15. Check 79 again. A genuine zero is deliberately allowed: COUNT counts numeric zero, unlike a “greater than zero” completeness test.

Save and adapt without losing the policy

Choose File → Save As, select native Gnumeric format and save a new .gnumeric file. Reopen it and check the formulas and 79-point result yourself. Keep the rubric and score notes with the file so the weights do not change silently between recipe trials.

If adding a fifth criterion, update all total ranges and the readiness requirement from four to five. Rebalance weights explicitly to 100; do not conceal an incorrect weight total by dividing by whatever sum happens to be present. If one criterion is intentionally optional, decide and document a different scoring policy before changing formulas.

If a result does not update, inspect Gnumeric’s calculation settings. If zeros disappear visually, inspect the stored value and formatting before replacing them. Cell errors remain faults to investigate, not valid missing scores; this model does not automatically suppress them.

Sources and evidence limits

The official Gnumeric 1.12 manual documents numeric COUNT, SUM, IF and OR, and formula/data entry. The fictional rubric, normalization policy and expected changed-case results are original independent checks, not observed Gnumeric results. Platform packages, locale-specific separators and save/reopen fidelity require native verification.