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First, Last, & Nth

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Formulas: First() , Last(), and Nth()

Category: Lists

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First()

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Last()

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Nth()

Provides the first value in a list

Another way to say it...

Provides the last value in a list

Or, as one might say...

Provides the nth value of a list

Said differently...

Hey Coda, can you provide me with the first value from this list?

Hey Coda, can you provide me with the last value from this list?

Hey Coda, here’s a number. Give me the value in that place in the list.

First() and Last() only use one parameter:

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List

First(List)

This is the list that you want to search.

Nth() uses two parameters:

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List

Nth(List, Position)

This is the list in which you want to search for your item.

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Position

Nth(List, Position)

This is number of the item in the list that you want to capture.

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Manipulating lists will be the bulk of your data-based work in Coda. These three formulas allow you to access a single and specific item within a list.

Lets take this list of random animals for example:

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CattleDogDonkeyGoatHorseRabbitFancy rat varietiesChicken breedsGoose breeds

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First()

We can use first() to access the first value in the list

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Cattle

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is the first value

Last()

We can use Last() to access the last value in the list

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Goose breeds

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is the last value

Nth()

Nth() is a little more flexible and allows you to access any value in the list including the first or last value. Slide the blue bar below and watch how the list changes. While this formula is a bit more complex, it requires the use of Nth()

Highlight a in the list by adjusting this slider:

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You are accessing the Nth(

3

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) value in this list

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CattleDogDonkey GoatHorseRabbitFancy rat varietiesChicken breedsGoose breeds

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Negative Indexes in Coda

In traditional programming languages, you are able to access items in a list using negative indexes. Coda also supports negative indexes in the following four formulas:

Nth, Splice, Slice, Left

Negative indexes will count from the end of a list:

List:

12345

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Nth(-1) = 5

Nth(-2) = 4

For more information, see this helpful community post →

Negative Indexes in Coda

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