Description:
The example given in the helpfile does not match the definition.
Most people see the example as the one to be followed.
In this case, the result of believing the helpfile example can be very subtle but significant.
As I know to my cost in time and energy!

Consider the array D:D  as 199,200,200,200,201 ....   (no further entries)

The help file for MATCH says:-
'If Type = 1 or the third parameter is omitted, the index of the last value that is smaller than or equal to the search criterion is returned.'

 so =MATCH(200;  D:D) will  give the value 4    
  THIS IS CORRECT

BUT consider the example given

'=MATCH(200;D1:D100) searches the area D1:D100, which is sorted by column D, for the value 200. As soon as this value is reached, the number of the row in which it was found is returned.'

According to this example, =MATCH(3: D:D) will stop when it finds the criterion '200' and return the row number 2.

This example is wrong!

The error becomes a problem when, for instance, looking for a particular date when there are multiple records for each date. 
FURTHER ERROR   The statement says 'which is sorted by column D'
                It is not necessary for the column to be sorted by Column D. In fact, it can be in ANY order according to the definition.


Steps to Reproduce:
1.Create a sheet with D:D as stated
2.In a cell (eg A1), enter    =MATCH(200;D:D)
3.Note that the answer (4) is correct according to the definition
4. Check that the example would give the number 2
5. Correct the wording.
    Note that the correct wording should also cope with the situation when there are several 200 values randomly placed

Actual Results:
as stated

Expected Results:
as stated


Reproducible: Always


User Profile Reset: No

Additional Info:
[Information automatically included from LibreOffice]
Locale: en-GB
Module: SpreadsheetDocument
[Information guessed from browser]
OS: Windows (All)
OS is 64bit:yes

MATCH
Returns the relative position of an item in an array that matches a specified value. The function returns the position of the value found in the lookup_array as a number.
Syntax
MATCH(SearchCriterion; LookupArray; Type)
SearchCriterion is the value which is to be searched for in the single-row or single-column array.
LookupArray is the reference searched. A lookup array can be a single row or column, or part of a single row or column.
Type may take the values 1, 0, or -1. If Type = 1 or if this optional parameter is omitted, it is assumed that the first column of the search array is sorted in ascending order. If Type = -1 it is assumed that the column is sorted in descending order. This corresponds to the same function in Microsoft Excel.
If Type = 0, only exact matches are found. If the search criterion is found more than once, the function returns the index of the first matching value. Only if Type = 0 can you search for regular expressions (if enabled in calculation options) or wildcards (if enabled in calculation options).
If Type = 1 or the third parameter is omitted, the index of the last value that is smaller than or equal to the search criterion is returned. This applies even when the search array is not sorted. For Type = -1, the index of the first value that is larger than or equal is returned.
The search supports regular expressions. You can enter "all.*", for example to find the first location of "all" followed by any characters. If you want to search for a text string that is also a regular expression, you must precede every character with a \ character. You can switch the automatic evaluation of regular expression on and off in Tools - Options - LibreOffice Calc - Calculate.
Example
=MATCH(200;D1:D100) searches the area D1:D100, which is sorted by column D, for the value 200. As soon as this value is reached, the number of the row in which it was found is returned. If a higher value is found during the search in the column, the number of the previous row is returned.