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PlanMaker tables, formulas and file exchange

PlanMaker is part of SoftMaker Office. The vendor's help for PlanMaker 2024 and NX describes table objects, column references and a broad set of calculation functions. It can address the same business task as Microsoft Excel: transparently add a team's open amounts. A filename alone does not establish how later editing in another application will behave.

Team Amount in EUR Status
North 120 Open
South 80 Open
North 30 Closed
North 50 Open

Begin with the common calculation

With headers in A1:C1 and data in A2:C5, the expected total is 170 EUR. The examples use English function names and comma separators; account for the actual locale when entering them.

=SUMIFS(B2:B5,A2:A5,"North",C2:C5,"Open")

PlanMaker documents SUMIFS for adding values that meet several criteria together. The sum range and criteria ranges must have matching dimensions. The help also warns that saving to the old Microsoft Excel 97–2003 format can replace these calculations with fixed results. Agree a suitable current format when formulas must remain editable. SoftMaker on SUMIFS.

Use structured table references

Create a table named Records with an Amount column. A reference to the amount column is:

=SUM(Records[Amount])

The total across the four example records is 280 EUR. SoftMaker also describes references to data, headers, totals and the current row. Names can make the calculation easier to understand than arbitrary addresses. Similar notation alone does not establish complete compatibility across all special cases. SoftMaker on table references.

Check the behaviour needed after exchange

Save in the agreed format, open in the target application and verify both the 170 EUR conditional sum and the 280 EUR total. After adding an open North record worth 20 EUR, expect 190 EUR and 300 EUR. A fixed formula ending at row five needs expansion; for a table, verify that the new row was actually included.

Assess LET, LAMBDA and dynamic arrays for the specific PlanMaker release. This article does not infer support from resemblance to Microsoft Excel. Its review uses vendor documentation and independently calculated expected values, rather than claiming a native PlanMaker run. The series also covers Google Sheets, LibreOffice Calc and Apple Numbers.