count number of rows

Question

Level 3

859 points

count number of rows

is there a more elegant way to count the number of rows in a table. Only way I can think is to make a hidden column populated with the row numbers and then use a max function.

thanks

G5/dual 2.0, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Jan 25, 2008 5:38 PM

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Answer 1

NancyCh

Level 1

14 points

Feb 5, 2008 7:52 PM in response to NancyCh

Never mind, I just figured it out: =ROWS('Table1' :: D) returns the correct number of rows. Hopes this helps someone else!

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Answer 2

Ric Donato

Level 4

1,129 points

Jan 25, 2008 7:03 PM in response to John H

Hi John H,
Welcome to Numbers discussions.

If what you want to do is count number of rows use the =COUNT function.

Perhaps I've missed your meaning so if my intentions are incorrect please accept my apologies.

Sincerely,
RicD

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Answer 3

pw1840

Level 3

860 points

Jan 25, 2008 7:48 PM in response to John H

John,

Ric's suggestion is a good one. Just be sure you pick a column that must always contain an entry. In the silly little example below the budget item must be listed in every countable row. As you can see, the other columns contain no entries in some of the rows and their count is less than the actual number of rows. Also, be sure you are using the proper "count" function.

pw

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Answer 4

pw1840

Level 3

860 points

Jan 26, 2008 8:20 AM in response to John H

John,

I'm constantly trying to understand different situations with the chance that they may have some future application for me, so I ask that you pardon my curiosity: Why would you be interested in including blank rows in your count?

pw

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Answer 5

John H Author

Level 3

859 points

Jan 26, 2008 3:59 PM in response to pw1840

Thanks Yven - just the ticket.

PW your suggestion was useful as I didnt know about the COUNTA function.
I have a table that takes all it values via an Index calculation from a master table (selected by a check mark or number). As such it is possible to have more selected in the master list than rows are available in the View table. I can now add a warning that tells me more values have been selected than can be presented.

I actually have four tables each representing a song set list for a performance and the master table is the complete list of songs to choose from. The reality is the size of the table isnt likely to change so I probably could use a fixed value but I always like to be flexible.

The system works OK as I can drag the songs into different orders but gets a little messed up if I change the sort order of the master or add new entries. and if I decide a song needs to be in another set I have to go back to the master to change the cat code.

I often think this would be a good idea for a piece of software especially when touch pads and screen become more popular. There is a nice little list software that demoed the iPhone capabilites in this idea.

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Answer 6

NancyCh

Level 1

14 points

Feb 5, 2008 7:47 PM in response to pw1840

I have a similar problem: I have several tables, identical except each has a different number of rows. I'm creating a Summary table which enters the Sum of Column "D" from each table, but since the row number is different for each one I have to look up each table and manually enter the row number in the Summary. I'd like a quick way to do that. I found the function: ROWS(D:D) which returns the number of rows within a table but I don't know how to write the function to return the number from different tables (my guesses keep returning syntax errors). I'd be grateful if you could help with this (I'm new to Numbers).

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