{
  "category": "Lookup and reference functions",
  "display_name": "ADDRESS",
  "entry_kind": "built_in_function",
  "eval_api": {
    "method": "POST",
    "url": "https://handbook.dnacalc.com/api/eval"
  },
  "function_id": "FUNC.ADDRESS",
  "implementation_state": {
    "answer_bank": {
      "excel_builds": [
        "20430"
      ],
      "larger_numeric": 0,
      "last_bit": 0,
      "matched": 1284,
      "other_mismatch": 0,
      "refused": 0,
      "rows": 1284,
      "unread": 0,
      "worst_ulp": 0
    },
    "detail": "Recorded: 1,284 in the answer bank and 20 workbook cells.",
    "dnacalc_commit": "9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87",
    "in_catalogue": true,
    "state": "matches",
    "state_label": "Matches every recorded Excel answer",
    "summary": "Matches all 1,304 recorded answers",
    "workbook_corpus": {
      "cells": 20,
      "matched": 20
    }
  },
  "implementations": [
    {
      "commit": "9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87",
      "flavour": "excel-compatibility-candidate",
      "language": "Rust",
      "name": "CalcFunc",
      "own_code": [
        "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc/blob/9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87/crates/calc-func/src/catalogue/host_facts.rs#L452-L452",
        "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc/blob/9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87/crates/calc-func/src/catalogue/host_facts.rs#L366-L416",
        "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc/blob/9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87/crates/calc-func/src/ported/address.rs#L9-L26",
        "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc/blob/9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87/crates/calc-func/src/ported/address.rs#L136-L139",
        "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc/blob/9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87/crates/calc-func/src/ported/address.rs#L141-L150",
        "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc/blob/9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87/crates/calc-func/src/ported/address.rs#L153-L165",
        "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc/blob/9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87/crates/calc-func/src/ported/address.rs#L167-L228"
      ],
      "repository": "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc",
      "shared_code": [
        "ported/a1_refs::split_prefix",
        "ported/a1_refs::parse_cell_token",
        "ported/a1_refs::parse_column_token",
        "ported/a1_refs::parse_row_token",
        "ported/a1_refs::parse_a1_reference",
        "ported/address::address_name_character",
        "ported/address::address_name_is_reference",
        "ported/address::quote_sheet_text_if_needed"
      ],
      "source": "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc/blob/9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87/crates/calc-func/src/catalogue/host_facts.rs#L452-L452",
      "state": "matches",
      "suite": null,
      "summary": "Matches all 1,304 recorded answers"
    }
  ],
  "json_url": "https://handbook.dnacalc.com/api/functions/FUNC.ADDRESS.json",
  "name": "ADDRESS",
  "notes": [],
  "schema": "efh.function-reference/v1",
  "section_order": [
    "what-it-does",
    "try-it",
    "quirks",
    "how-to-implement",
    "version-differences",
    "alternatives"
  ],
  "sections": {
    "alternatives": "\n### Relationships\n\n\n- **`INDIRECT`** is the other half of the classic pair: `ADDRESS` makes address text,\n  `INDIRECT` turns address text back into a live reference. That round trip is a common idiom\n  and also a common source of fragility — see the `INDIRECT` page for why the text hop is not\n  free.\n- **`CELL(\"address\", ref)`** answers the inverse question: given a reference, what is its\n  address text. `ADDRESS` goes from coordinates to text; `CELL` goes from reference to text.\n- **`ROW` / `COLUMN`** produce the coordinates that `ADDRESS` consumes.\n- **`OFFSET` and `INDEX`** are what you actually want when your goal is a *reference* computed\n  from coordinates. Reaching for `ADDRESS` + `INDIRECT` to do that job trades a direct\n  reference for a text round trip and, through `INDIRECT`, for volatility.\n\n\n",
    "how-to-implement": "\n### Notes for implementers\n\n- **Column-number-to-letters is the only interesting algorithm here**, and it is a bijective\n  base-26 encoding (`A`…`Z`, `AA`…), not ordinary base 26 — there is no zero digit. Off-by-one\n  bugs at `Z`/`AA` and at `ZZ`/`AAA` are the classic failure, and any implementation should be\n  probed exactly there.\n- **R1C1 output is a different grammar, not a different formatting of the same string.** In\n  R1C1, \"relative\" is expressed with bracketed offsets relative to the calling cell in ordinary\n  formula text — but `ADDRESS` is given absolute coordinates and no calling cell. What\n  `ADDRESS` emits for the relative R1C1 cases is therefore a genuine question, not a detail,\n  and it is first on the probe list below.\n- **Locale.** The rendered separator between sheet qualifier and address, and the quoting of\n  sheet names, are presentation decisions that may vary by locale and by sheet-name content.\n\n\n",
    "quirks": "\n### Result and edge cases\n\n\nReturn kind: `Text`. The general argument-preparation and coercion rules are the shared ones —\nsee [the call pipeline](../model/03-call-pipeline.md) and\n[coercion and lifting](../model/02-coercion-and-lifting.md); `ADDRESS` is prepared under\n`ValuesOnlyPreAdapter`, so it never sees a live reference, only numbers, logicals and text that\ncoerce to numbers.\n\nSpecific to this function:\n\n- **Out-of-sheet coordinates.** Whether a row number beyond the sheet's row count renders,\n  errors, or wraps is a boundary the Handbook has not established for Excel.\n- **Fractional coordinates.** Whether `row_num` is truncated, rounded, or rejected is likewise\n  not established here.\n\n\n\n### Errors\n\n\nMicrosoft's documentation for `ADDRESS` describes the admissible values of `abs_num` but does\nnot enumerate an error table on the page as a whole. The conditions the Handbook expects to be\nerror-producing — non-positive coordinates, an `abs_num` outside 1–4 — are stated here as\n*expected* and are on the unchecked list below rather than asserted. `#VALUE!` is the\nconventional code for a coercion or domain failure in this family\n([value universe](../model/01-value-universe.md)).\n\nAn error value arriving in any argument propagates by the universal rule in\n[coercion and lifting](../model/02-coercion-and-lifting.md): coercion never silently discards a\nworksheet error.\n\n\n",
    "sources": "- Microsoft, ADDRESS function —\n  <https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/address-function-d0c26c0d-3991-446b-8de4-ab46431d4f89>\n  (argument meanings, the `abs_num` 1–4 table, and the `a1` reference-style flag).\n- Handbook `content/model/02-coercion-and-lifting.md` (error propagation, direct-argument\n  coercion).\n- Handbook `content/model/03-call-pipeline.md` (`ValuesOnlyPreAdapter`,\n  `ByIndexScalarArrayLift`).\n- Handbook `data/functions/FUNC.ADDRESS.json` and `data/presence/FUNC.ADDRESS.json`\n  (signature, arity, classification axes, implementing module).\n\n",
    "version-differences": "The recorded environments below distinguish a reading from a same-input comparison. Counts describe captured inputs in each environment; overlapping captures and comparisons are not totals of unique worksheet calls.\n\n| Excel 16.0 build | Platform and CPU | Captured inputs |\n|---|---|---:|\n| 20430 | Windows, 64-bit, CPU not recorded | 168,940 |\n\nThe record contains no same-input comparison between these environments. Reading different inputs on different builds does not establish either a version change or cross-build agreement.\n\n[Recorded environments and comparison details](https://github.com/DnaCalc/ExcelFunctionsHandbook/blob/5dc75391aa5125ccc5abdb095da85950980d6fd8/content/evidence/environments/FUNC.ADDRESS.json).",
    "what-it-does": "\n`ADDRESS` is a formatter, not a lookup. Given a row number and a column number it renders the\n**text** of a cell address in the style you ask for. It does not read the cell, it does not\nproduce a reference value, and it never touches the grid — the row and column numbers may point\nfar outside any sheet's bounds and `ADDRESS` will still render an address for them, subject to\nthe admissible ranges below.\n\nThe rendered string is assembled from four independent decisions:\n\n1. whether the row part carries a `$` (absolute) or not (relative),\n2. whether the column part carries a `$`,\n3. whether the address is written in A1 notation (`$D$5`) or R1C1 notation (`R5C4`), and\n4. whether a sheet qualifier is prefixed (`Sheet2!$D$5`).\n\nDecisions 1 and 2 are jointly encoded by `abs_num`; decision 3 by `a1`; decision 4 by\n`sheet_text`. The result is `Text` under the value-universe chapter's kinds — the same kind you\nwould get from `\"$D$5\"` typed as a literal. Nothing downstream treats it as a reference unless\nyou pass it through `INDIRECT`.\n\n\n\n### Arguments\n\n\n| Argument | Meaning |\n|---|---|\n| `row_num` | The row coordinate. Required. |\n| `column_num` | The column coordinate. Required. |\n| `abs_num` | Which parts are absolute. Microsoft documents `1` (or omitted) = absolute row and column, `2` = absolute row, relative column, `3` = relative row, absolute column, `4` = both relative. |\n| `a1` | Reference style. Microsoft documents a logical: `TRUE` or omitted = A1 style, `FALSE` = R1C1 style. |\n| `sheet_text` | Text naming the worksheet (or external workbook and worksheet) to prefix. Omitted means no qualifier at all — not \"the current sheet spelled out\". |\n\nThe argument that is most often misread is `abs_num`. It is not a boolean and it is not a\nbitmask you can reason your way into: the mapping from 1–4 to the four `$` combinations is an\narbitrary enumeration you have to look up, and the \"natural\" reading (that 1 means relative)\nis backwards. The second most-misread is `sheet_text`: it is *your* text, inserted into the\nresult, so quoting for sheet names containing spaces or punctuation is a question about how\nExcel renders the qualifier, not something you can assume `ADDRESS` handles for you.\n\n\n"
  },
  "signature": {
    "display": "ADDRESS(row_num, column_num, [abs_num], [a1], [sheet_text])",
    "parameters": [
      {
        "description": null,
        "name": "row_num",
        "optional": false,
        "repeats": false
      },
      {
        "description": null,
        "name": "column_num",
        "optional": false,
        "repeats": false
      },
      {
        "description": null,
        "name": "abs_num",
        "optional": true,
        "repeats": false
      },
      {
        "description": null,
        "name": "a1",
        "optional": true,
        "repeats": false
      },
      {
        "description": null,
        "name": "sheet_text",
        "optional": true,
        "repeats": false
      }
    ],
    "trailing_repeats": false
  },
  "sources": {
    "metadata": {
      "admission": {
        "label": "implemented",
        "reason": null
      },
      "arity": {
        "max": 5,
        "min": 2
      },
      "category": "Lookup and reference functions",
      "classification": {
        "arg_preparation_profile": "ValuesOnlyPreAdapter",
        "coercion_lift_profile": "Custom",
        "determinism_class": "Deterministic",
        "error_collapse_profile": "None",
        "fec_dependency_profile": "None",
        "host_interaction_class": "None",
        "kernel_signature_class": "Custom",
        "rich_value_usage": "RichBlind",
        "surface_fec_dependency_profile": "None",
        "thread_safety_class": "SafePure",
        "volatility_class": "NonVolatile"
      },
      "descriptions": {
        "long": null,
        "short": "Text of a cell reference built from a row and a column number",
        "short_source": "dna-calc-own"
      },
      "docs": {
        "english_description": "Returns a reference as text to a single cell in a worksheet",
        "microsoft_url": "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/address-function-d0c26c0d-3991-446b-8de4-ab46431d4f89"
      },
      "entry_kind": "built_in_function",
      "localized_family_names": null,
      "localized_names": [
        {
          "locale": "ar-SA",
          "name": "العنوان"
        },
        {
          "locale": "bg-BG",
          "name": "ADDRESS"
        },
        {
          "locale": "cs-CZ",
          "name": "ADRESA"
        },
        {
          "locale": "da-DK",
          "name": "ADRESSE"
        },
        {
          "locale": "de-DE",
          "name": "ADDRESS"
        },
        {
          "locale": "el-GR",
          "name": "ADDRESS"
        },
        {
          "locale": "en-AU",
          "name": "ADDRESS"
        },
        {
          "locale": "en-GB",
          "name": "ADDRESS"
        },
        {
          "locale": "en-US",
          "name": "ADDRESS"
        },
        {
          "locale": "es-ES",
          "name": "DIRECCIÓN"
        },
        {
          "locale": "et-EE",
          "name": "AADRESS (AADRESS)"
        },
        {
          "locale": "fi-FI",
          "name": "OSOITE"
        },
        {
          "locale": "fr-FR",
          "name": "ADDRESS (ADRESSE)"
        },
        {
          "locale": "he-IL",
          "name": "ADDRESS"
        },
        {
          "locale": "hr-HR",
          "name": "ADDRESS (ADRESA)"
        },
        {
          "locale": "hu-HU",
          "name": "ADDRESS (Cím)"
        },
        {
          "locale": "id-ID",
          "name": "ALAMAT"
        },
        {
          "locale": "it-IT",
          "name": "ADDRESS"
        },
        {
          "locale": "ja-JP",
          "name": "ADDRESS"
        },
        {
          "locale": "ko-KR",
          "name": "주소"
        },
        {
          "locale": "lt-LT",
          "name": "ADRESAS"
        },
        {
          "locale": "lv-LV",
          "name": "ADRESE"
        },
        {
          "locale": "nb-NO",
          "name": "ADRESSE"
        },
        {
          "locale": "nl-NL",
          "name": "ADDRESS"
        },
        {
          "locale": "pl-PL",
          "name": "ADDRESS (Adres)"
        },
        {
          "locale": "pt-BR",
          "name": "ENDEREÇO"
        },
        {
          "locale": "pt-PT",
          "name": "ADDRESS"
        },
        {
          "locale": "ro-RO",
          "name": "ADDRESS"
        },
        {
          "locale": "ru-RU",
          "name": "ADDRESS (АДРЕС)"
        },
        {
          "locale": "sk-SK",
          "name": "ADDRESS (ADRESA)"
        },
        {
          "locale": "sl-SI",
          "name": "ADDRESS (NASLOV)"
        },
        {
          "locale": "sr-Latn-RS",
          "name": "ADRESA"
        },
        {
          "locale": "sv-SE",
          "name": "ADDRESS"
        },
        {
          "locale": "th-TH",
          "name": "ที่อยู่"
        },
        {
          "locale": "tr-TR",
          "name": "ADRES"
        },
        {
          "locale": "uk-UA",
          "name": "ADDRESS (АДРЕСА)"
        },
        {
          "locale": "vi-VN",
          "name": "ĐỊA CHỈ"
        },
        {
          "locale": "zh-CN",
          "name": "地址"
        },
        {
          "locale": "zh-HK",
          "name": "ADDRESS (位址)"
        },
        {
          "locale": "zh-TW",
          "name": "ADDRESS (位址)"
        }
      ],
      "signature": {
        "display": "ADDRESS(row_num, column_num, [abs_num], [a1], [sheet_text])",
        "parameters": [
          {
            "description": null,
            "name": "row_num",
            "optional": false,
            "repeats": false
          },
          {
            "description": null,
            "name": "column_num",
            "optional": false,
            "repeats": false
          },
          {
            "description": null,
            "name": "abs_num",
            "optional": true,
            "repeats": false
          },
          {
            "description": null,
            "name": "a1",
            "optional": true,
            "repeats": false
          },
          {
            "description": null,
            "name": "sheet_text",
            "optional": true,
            "repeats": false
          }
        ],
        "trailing_repeats": false
      },
      "surface_name": "ADDRESS",
      "version_marker": null,
      "xlcall": {
        "code": "219",
        "symbol": "xlfAddress"
      }
    },
    "microsoft": "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/address-function-d0c26c0d-3991-446b-8de4-ab46431d4f89"
  },
  "try_it": {
    "formula": "=ADDRESS(3,2)"
  },
  "url": "https://handbook.dnacalc.com/functions/ADDRESS.html",
  "variants": [],
  "versions": [
    {
      "behaviour": "168,940 captured inputs are indexed for this environment. Capture dates: 2026-09-29 to 2026-09-29. This is a reading count, not a comparison with another build.",
      "excel_build": "16.0 build 20430",
      "platform": "Windows, 64-bit, CPU not recorded",
      "sources": [
        "https://github.com/DnaCalc/ExcelFunctionsHandbook/blob/5dc75391aa5125ccc5abdb095da85950980d6fd8/content/evidence/environments/FUNC.ADDRESS.json"
      ]
    }
  ]
}