STDEVA Function (OpenOffice Calc)

• Introduced: First release not established; documented by OpenOffice.org 3.3.
• Supported in: Apache OpenOffice 4.1.16; this identifies a verified release, not a final supported version.
• Scope: Desktop Calc, English function names and semicolon-separated formulas.
• Checked: October 14, 2026. Eight reference formulas and the listed diagnostics were recalculated from generated native ODF in 4.1.16 on Linux x86-64, Build 9816. Source and independent reference calculations were also checked.

STDEVA is the square root of the A-function sample variance. It uses the n−1 denominator and returns a nonnegative standard deviation in the same units as the interpreted observations. At least two included observations are needed. Release entry.

=STDEVA(Value1 [; Value2; ...])

Supply numeric values, logical values, text, cell references or ranges. TRUE contributes 1 and FALSE contributes 0. Text contributes 0, including the directly supplied numeric-looking string “7”; it is not converted to seven. A genuinely empty referenced cell is ignored. A cell holding text and a cell with no content are therefore different inputs.

Enter these values at the exact addresses before using the range examples. F7 and F8 must be text; enter an apostrophe before 7 to force F8 to text. Enter TRUE() and FALSE() as logical formulas or use logical cell values. Leave the specified cells genuinely empty.

F2:F8 therefore contributes the seven numbers 1, 3, 5, 1, 0, 0, 0. G2:G5 contributes only 2, 4, 6; its final blank is not an extra observation.

The native column records the saved 4.1.16 results. The independent values use high-precision mathematics; displayed decimals are rounded to twelve places. The data setup above is required for range formulas.

For sample readings 2, 4 and 6, the squared deviations total 8. Dividing by 2 gives sample variance 4, and taking the square root gives STDEVA 2. Enter =STDEVA(G2:G5) to reproduce the native result with the trailing blank ignored.

In a measurement report, decide whether annotations should participate before calculating a spread. The text “missing” is a zero observation to STDEVA. Replacing a missing measurement with such text is therefore not equivalent to leaving the cell empty, and can substantially change the estimated spread.

For F2:F8, the sample variance is 76/21 and the standard deviation is √(76/21)≈1.902379462423. Squaring the reported standard deviation should recover that sample variance within rounding. Keep more digits internally if you perform this check; squaring a rounded display introduces its own difference.

For already-numeric data transformed to c×y+d, standard deviation is multiplied by |c|. For 2, 4, 6, translating by 100 leaves the mathematical sample standard deviation at 2; multiplying by −3 gives 6. This property does not convert unchanged text labels into shifted numeric observations.

Standard deviation alone does not determine a confidence interval or a normal-distribution probability. Those interpretations need a sampling model and assumptions beyond this descriptive calculation.

A single included value, an empty reference or an empty argument list yields #DIV/0! in the observed cases. TRUE and FALSE give √(1/2)≈0.707106781187. The direct pair “7”, 2 gives √2, because the string is zero. A small successful test does not establish numerical accuracy for extremely large offsets or all supported argument counts.

These additional formulas were recalculated from the same generated ODF input. H5 is a deliberately empty cell where referenced. Error displays are retained as errors, even when an ODS numeric attribute stores zero.

stdev, stdevp, var, AVERAGEA.

• Function-specific release entry
• Argument/parser helper
• A-function text-as-zero dispatch

The generated ODF input produced the informational load warning “Not all attributes could be read.” After it was acknowledged, the sheet was hard-recalculated and saved separately. Every formula identity, typed input, input label and tested result was reconciled. True empty cells were distinguished from text and logical values. This does not certify every style attribute. The separately prepared XLSX input was not executed. A deliberately stale SUM cache changed from 999999 to 3, and an uncached SUM returned 7 after hard recalculation. Native evidence covers the eight reference formulas and listed diagnostics only. Other explanatory compositions are independent mathematical checks; other releases, locales and extreme-value behavior were not established by this run.