In MS Word 2016 table, how to get the current row number using formula or field?

Question

In MS Word 2016 table, how to get the current row number using formula or field?

Mahmoud Ali 1

I have a table in MS Word 2016 document, I need to use field/formula to return the current row number. How to do that?

I found this article https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/use-a-formula-in-a-word-or-outlook-table-cbd0596e-ea8a-485e-a35d-b2cb2c4f3e27 which mentions the following:

To refer to… The row that contains the formula
…use this reference style --> R

Can anybody highlight how to use such a reference?

Note: The first column in the table has a field with sequence, so if the reference works I can get the value of that field.

This question is also posted here
what-is-the-equivalent-in-ms-word-for-row-function

Emi Zhang-MSFT 30,046 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2022-03-28T09:28:08.543+00:00

Hi @Mahmoud Ali ,
Just checking in to see if the information was helpful. Please let us know if you would like further assistance. If the response is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.
Peter Jamieson 116 Reputation points

2022-03-30T17:08:01.277+00:00

If your "field with sequence" n the first column is actually a { SEQ } field, e.g. { SEQ row }, then you might be able to get the row number from that, as long as you know the name of the SEQ sequence and how the SEQ field result relates to the row number in the Word table.

e.g. in the simplest case, if you have { SEQ row } in every row, you can use { SEQ row \c } to return the current row number. If you use { SEQ row } in every table you'll need a { SEQ row \r0 } before each table except the first, or a { SEQ row \r1 } in the first row of each table.

If you have one row of hearers, and the SEQ field numbers rows from 1 onwards after that, you would need to use something like { ={ SEQ row /c }+1 } to get the correct row number.

The documentation you reference is mainly wrong about RnCn style referencing. These days you can use an RnCn reference to reference a single cell with a numeric value, but that's about it. RnCn-style referencing isn't supported in the ISO29500 standards and that has been documented by Microsoft for a few years now in one of their standardisation documents.
Paul Edstein 571 Reputation points

2022-03-30T21:57:48.713+00:00

All that is covered in my Microsoft Word Field Maths Tutorial, in the Relative Referencing in Tables topic.
Peter Jamieson 116 Reputation points

2022-04-01T22:01:01.56+00:00

"All that is covered" ?

I don't think so.

Where's the coverage of the RnCn addressing issue, for example?
Mahmoud Ali 1 Reputation point

2022-04-03T17:10:59.577+00:00

Many thanks, Peter. Your answer is the best. I've tried { SEQ row \c } and it solved my issue.

2 answers

Your answer

Emi Zhang-MSFT 30,046 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2022-03-28T09:28:08.543+00:00

Hi @Mahmoud Ali ,
Just checking in to see if the information was helpful. Please let us know if you would like further assistance. If the response is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.
Peter Jamieson 116 Reputation points

2022-03-30T17:08:01.277+00:00

If your "field with sequence" n the first column is actually a { SEQ } field, e.g. { SEQ row }, then you might be able to get the row number from that, as long as you know the name of the SEQ sequence and how the SEQ field result relates to the row number in the Word table.

e.g. in the simplest case, if you have { SEQ row } in every row, you can use { SEQ row \c } to return the current row number. If you use { SEQ row } in every table you'll need a { SEQ row \r0 } before each table except the first, or a { SEQ row \r1 } in the first row of each table.

If you have one row of hearers, and the SEQ field numbers rows from 1 onwards after that, you would need to use something like { ={ SEQ row /c }+1 } to get the correct row number.

The documentation you reference is mainly wrong about RnCn style referencing. These days you can use an RnCn reference to reference a single cell with a numeric value, but that's about it. RnCn-style referencing isn't supported in the ISO29500 standards and that has been documented by Microsoft for a few years now in one of their standardisation documents.
Paul Edstein 571 Reputation points

2022-03-30T21:57:48.713+00:00

All that is covered in my Microsoft Word Field Maths Tutorial, in the Relative Referencing in Tables topic.
Peter Jamieson 116 Reputation points

2022-04-01T22:01:01.56+00:00

"All that is covered" ?

I don't think so.

Where's the coverage of the RnCn addressing issue, for example?
Mahmoud Ali 1 Reputation point

2022-04-03T17:10:59.577+00:00

Many thanks, Peter. Your answer is the best. I've tried { SEQ row \c } and it solved my issue.

Answer 1

John Korchok 6,416 Volunteer Moderator

That would be possible with a VBA macro. I'm not aware of any field or formula that would be able to calculate the row number.

Mahmoud Ali 1 Reputation point

2022-03-26T15:45:33.647+00:00

Thanks, John

Answer 2

Paul Edstein 571

As I told you at StackOverflow before you posted here: Word has nothing like Excel's Row() function. Perhaps you need to embed an Excel worksheet in your document. Alternatively, to see how to do a wide range of calculations in Word, check out my Microsoft Word Field Maths Tutorial, at: https://www.msofficeforums.com/word/38720-microsoft-word-field-maths-tutorial.html or http://www.gmayor.com/downloads.htm#Third_party

Mahmoud Ali 1 Reputation point

2022-03-28T12:14:44.463+00:00

Thanks, Paul

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In MS Word 2016 table, how to get the current row number using formula or field?

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