PlanMaker MAXA: Text, Boolean Values and Negative Measurements
Use MAXA in PlanMaker with explicit type mappings, empty-cell controls, official examples and a negative-temperature comparison.
Verification status: See the evidence and test scope described in this guide. How formula examples are checked
Quick answer: =MAXA(A2:A8) returns an independently expected 1 for the mixed entries below. PlanMaker documents TRUE as one, FALSE and text as zero, and genuinely empty cells as ignored. Those rules can produce a larger result than the maximum of the recorded numbers alone.
Availability and version history
- Introduced: Documented by the PlanMaker 2010 manual; the original introduction release and date remain unknown.
- Availability: Documented in PlanMaker 2026. This identifies a documented version, not a last-working-version endpoint.
- Scope: The current entry belongs to the 2026/NX manual family; exact FreeOffice and individual mobile-build behavior is not established here.
- Checked: October 14, 2026, against the official MAXA reference and historical entry. The examples were independently calculated; no native PlanMaker test was performed.
Syntax and the included types
=MAXA(Number1 [, Number2, Number3 ...])
Supply a value or range, with additional inputs optional. Do not type the square brackets. The current reference explicitly includes text and logical values, unlike the referenced-cell behavior of MAX.
The 2010 manual prints two leading Value arguments before its optional list, while the current help shows one required Number argument. The historical entry also gives a single-range example. That printed difference does not establish an actual old-runtime restriction or the release when syntax changed.
A complete mixed-input worksheet
Create MixedMaximum with Input and Intended type in A1:B1 and Numeric mapping in C1. Enter these cells exactly; use formulas for the logical values.
| Row | A: Input | B: Intended type | C: Numeric mapping |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | -8 | Number | -8 |
| 3 | -3 | Number | -3 |
| 4 | -5 | Number | -5 |
| 5 | pending | Text | 0 |
| 6 | =TRUE() |
Logical | 1 |
| 7 | =FALSE() |
Logical | 0 |
| 8 | leave empty | Empty | leave empty |
Type pending without quotation characters, and leave A8 and C8 genuinely empty rather than entering the instruction. The mapping in C makes the documented inclusion policy visible; it is not a second set of measurements.
Put the following formulas in E2:E8:
| Cell | Formula | Expected result |
|---|---|---|
| E2 | =MAXA(A2:A4) |
-3 |
| E3 | =MAXA(A2:A5) |
0 |
| E4 | =MAXA(A2:A8) |
1 |
| E5 | =MAX(A2:A8) |
-3 |
| E6 | =MAX(C2:C7) |
1 |
| E7 | =MAXA(A2:A4,A8) |
-3 |
| E8 | =MAXA(A2:A4,A7) |
0 |
E3 changes because text contributes zero, which is larger than all three negative numbers. E4 then includes TRUE’s one. E7 and E8 isolate the difference between an empty cell and logical FALSE: an ignored cell does not supply a competing zero, but FALSE does.
In G2 enter =COUNT(C2:C7) for 6, and in G3 enter =SUM(C2:C7) for -15. These reconcile the explicit numeric mapping without claiming that COUNT is a universal count of MAXA inputs.
Reproduce both official examples
On a separate VendorMaximum sheet, enter -1, -2 and =TRUE() in A1:A3. Put =MAXA(A1:A3) in C1 for 1, then =MAX(A1:A3) in C2 for -1. Both expected outputs are stated by the current PlanMaker reference.
In C3 enter =MAXA(5,7,4,9); expect 9, reproducing its direct numeric example. The values are actual numbers, so no type conversion is needed for that calculation.
A pending temperature is not a measured zero
Create TemperatureCheck with numeric readings -4,-2,-7 in A2:A4 and plain text pending in A5. These are illustrative readings in the same temperature unit.
| Cell | Formula | Expected result |
|---|---|---|
| C2 | =MAXA(A2:A5) |
0 |
| C3 | =MAX(A2:A5) |
-2 |
| C4 | =IF(C2>=0,"At or above zero","Below zero") |
At or above zero |
| C5 | =IF(C3>=0,"At or above zero","Below zero") |
Below zero |
C4 follows MAXA’s conversion policy, but no recorded temperature is zero or above. Keep a missing-reading status separate from a numeric measurement range when zero would have a physical meaning.
Copy that sheet to CompletedTemperatures and replace A5 with numeric -3. C2 and C3 both become -2, and both labels become Below zero. The copy preserves the original illustration of why the status value changed the earlier result.
Boolean flags have a different intended meaning
Create AnyFlag with =FALSE(), =TRUE() and =FALSE() in A2:A4. Put =MAXA(A2:A4) in C2; expect 1. Put =IF(C2=1,"At least one flag","No flags") in C3; expect At least one flag.
Change A3 to =FALSE(); C2 becomes 0 and C3 becomes No flags. This works for the explicitly supplied Boolean-only fixture. It does not establish what an all-empty range means, or make a pending status equivalent to a completed false flag.
Practical limits and related functions
The entry does not define every error, numeric-text grammar, formula-generated empty string, array context or export behavior. A genuinely empty cell is the documented case here; a formula returning "" needs its own check. No exact native error code or universal coercion rule is inferred.
MINA applies the documented additional-type policy to a minimum. AVERAGEA uses it in a mean, where the denominator also matters. IF expresses the threshold explicitly, and COUNT helps reconcile a deliberately numeric reconstruction.