PlanMaker PERCENTRANK: Relative Positions and Interpolation Checks

• Introduced: Documented by the PlanMaker 2010 manual; the original introduction release and date are not established.
• Availability: Documented in PlanMaker 2026. This checked version is not a final supported-version endpoint.
• Scope: Current reference belongs to the PlanMaker 2026/NX manual family. FreeOffice and individual mobile-build availability are not established here.
• Checked: October 14, 2026, against the official PERCENTRANK reference and historical manual. Additional calculations are explicitly scoped models; no native PlanMaker test was performed.

PERCENTRANK(Range, Number [, Digits])

The current reference requires a numeric Range and the Number whose position is wanted. If that number is not present, the function uses interpolation. Digits is optional and defaults to 3; current help describes it as the number of decimal places in the calculated result. The square brackets mark an optional argument and are not typed.

There is a historical wording difference: the 2010 manual calls Digits significant digits and requires at least one. The current short entry does not repeat that minimum or specify rounding versus truncation. Use the positive integer values shown here; fractional/zero digit counts and the precise shortening rule remain unverified. Formatting a result as a percentage is separate from this calculation argument.

On VendorRank, put 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 in A1:A9 without a header. Enter these formulas in C1:C3:

These are SoftMaker’s median, minimum and maximum examples. Percentage formatting would show 50%, 0% and 100%. Do not multiply by 100 and also apply percentage formatting.

Create ReadingPositions, using A1:H12. Put Reading in A1 and these nine unique numbers in A2:A10, already sorted: 10,15,25,30,50,55,70,90,100. Put Query in C1, PERCENTRANK in D1 and INC comparison in E1. Enter the seven C values below.

In D2 enter =PERCENTRANK($A$2:$A$10,C2,4) and fill through D8. In E2 enter =PERCENTRANK.INC($A$2:$A$10,C2,4) and fill through E8.

The broader table uses an explicitly identified linear-position model. For sorted unique observations, assign the j-th observation (j-1)/(N-1) and interpolate between adjacent values. This is the inverse of the inclusive position formula described in NIST’s percentile discussion. SoftMaker documents interpolation and the three boundary examples, but does not print the complete algorithm; the additional outputs are model checks, not measured PlanMaker behavior.

For 40, the neighboring readings are 30 and 50 at positions four and five. Halfway between them gives position 4.5, hence (4.5-1)/8 = 0.4375. In G2 enter =(4-1+(40-30)/(50-30))/8 for the same independent control. In G3 enter =COUNT(A2:A10) for 9.

Copy ReadingPositions as ShiftedReadings. Replace A2:A10 with 110,115,125,130,150,155,170,190,200, and C2:C8 with 110,125,140,150,155,180,200. Each reading and query has increased by 100.

Leave D/E formulas unchanged. The independent relative-position expectations remain 0,0.25,0.4375,0.5,0.625,0.8125,1: both the position order and each interpolation fraction are unchanged. Update G2 to =(4-1+(140-130)/(150-130))/8; it remains 0.4375. G3 still counts nine.

This is a mathematical invariance check for a common shift, not permission to change only the query or mix measurement units. The actual input population and its completeness still matter.

The fraction is a relative-position convention. It is not automatically the literal proportion of records strictly below the query, and it is not a probability that a future observation will be lower. For the median of nine distinct observations, four are strictly below: 4/9 differs from the documented 0.5 percentile rank.

Duplicate-value handling, all-equal data, one-observation ranges, out-of-range queries, mixed types and exact error tokens are not established by this short entry. The unique, complete numeric examples avoid those unresolved cases. Four-place examples terminate exactly, avoiding an invented rounding/truncation rule for longer expansions.

PERCENTILE starts with a fraction and returns a data value. PERCENTRANK.INC is the documented equivalent spelling; PERCENTRANK.EXC uses a different endpoint convention. RANK.EQ returns an ordinal rank and has its own duplicate and missing-value rules.

English examples use comma argument separators. Confirm local formula notation and imported-workbook behavior in the target build. The reference’s Excel 2010 compatibility note concerns Excel’s dotted names, not PlanMaker’s introduction date.