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I examined their functionality in categories meant to reflect the majority of office users' needs:

• list-making and display
• functions
• formulas
• formatting
• charts
• computational speed

In each category, I examined functionality and ease of use. The results present a more complex, less static, and less well-ordered state of affairs than popular opinion would lead me to expect.

List-making and displaying

Filtering and sorting are two basic functions for lists in spreadsheets. Filtering determines which cells are displayed, sorting the order they in which they are displayed.

For filtering, Calc and Gnumeric offer similar functionality, giving a choice of filters that are a combo box (auto), listed elsewhere on the sheet (advanced), or defined (standard in Calc, or custom in Gnumeric). Custom filters, however, are available in Gnumeric only from the combo box of an auto filter. KSpread, surprisingly, does not seem to have any filtering at all, nor does it have any sorting capacity beyond arranging cells in ascending (A-Z) or descending (Z-A) order. By contrast, both Calc and Gnumeric allow sorting by multiple column criteria. Each offers three sort criteria by default, but more can be added in Gnumeric. Both also allow case sensitivity in sorting, and Calc offers additional options such as the recognition of column labels to keep them from being part of the sort, custom sorts based on pre-defined fills, and the language of the cells to use in the sort.

All three programs have automatic cell filling, which detects a pattern in cell data such as the days of the week or an incremental pattern in numbers, then uses the pattern to fill other cells when you drag on the lower right corner of the first cell. In Calc and KSpread, you can define fills and add them to the patterns that the program can detect -- a feature especially useful when creating templates. In addition, KSpread has a Series tool in the Insert menu which can be used to define numerical patterns. Gnumeric, though, not only does not allow custom fills to be defined, but recognizes fill patterns only when functions are used.

All three programs let you hide rows or columns, so that non-adjacent data can be viewed together or irrelevant data removed from view. Calc and Gnumeric also have outline tools, which group individual cells together for hiding and revealing by means of buttons in the top or left margins. Other tools for manipulating spreadsheet display in Calc and Gnumeric include the option to freeze a row or column so that it is unaffected by scrolling. Calc can also split the screen to provide multiple panes, each with its own scrolling bars.

Verdict: While each program has features for list-making that the others lack, Calc has the widest range of features and the most options. By contrast, KSpread has yet to pay much attention to list-making as one of the main uses of spreadsheets.

Basic function tools

For intermediate and advanced users, functions are the most important features in a spreadsheet. You can get some idea of how developed each spreadsheet is simply by counting the functions available. My count was 368 for Calc, 311 for KSpread, and 464 for Gnumeric. However, numbers do not tell the entire story. For one thing, all three spreadsheets are more than adequate for the majority of users, who need little except simple arithmetic and possibly basic statistical functions such as averages and medians. It is mostly high-end users who might miss the inclusion of other functions. And, for another thing, how functions are entered and what tools support them can be just as important as the functions themselves.

In addition to an input line below the toolbars, all three spreadsheets offer graphical tools for adding a function to a cell. In fact, Calc offers two: The Function List, a floating tool bar that docks on the right side of the editing window and provides a summary of functions, and the Function Wizard dialog. Most people are likely to opt for the Function Wizard, which guides users through the process of building each function, and lets them know whether each parameter entered is valid before they apply a formula. Conveniently, the Function Wizard also scrolls up so that users can select cell ranges from the spreadsheet itself.

Unfortunately, Calc's Function Wizard has a number of weaknesses. When a user makes a mistake, the program reports error codes rather than explanations of exactly what is wrong with the input. Similarly, the help available is frequently too concise. Admittedly, more detailed information is available in OpenOffice.org's help utility, but for new users especially, even this help may not be enough. Nor does Calc mention which functions are compatible with Microsoft Excel, a concern that many users may have.

In comparison, both Gnumeric's Function Selector and KSpread's Functions window have more detailed help built-in, including examples and notes on Excel compatibility. Both also give some help in entering parameters, although in both cases it is less detailed than in Calc, and does not pre-warn about errors. Moreover, Gnumeric's Function Selector window does not scroll automatically to allow cell selection, while whether KSpread's Function window does depends on the window manager rather than the spreadsheet program.

All three spreadsheets divide functions into categories to make them easier to find. Gnumeric and Calc both maintain separate lists of recently used functions. Although all the categories are similar, Gnumeric's categories are the most useful, mainly because there are 16, compared to the other programs' 12. The extra categories may not seem like much, but they are enough to make tracking down functions easier. To a greater or lesser extent, all categories in all the spreadsheets seem based on Excel's.

Verdict: This category is close, with none of the programs winning in all aspects. Gnumeric, however, takes the top spot because, while its Function Selector is not quite as handy as Calc's Function Wizard, its help, function categories, and sheer number of functions surpasses Calc. KSpread is in the third spot.

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