cell
Selects a cell from a table.
The return value is a table region. Studio prints the value in the selected cell; however, the return value is the cell object rather than the value itself. To get the value, use cell and value together.
Note
Available in "Describe the Table" and "Describe Row in Context" projects only.
Parameters
ROW NAME(string)
The row name.
COLUMN NAME(string, column)
The column. Either a column name (string) or column variable.
Examples
Assume a "Describe the Table" project with this data:
Branch | Manager | Sales | COGS | otherExp | Profit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Row 1 | Aberdeen | Andrew Gray | 14,000 | 8,000 | 1,500 | 4,500 |
Row 2 | Edinburgh | Emma Moore | 33,000 | 19,000 | 3,500 | 10,500 |
Row 3 | Inverness | Linda Barclay | 16,000 | 8,250 | 1,500 | 6,250 |
Row 4 | Glasgow | Louise Scott | 32,500 | 17,750 | 1,700 | 13,050 |
You can give the row and column names as strings.
ATL in Script | Result |
|---|---|
| 14,000 |
| 8,250 |
You can give a column variable instead of a column name (string).
ATL in Script | Result |
|---|---|
| 14,000 |
| 8,250 |
Note
In a "Describe Row in Context" project, the column variables are SalesColumn and COGSColumn.
The first parameter can take any ATL expression that returns a row name.
ATL in Script | Result |
|---|---|
| Emma Moore |
This ATL returns the name of the manager for the branch with the highest Sales figure.
Note that rowNames(max(Sales)) returns the row name for the cell with the highest Sales value.
Note
In a "Describe Row in Context" project, the column variables are SalesColumn and ManagerColumn.
Using cell and value to test data types
Suppose you use the cell function to select a cell in a "Describe the Table" or "Describe Row in Context" project. Although the returned printed value may look like a number, the cell function returns a cell, not a number or string.
To return the value of the cell, you can use cell and value together.
Important
Using cell and value together will return the cell's value with a data type of string. This is because the underlying CSV data in a table region is string data. If you want to convert this to an actual number, you can use the asNumber function.
This means that the result of using value with a cell is always a string.
Assuming the same "Describe the Table" project as above, Sales are printed as numbers but are returned as strings.
ATL in Script | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 14,000 | The value of the cell is displayed. |
| false | The Sales figure is returned as a string, not a number. |
| true | The Sales figure is a string. |
