How to Use IF to Assign Row Number as Variable in Excel

In Excel, you can use the IF function to perform a logical test and return one value if the test is true, and another value if the test is false. For example, =IF (A1>10, "Yes", "No") will return “Yes” if the value in cell A1 is greater than 10, and “No” otherwise.

You can also use the IF function to assign a variable value based on a condition. For example, =IF (B1="", 1, B1+1) will assign 1 to the variable if cell B1 is blank, and the value of B1 plus 1 otherwise.

One common use case of assigning a variable value using IF is to find the row number of the next empty row in a table or a range. This can be useful when you want to insert new data or perform calculations based on the last row of data.

Procedures

To find the row number of the next empty row in a table or a range using IF, you can use the following steps:

1. Select a cell in the column where you want to find the next empty row. For example, if your table or range is in column C, select any cell in column C.
2. Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Down arrow to go to the last cell with data in that column. For example, if your last row of data is in C8, you will go to C8.
3. Use the Offset property to move one row down from the last cell with data. For example, Range ("C8").Offset (1, 0) will refer to cell C9, which is one row below C8.
4. Use the Row property to get the row number of the cell. For example, Range ("C8").Offset (1, 0).Row will return 9, which is the row number of C9.
5. Assign the row number to a variable using the IF function. For example, rownum = IF (C9="", 9, C9) will assign 9 to the variable rownum if C9 is blank, and the value of C9 otherwise.
6. Use the variable rownum in your formulas or macros as needed.

Explanation

The following example will illustrate how to use the IF function to set the row number as variable using a scenario with real numbers.

Suppose you have a table of sales data in column C, and you want to insert a new row of data at the bottom of the table. You also want to calculate the total sales and the average sales per row using formulas in column D and E.

Here is how your table looks like before inserting the new row:

To find the row number of the next empty row in column C, you can use the following steps:

1. Select any cell in column C, such as C2.
2. Press Ctrl+Down arrow to go to the last cell with data in column C, which is C6.
3. Use the Offset property to move one row down from C6, which is C7.
4. Use the Row property to get the row number of C7, which is 7.
5. Assign the row number to a variable using the IF function. For example, rownum = IF (C7="", 7, C7) will assign 7 to the variable rownum if C7 is blank, and the value of C7 otherwise. In this case, C7 is blank, so rownum is 7.

Now you can use the variable rownum to insert a new row of data at the bottom of the table. For example, you can use the following VBA code to insert a new row and enter the sales value of 600 in cell C7:

Sub InsertNewRow ()
    Dim rownum As Long
    'Find row number of next empty row in column C
    Range ("C2").Select
    rownum = Range ("C2").End (xlDown).Offset (1, 0).Row
    rownum = IF (Range ("C" & rownum)="", rownum, Range ("C" & rownum))
    'Insert a new row and enter sales value of 600 in column C
    Rows (rownum).Insert
    Range ("C" & rownum) = 600
End Sub

After running the code, your table will look like this:

You can also use the variable rownum to calculate the total sales and the average sales per row using formulas in column D and E. For example, you can use the following formulas in cell D7 and E7, and copy them down to the rest of the table:

• D7: =SUM ($C$2:C7)
• E7: =AVERAGE ($C$2:C7)

The formulas will use the variable rownum to refer to the last row of data in column C, and calculate the sum and the average of the sales values from row 2 to rownum. For example, in cell D7, the formula will be =SUM ($C$2:C7), which will return 2100, the sum of the sales values from C2 to C7. In cell E7, the formula will be =AVERAGE ($C$2:C7), which will return 350, the average of the sales values from C2 to C7.

Other approaches

There are other ways to set the row number as variable using IF in Excel, such as using the COUNTA function, the INDEX function, or the ROWS function. Here are some examples of how to use these functions to find the row number of the next empty row in column C:

• Using COUNTA: rownum = IF (COUNTA (C:C)=0, 2, COUNTA (C:C)+1)
• Using INDEX: rownum = IF (INDEX (C:C, 1)="", 1, INDEX (C:C, 1)+1)
• Using ROWS: rownum = IF (ROWS (C:C)=0, 1, ROWS (C:C)+1)

These functions work by counting the number of non-blank cells in column C, returning the first cell in column C, or returning the number of rows in column C, and then adding 1 to the result if the cell is not blank, or returning the result itself if the cell is blank. You can use any of these functions to assign the row number to a variable using IF, and then use the variable in your formulas or macros as needed.