Fullproof autonumber with native Glide columns

[Tamara_Didenko]

If you ever use the Miracle method, you need sequential numbers all the time. Not to mention a myriad of other use cases. There are a few solutions floating around, but I’m not sure I’ve seen this one cited. At the same time, it is so stupidly simple, I can’t believe it took me so long to think of it. So it’s entirely possible it’s been posted somewhere and just reemerged for me while I was thinking of something else. If that’s the case and you’re the original author, please let me know. Don’t mean to steal anyone’s thunder

The setup

1. Create a Row ID column. It has unique values that are generated automatically, which we like/need
2. Lookup that entire column – no relation needed; we need all the values from the column.
   
   
3. Using the “Find element index” column, we search for “Row ID” values in the “lookup_row_id” array.
   
   

And THAT’S IT

Every new row will automatically have an index number associated with it. One caveat that can be both pro and con of this method: if you delete a row, no matter in which part of the table, it gets recalculated automatically.

Let me know if you have any questions! =)

[Uzo]

Yes, this method is mentioned multiple times ; -) We use an array index to get the number

[nathanaelb]

This method is a godsend, I learnt it from Darren, Jeff or Bob. It’s been shared in the forum a number of times but it doesn’t hurt to repeat it. Good post to link to, thanks.

I use this method so often that I wish we had a Row Index column.

[Uzo]

Yep… Glide already is numbering rows… They should give acces to that number, so we can save 3 columns

[Tamara_Didenko]

Amazing, I couldn’t believe it wasn’t mentioned before, but searching through this forum did not yield the expected results Well, unless admins think this is a waste of space, let it sit here for linking purposes

[nathanaelb]

Not a waste at all, on the contrary, it’s a useful post.

[Tamara_Didenko]

Found it!!!

How do I create an auto-incrementing row number with Glide Tables?

This is a question that comes up a lot, so creating this topic to use as a reference. Typically, there are two distinct use cases when it comes to auto-incrementing row numbers. Use Case 1: – We need to generate a Part Number, or an Order Number, or an Employee ID. Once the number is generated, it should never change, even if rows are deleted. – The general approach for this use case is to maintain a static counter, use it to craft a suitably formatted ID, and increment it by one every time…

[Darren_Murphy]

Actually, I believe the method was first described by @11183 in the below post:

RowID is great. Could REALLY use Row Number

RowID column Lookup to gather all rowIDs as an array Find Element Index column… Should I continue?) [image]

[Uzo]

BTW… just ONE column LOL!

[Eric_Penn]

1 column NO Java script

[David_Gabler]

@Eric_Penn

OK, I give up…

[Uzo]

One column JavaScript @Eric_Penn. no cheating like you LOL