{ "category": "Lookup and reference functions", "display_name": "VSTACK", "entry_kind": "built_in_function", "eval_api": { "method": "POST", "url": "https://handbook.dnacalc.com/api/eval" }, "function_id": "FUNC.VSTACK", "implementation_state": { "answer_bank": null, "detail": "Recorded: 12 workbook cells.", "dnacalc_commit": "9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87", "in_catalogue": true, "state": "matches", "state_label": "Matches every recorded Excel answer", "summary": "Matches all 12 recorded answers", "workbook_corpus": { "cells": 12, "matched": 12 } }, "implementations": [ { "commit": "9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87", "flavour": "excel-compatibility-candidate", "language": "Rust", "name": "CalcFunc", "own_code": [ "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc/blob/9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87/crates/calc-func/src/catalogue/arrays.rs#L666-L670", "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc/blob/9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87/crates/calc-func/src/ported/dynamic_array_reshape_family.rs#L528-L548" ], "repository": "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc", "shared_code": [ "catalogue/arrays::prepared", "catalogue/arrays::prepared_one", "catalogue/arrays::result", "catalogue/arrays::run", "ported/dynamic_array_reshape_family::shape", "ported/dynamic_array_reshape_family::get", "ported/dynamic_array_reshape_family::build_array", "ported/dynamic_array_reshape_family::map_dynamic_array_reshape_error_to_ws" ], "source": "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc/blob/9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87/crates/calc-func/src/catalogue/arrays.rs#L666-L670", "state": "matches", "suite": null, "summary": "Matches all 12 recorded answers" } ], "json_url": "https://handbook.dnacalc.com/api/functions/FUNC.VSTACK.json", "name": "VSTACK", "notes": [ { "basis": "27 recorded readings in dynamic-array Excel, each with size observers.", "documentation": null, "evidence": [ { "commit": "2d0eddcac86413014643af81d646581d54ba57bc", "locator": "scalar_errors_keep_their_array_argument_origins", "note": "recorded readings pinned", "path": "apps/dna-onecalc/tests/acceptance.rs", "repository": "DnaCalc" }, { "commit": "2d0eddcac86413014643af81d646581d54ba57bc", "locator": "sheets fn2_q001 to fn2_q007, fn2_q031 to fn2_q042, fn2_q232 to fn2_q239", "note": "recorded readings", "path": "crates/calc-func/tests/captures/fn2_questions/oracle.capture.json", "repository": "DnaCalc" } ], "functions": [ "FUNC.BYCOL", "FUNC.BYROW", "FUNC.EXPAND", "FUNC.HSTACK", "FUNC.MAP", "FUNC.TAKE", "FUNC.TOCOL", "FUNC.TOROW", "FUNC.VSTACK" ], "inferred": null, "kind": "quirk", "note_id": "FN-HSTACK-001", "open": [ "Competing errors in later positions have not been read in a published capture." ], "recorded_on": "2026-11-04", "repros": [ { "call": "=HSTACK(1,#VALUE!)", "correct": null, "excel": { "bits": null, "display": "#VALUE!", "kind": "error" }, "input_route": "formula-literal", "inputs": [], "recorded_in": "Excel 16.0.20527.20088 Current Channel, Windows 64-bit (NT 10.0.26200), x86-64, AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, en-ZA", "source": { "commit": "2d0eddcac86413014643af81d646581d54ba57bc", "locator": "sheet fn2_q004, row 20, column 10", "note": null, "path": "crates/calc-func/tests/captures/fn2_questions/oracle.capture.json", "repository": "DnaCalc" } }, { "call": "=TAKE(#N/A,0)", "correct": null, "excel": { "bits": null, "display": "#N/A", "kind": "error" }, "input_route": "formula-literal", "inputs": [], "recorded_in": "Excel 16.0.20527.20088 Current Channel, Windows 64-bit (NT 10.0.26200), x86-64, AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, en-ZA", "source": { "commit": "2d0eddcac86413014643af81d646581d54ba57bc", "locator": "sheet fn2_q232, row 20, column 10", "note": null, "path": "crates/calc-func/tests/captures/fn2_questions/oracle.capture.json", "repository": "DnaCalc" } }, { "call": "=MAP(NA(),LAMBDA(xx,IFERROR(xx,3)))", "correct": null, "excel": { "bits": null, "display": "#N/A", "kind": "error" }, "input_route": "formula-literal", "inputs": [], "recorded_in": "Excel 16.0.20527.20088 Current Channel, Windows 64-bit (NT 10.0.26200), x86-64, AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, en-ZA", "source": { "commit": "2d0eddcac86413014643af81d646581d54ba57bc", "locator": "sheet fn2_q031, row 20, column 10", "note": null, "path": "crates/calc-func/tests/captures/fn2_questions/oracle.capture.json", "repository": "DnaCalc" } }, { "call": "=MAP({#N/A},LAMBDA(xx,3))", "correct": null, "excel": { "bits": "0x4008000000000000", "display": "3", "kind": "number" }, "input_route": "formula-literal", "inputs": [], "recorded_in": "Excel 16.0.20527.20088 Current Channel, Windows 64-bit (NT 10.0.26200), x86-64, AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, en-ZA", "source": { "commit": "2d0eddcac86413014643af81d646581d54ba57bc", "locator": "sheet fn2_q032, row 20, column 10", "note": null, "path": "crates/calc-func/tests/captures/fn2_questions/oracle.capture.json", "repository": "DnaCalc" } }, { "call": "=HSTACK(Data!C1,{1;2})", "correct": null, "excel": { "bits": null, "display": "{#N/A,1;#N/A,2}", "kind": "array" }, "input_route": "cell-value2", "inputs": [ { "name": "Data!C1", "value": { "bits": null, "display": "#N/A", "kind": "error" } } ], "recorded_in": "Excel 16.0.20527.20088 Current Channel, Windows 64-bit (NT 10.0.26200), x86-64, AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, en-ZA", "source": { "commit": "2d0eddcac86413014643af81d646581d54ba57bc", "locator": "sheet fn2_q238, row 20, column 10", "note": null, "path": "crates/calc-func/tests/captures/fn2_questions/oracle.capture.json", "repository": "DnaCalc" } }, { "call": "=TOCOL(#N/A,2)", "correct": null, "excel": { "bits": null, "display": "#N/A", "kind": "error" }, "input_route": "formula-literal", "inputs": [], "recorded_in": "Excel 16.0.20527.20088 Current Channel, Windows 64-bit (NT 10.0.26200), x86-64, AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, en-ZA", "source": { "commit": "2d0eddcac86413014643af81d646581d54ba57bc", "locator": "sheet fn2_q233, row 20, column 10", "note": null, "path": "crates/calc-func/tests/captures/fn2_questions/oracle.capture.json", "repository": "DnaCalc" } }, { "call": "=TOCOL({#N/A},2)", "correct": null, "excel": { "bits": null, "display": "#CALC!", "kind": "error" }, "input_route": "formula-literal", "inputs": [], "recorded_in": "Excel 16.0.20527.20088 Current Channel, Windows 64-bit (NT 10.0.26200), x86-64, AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, en-ZA", "source": { "commit": "2d0eddcac86413014643af81d646581d54ba57bc", "locator": "sheet fn2_q234, row 20, column 10", "note": null, "path": "crates/calc-func/tests/captures/fn2_questions/oracle.capture.json", "repository": "DnaCalc" } }, { "call": "=EXPAND(Data!C1,2,2,\"pad\")", "correct": null, "excel": { "bits": null, "display": "#N/A", "kind": "error" }, "input_route": "cell-value2", "inputs": [ { "name": "Data!C1", "value": { "bits": null, "display": "#N/A", "kind": "error" } } ], "recorded_in": "Excel 16.0.20527.20088 Current Channel, Windows 64-bit (NT 10.0.26200), x86-64, AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, en-ZA", "source": { "commit": "2d0eddcac86413014643af81d646581d54ba57bc", "locator": "sheet fn2_q237, row 20, column 10", "note": null, "path": "crates/calc-func/tests/captures/fn2_questions/oracle.capture.json", "repository": "DnaCalc" } }, { "call": "=BYROW(#N/A,#VALUE!)", "correct": null, "excel": { "bits": null, "display": "#N/A", "kind": "error" }, "input_route": "formula-literal", "inputs": [], "recorded_in": "Excel 16.0.20527.20088 Current Channel, Windows 64-bit (NT 10.0.26200), x86-64, AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, en-ZA", "source": { "commit": "2d0eddcac86413014643af81d646581d54ba57bc", "locator": "sheet fn2_q040, row 20, column 10", "note": null, "path": "crates/calc-func/tests/captures/fn2_questions/oracle.capture.json", "repository": "DnaCalc" } }, { "call": "=BYROW({#N/A},2)", "correct": null, "excel": { "bits": null, "display": "#VALUE!", "kind": "error" }, "input_route": "formula-literal", "inputs": [], "recorded_in": "Excel 16.0.20527.20088 Current Channel, Windows 64-bit (NT 10.0.26200), x86-64, AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, en-ZA", "source": { "commit": "2d0eddcac86413014643af81d646581d54ba57bc", "locator": "sheet fn2_q038, row 20, column 10", "note": null, "path": "crates/calc-func/tests/captures/fn2_questions/oracle.capture.json", "repository": "DnaCalc" } } ], "schema": "efh.function-note/v1", "statement": "An error written directly as an argument of these functions is the answer for the whole call. It is not placed in the result: HSTACK(1,#VALUE!) is #VALUE!, not a row holding 1 and an error, and TAKE(#N/A,0) is #N/A. With MAP the LAMBDA does not run at all: MAP(NA(),LAMBDA(xx,IFERROR(xx,3))) is #N/A. The same error inside an array, or in a referenced cell, is an ordinary element: MAP({#N/A},LAMBDA(xx,3)) is 3, and HSTACK(Data!C1,{1;2}) with #N/A in Data!C1 is a 2 by 2 array with #N/A in its first column. TOCOL and TOROW show the difference with ignore 2: TOCOL(#N/A,2) is #N/A, while TOCOL({#N/A},2) drops the error, has nothing left, and is #CALC!. EXPAND is an exception on the cell side: EXPAND(Data!C1,2,2,\"pad\") is #N/A for the whole call. BYROW and BYCOL check the direct error first too: BYROW(#N/A,#VALUE!) is #N/A, while BYROW({#N/A},2), where 2 is not a LAMBDA, is #VALUE!.", "status": "measured", "title": "A direct error stops these array functions; the same error in an array or cell is an element" } ], "schema": "efh.function-reference/v1", "section_order": [ "what-it-does", "try-it", "quirks", "how-to-implement", "version-differences", "alternatives" ], "sections": { "alternatives": "\n### Relationships\n\n\n- **`HSTACK`** is the horizontal twin: columns sum, rows take the maximum, and short arrays are\n padded **below** with `#N/A`. The two are exact transposes of each other, and\n `TRANSPOSE(VSTACK(TRANSPOSE(a), TRANSPOSE(b)))` is `HSTACK(a, b)`.\n- **`TOCOL` / `TOROW`** flatten an array into one vector; `VSTACK` preserves two-dimensional\n structure. Stacking single-column arrays with `VSTACK` and flattening with `TOCOL` produce\n different things whenever the inputs are wider than one column.\n- **`WRAPROWS` / `WRAPCOLS`** are the inverse direction: one vector to a rectangle.\n- **`EXPAND`** pads a single array to a given size with a chosen filler, which is the explicit\n form of what `VSTACK` does implicitly.\n- The array literal `{1,2;3,4}` and the `;` row separator are the static equivalents.\n\n\n", "how-to-implement": "\n### Notes for implementers\n\n- Compute the target width first, then copy; the padding must be materialized, not implied,\n because the result is a dense rectangular array.\n- The pad value is `#N/A` specifically, not a generic error and not a blank. An implementation\n that pads with empty produces a result that looks right and sums differently.\n- Argument order defines row order. Stacking is not commutative.\n- The result of stacking a large number of arguments is the natural place for an array-size\n limit check; the limit is a host property, not a kernel property.\n\n\n", "quirks": "\n### Result and edge cases\n\n\nThe return kind is an array, spilled.\n\n- **Single argument.** `VSTACK(A)` returns `A`. It is a legal, if pointless, call, and it is a\n useful shape probe.\n- **Scalars.** A scalar argument behaves as a 1×1 array and contributes one row.\n- **The `#N/A` padding is part of the value**, not a display artifact: it participates in\n downstream arithmetic and comparisons exactly as any `#N/A` does.\n- **Error values inside the inputs** are carried through unchanged. `VSTACK` moves values; it\n does not inspect them. An error written directly as an argument is different: it is the answer\n for the whole call (FN-HSTACK-001).\n- **Very large results** hit the grid and the array-size limits; the documentation for adjacent\n reshaping functions names `#NUM!` for oversized arrays, and whether `VSTACK` uses the same\n outcome is not something the Handbook has verified.\n- Dynamic-array publication and `#SPILL!` are host-side adaptation, described in\n [the call pipeline](../model/03-call-pipeline.md).\n\n\n\n### Errors\n\n\nThe `#N/A` values in the padded region are documented as the *expected result* of stacking\nunequal widths, not as a failure — an important distinction for anyone writing a test oracle:\na result containing `#N/A` is not necessarily an error case.\n\nMicrosoft's page documents no error return for `VSTACK` itself beyond that padding, and\nsuggests `IFERROR` as the mitigation. `#SPILL!` arises at publication when the result cannot be\nplaced.\n\n\n", "sources": "- Microsoft, *VSTACK function* —\n \n (syntax, the sum-of-rows / max-of-columns result dimensions, the `#N/A` padding for narrower\n arrays, and the `IFERROR` mitigation). Retrieved for this page.\n- Handbook `content/model/01-value-universe.md` and `content/model/03-call-pipeline.md`.\n- Handbook `data/functions/FUNC.VSTACK.json` (signature, arity, classification axes).\n\n", "version-differences": "No comparison between specific Excel builds is recorded here yet. This does not establish that all builds behave alike.", "what-it-does": "\n`VSTACK` concatenates its array arguments **vertically**, in argument order.\n\nGiven arrays `A₁ … A_p` with dimensions `m₁ × n₁ … m_p × n_p`, the result has\n\n- **rows** `m₁ + m₂ + … + m_p` — the sum,\n- **columns** `max(n₁, …, n_p)` — the maximum,\n\nwith `A_k`'s rows appearing in order, starting at result row `m₁ + … + m_{k-1} + 1`.\n\nThe interesting part is the second dimension. Stacking arrays of unequal width is not an error\nand not a truncation: **the narrow arrays are padded on the right with `#N/A`**. That choice is\nworth pausing on. Excel could have refused, or padded with blanks, or padded with zeros. It\npads with an error value, which means the padding is *self-announcing* — it shows up in the\nresult rather than blending into it, and it propagates through arithmetic instead of quietly\ncontributing `0`.\n\nThe practical consequence is the idiom Microsoft itself recommends: wrap the call in `IFERROR`\nto substitute your own filler. That works, and it also silently swallows any genuine `#N/A`\nthat came from the data. Whether that trade is acceptable is the caller's decision, and it is\nworth making consciously.\n\n\n\n### Arguments\n\nThere are no option flags. `VSTACK` has exactly one behaviour, which is unusual in this family\nand makes it easy to reason about.\n\nThe position most often misunderstood is not an argument at all but the *shape contract*: many\nreaders expect `VSTACK` to require equal widths, discover that it does not, and only later find\nthe `#N/A` padding in the corner of a wide result. There is no argument that turns the padding\noff.\n\n\n" }, "signature": { "display": "VSTACK(array1, [array2], ...)", "parameters": [ { "description": null, "name": "array1", "optional": false, "repeats": false }, { "description": null, "name": "array2", "optional": true, "repeats": true } ], "trailing_repeats": true }, "sources": { "metadata": { "admission": { "label": "implemented", "reason": null }, "arity": { "max": 254, "min": 1 }, "category": "Lookup and reference functions", "classification": { "arg_preparation_profile": "ValuesOnlyPreAdapter", "coercion_lift_profile": "Custom", "determinism_class": "Deterministic", "error_collapse_profile": "None", "fec_dependency_profile": "None", "host_interaction_class": "None", "kernel_signature_class": "Custom", "rich_value_usage": "RichBlind", "surface_fec_dependency_profile": "RefOnly", "thread_safety_class": "SafePure", "volatility_class": "NonVolatile" }, "descriptions": { "long": null, "short": "Arrays placed one above another into one array", "short_source": "dna-calc-own" }, "docs": { "english_description": "Appends arrays vertically and in sequence to return a larger array", "microsoft_url": "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vstack-function-a4b86897-be0f-48fc-adca-fcc10d795a9c" }, "entry_kind": "built_in_function", "localized_family_names": null, "localized_names": [ { "locale": "ar-SA", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "bg-BG", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "cs-CZ", "name": "SROVNAT.SVISLE" }, { "locale": "da-DK", "name": "LSTAK" }, { "locale": "de-DE", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "el-GR", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "en-AU", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "en-GB", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "en-US", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "es-ES", "name": "APILARV" }, { "locale": "et-EE", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "fi-FI", "name": "VPINO" }, { "locale": "fr-FR", "name": "ASSEMB.V*" }, { "locale": "he-IL", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "hr-HR", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "hu-HU", "name": "FÜGG.HALMOZÁS" }, { "locale": "id-ID", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "it-IT", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "ja-JP", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "ko-KR", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "lt-LT", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "lv-LV", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "nb-NO", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "nl-NL", "name": "VERT.STAPELEN" }, { "locale": "pl-PL", "name": "STOS.PION" }, { "locale": "pt-BR", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "pt-PT", "name": "JUNTARV" }, { "locale": "ro-RO", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "ru-RU", "name": "ВСТОЛБИК" }, { "locale": "sk-SK", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "sl-SI", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "sr-Latn-RS", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "sv-SE", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "th-TH", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "tr-TR", "name": "DÜŞEYYIĞ" }, { "locale": "uk-UA", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "vi-VN", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "zh-CN", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "zh-HK", "name": "VSTACK" }, { "locale": "zh-TW", "name": "VSTACK" } ], "signature": { "display": "VSTACK(array1, [array2], ...)", "parameters": [ { "description": null, "name": "array1", "optional": false, "repeats": false }, { "description": null, "name": "array2", "optional": true, "repeats": true } ], "trailing_repeats": true }, "surface_name": "VSTACK", "version_marker": null, "xlcall": null }, "microsoft": "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vstack-function-a4b86897-be0f-48fc-adca-fcc10d795a9c" }, "try_it": { "formula": "=VSTACK({1,2},{3,4})" }, "url": "https://handbook.dnacalc.com/functions/VSTACK.html", "variants": [], "versions": [] }