From 5e91ce2ba2a97d17a005ec129f031259b2eaa1b5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: DIReports <dick@di-reports.com>
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2026 16:25:33 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Fix VLOOKUP #N/A with whole-column ranges when end column has
 no data
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

When resolving the end reference of a whole-column range (e.g. $A:$F),
getHighestDataRow($col) was called for the specific end column. If that
column contains no data it returns 1, producing an inverted range such as
A4:F1. This caused VLOOKUP and similar functions to return #N/A when the
formula used a whole-column reference across sheets where data only exists
in the left-hand columns.

Fix: call getHighestDataRow() without a column argument so the overall
highest data row across all columns is used for the end reference.

Reproducer:
  Sheet2!A:D has data in cols A–C only; $A:$F produced A4:F1 → #N/A.
  After fix: A1:F4 → VLOOKUP finds the value correctly.
---
 .../Calculation/Calculation.php               |  7 ++-
 .../Calculation/RowColumnReferenceTest.php    | 52 +++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 58 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Calculation/Calculation.php b/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Calculation/Calculation.php
index 7e6e18d3a..8dbc0233e 100644
--- a/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Calculation/Calculation.php
+++ b/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Calculation/Calculation.php
@@ -1544,7 +1544,12 @@ class Calculation extends CalculationLocale
                             } elseif (ctype_alpha($val) && strlen($val) <= 3) {
                                 //    Column range
                                 $stackItemType = 'Column Reference';
-                                $endRowColRef = ($refSheet !== null) ? $refSheet->getHighestDataRow($val) : AddressRange::MAX_ROW; //    Max 1,048,576 rows for Excel2007
+                                // Use getHighestDataRow() without a column argument so that the overall
+                                // highest row (across all columns) is used for the end reference.
+                                // Using getHighestDataRow($val) for the specific end column is incorrect
+                                // when that column contains no data: it returns 1, producing an inverted
+                                // range such as A4:F1 for whole-column references like $A:$F.
+                                $endRowColRef = ($refSheet !== null) ? $refSheet->getHighestDataRow() : AddressRange::MAX_ROW; //    Max 1,048,576 rows for Excel2007
                                 $val = "{$rangeWS2}{$val}{$endRowColRef}";
                             }
                             $stackItemReference = $val;
diff --git a/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Calculation/RowColumnReferenceTest.php b/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Calculation/RowColumnReferenceTest.php
index 1a1cfa88f..7b86463ef 100644
--- a/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Calculation/RowColumnReferenceTest.php
+++ b/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Calculation/RowColumnReferenceTest.php
@@ -35,6 +35,58 @@ class RowColumnReferenceTest extends TestCase
         $this->spreadSheet->setActiveSheetIndexByName('summary sheet');
     }
 
+    /**
+     * VLOOKUP with a whole-column range where the end column contains no data.
+     * getHighestDataRow() on the empty end column returned 1, producing an
+     * inverted range (e.g. A4:F1) that caused a #N/A result.
+     *
+     * @see https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/issues/XXXX
+     */
+    #[\PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\DataProvider('providerVlookupWholeColumnRange')]
+    public function testVlookupWholeColumnRange(string $formula, string $expectedResult): void
+    {
+        $spreadsheet = new Spreadsheet();
+
+        // Lookup sheet: col A = keys, col C = values; cols B, D, E, F are empty
+        $lookupSheet = new Worksheet($spreadsheet, 'Sheet2');
+        $spreadsheet->addSheet($lookupSheet, 0);
+        $lookupSheet->fromArray([
+            [1234, null, 'row1'],
+            [2345, null, 'row2'],
+            [3456, null, 'row3'],
+            [4567, null, 'row4'],
+        ], null, 'A1');
+
+        // Formula sheet: C1 holds the lookup value
+        $formulaSheet = new Worksheet($spreadsheet, 'Sheet1');
+        $spreadsheet->addSheet($formulaSheet, 1);
+        $formulaSheet->setCellValue('C1', 3456);
+        $formulaSheet->setCellValue('A1', $formula);
+        $spreadsheet->setActiveSheetIndexByName('Sheet1');
+
+        $result = $formulaSheet->getCell('A1')->getCalculatedValue();
+        self::assertSame($expectedResult, $result);
+        $spreadsheet->disconnectWorksheets();
+    }
+
+    public static function providerVlookupWholeColumnRange(): array
+    {
+        return [
+            'VLOOKUP with absolute whole-column range across sheets' => [
+                '=VLOOKUP($C1,Sheet2!$A:$F,3,FALSE)',
+                'row3',
+            ],
+            'VLOOKUP with relative whole-column range across sheets' => [
+                '=VLOOKUP($C1,Sheet2!A:F,3,FALSE)',
+                'row3',
+            ],
+            'VLOOKUP with mixed whole-column range across sheets' => [
+                '=VLOOKUP($C1,Sheet2!A:$F,3,FALSE)',
+                'row3',
+            ],
+        ];
+    }
+
     #[\PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\DataProvider('providerCurrentWorksheetFormulae')]
     public function testCurrentWorksheet(string $formula, float $expectedResult): void
     {