R1C1-Style Cell Reference

A cell reference using the R1C1 reference style has the following form:

R1C1-reference:R1C1-rowR1C1-columnR1C1-row R1C1-column

R1C1-row:R1C1-relative-rowR1C1-absolute-row

R1C1-relative-row:R [ R1C1-relative-number ]

R1C1-absolute-row:RR R1C1-absolute-number

R1C1-column:R1C1-relative-columnR1C1-absolute-column

R1C1-relative-column:C [ R1C1-relative-number ]

R1C1-absolute-column:CC R1C1-absolute-number

R1C1-relative-number:An optionally signed decimal number

R1C1-absolute-number:A positive decimal number

In this style, each row has a numeric heading numbered sequentially from the top down, starting at 1. Each column has a numeric heading numbered sequentially from left-to-right, starting at 1.

A whole row is referenced by omitting the column, and a whole column is referenced by omitting the row. An absolute row or column reference uses absolute row or column numbers, respectively. A relative row or column reference uses, respectively, row or column offsets from the cell containing the formula, with a negative offset indicating a row to the left or a column above, and a positive offset indicateing a row to the right or a column below. Specifying an offset of zero is equivalent to omitting that offset and its delimiting brackets.
example: : R[-2]C refers to the cell two rows up and in the same column, R[2]C[2] refers to the cell two rows down and two columns to the right, R2C2 refers to the cell in the second row and in the second column, R[-1] refers to the entire row above the active cell, and R refers to the current row.

The R1C1 alternate reference style can only be used at runtime. See §3.17.6.1 for XML-related details.