Why doesn't RANK(1,{2,1}) work?

[joeu2004]

I am using Office Excel 2003. According to the offline Help page, the
second argument of RANK() is (emphasis added): "an __array__ of, or a
reference to, a list of numbers". So why does the following result in
a syntax error?

=rank(1, {2,1})

Isn't {2,1} "an array of" a list of numbers?

Obviously, I can work around this by putting 2 and 1 into B1:B2, for
example, and using =RANK(1,B1:B2). But that is "a reference to" a
list of numbers.

 

[Harlan Grove]

I am using Office Excel 2003. According to the offline Help page, the
second argument of RANK() is (emphasis added): "an __array__ of, or a
reference to, a list of numbers". So why does the following result in
a syntax error?

=rank(1, {2,1})

....

Long-standing error in Excel's help files. One of many. A cynic might
think Microsoft's apparent lack of interest in fixing this might have
something to do with their overwhelming market share.

 

[joeu2004]

Long-standing error in Excel's help files. One of many. A cynic
might think Microsoft's apparent lack of interest in fixing this
might have something to do with their overwhelming market share.

Thanks. Exactly the answer I expected, cynical comment and all ;-).