# Take a value from another row Shape / table A variant of [Calculate across rows](https://meridian.online/operations/calculate-across-rows). Bring a value from a row a fixed offset before or after the current one, or from the first, last or nth row of the window, often to compute a difference or percentage change. Page: ## Status Runs as a SQL step. arcform carries it as a `sql:` step today. ## The DuckDB step take a value from another row: the previous, the next, the first, the last and the nth It reads the `orders` table the proofs share. Create it first: ```sql CREATE TABLE orders AS SELECT * FROM (VALUES (1, 'Alice Ng', 'north', DATE '2026-01-03', 120.00, 'widget', 'a|b', '{"channel":"web","items":[1,2]}'), (2, 'alice ng', 'north', DATE '2026-01-05', 80.50, 'gadget', 'b', '{"channel":"shop","items":[3]}'), (3, 'Bob Okafor', 'south', DATE '2026-01-05', 300.00, 'widget', 'a|c', '{"channel":"web","items":[4,5,6]}'), (4, 'Carla Díaz', 'east', DATE '2026-01-09', NULL, 'gizmo', NULL, '{"channel":"web","items":[]}'), (5, 'Bob Okafor', 'south', DATE '2026-01-12', 45.25, 'gadget', 'c', '{"channel":"phone","items":[7]}'), (6, 'Dev Patel', 'west', DATE '2026-01-12', 510.00, 'widget', 'a', '{"channel":"web","items":[8,9]}'), (7, 'Carla Diaz', 'east', DATE '2026-01-20', 99.99, 'gizmo', 'b|c', '{"channel":"shop","items":[10]}'), (8, 'Dev Patel', 'west', DATE '2026-02-02', 510.00, 'widget', 'a', '{"channel":"web","items":[8,9]}'), (9, 'Eve Larsen', NULL, DATE '2026-02-03', 15.00, 'gadget', NULL, '{"channel":"web","items":[11]}'), (10, 'Alice Ng', 'north', DATE '2026-02-10', 220.00, 'gizmo', 'a|b|c', '{"channel":"phone","items":[12,13]}') ) t(order_id, customer, region, order_date, amount, product, tags, meta); ``` Then run the statement: ```sql CREATE TEMP TABLE result AS SELECT product, order_id, amount, lag(amount) OVER w AS previous_amount, lead(amount) OVER w AS next_amount, round(amount / lag(amount) OVER w - 1, 4) AS change, first_value(amount) OVER whole AS first_amount, last_value(amount) OVER whole AS last_amount, nth_value(amount, 2) OVER whole AS second_amount FROM orders WHERE amount IS NOT NULL WINDOW w AS (PARTITION BY product ORDER BY order_date, order_id), whole AS (PARTITION BY product ORDER BY order_date, order_id ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING); SELECT * FROM result ORDER BY product, order_id; SELECT CASE WHEN ((SELECT list(previous_amount ORDER BY order_id) FROM result WHERE product = 'widget') IS NOT DISTINCT FROM [NULL, 120.00, 300.00, 510.00] AND (SELECT list(next_amount ORDER BY order_id) FROM result WHERE product = 'widget') IS NOT DISTINCT FROM [300.00, 510.00, 510.00, NULL] AND (SELECT list(change ORDER BY order_id) FROM result WHERE product = 'widget') IS NOT DISTINCT FROM [NULL, 1.5, 0.7, 0.0] AND (SELECT list(change ORDER BY order_id) FROM result WHERE product = 'gadget') IS NOT DISTINCT FROM [NULL, -0.4379, -0.6685] AND (SELECT list(change ORDER BY order_id) FROM result WHERE product = 'gizmo') IS NOT DISTINCT FROM [NULL, 1.2002] AND (SELECT (first_amount, last_amount, second_amount) FROM result WHERE order_id = 6) = (120.00, 510.00, 300.00) AND (SELECT (first_amount, last_amount, second_amount) FROM result WHERE order_id = 5) = (80.50, 15.00, 45.25)) THEN 'as expected' ELSE error('the previous, next, first, last and second amounts or the change from the previous order were not the expected values per product') END AS verdict; ``` It needs nothing installed beyond DuckDB itself. ## What other tools call it Meridian's classification; an independent blind rating agreed on 95.7% of 324 rows (variant, version 3). - Alteryx Designer: [`Multi-Row Formula`](https://help.alteryx.com/current/en/designer/tools/preparation/multi-row-formula-tool.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Bruin: [`lag`](https://getbruin.com/docs/bruin/core-concepts/semantic-layer.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Bruin: [`lead`](https://getbruin.com/docs/bruin/core-concepts/semantic-layer.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache DataFusion: [`first_value`](https://datafusion.apache.org/user-guide/sql/window_functions.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache DataFusion: [`lag`](https://datafusion.apache.org/user-guide/sql/window_functions.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache DataFusion: [`last_value`](https://datafusion.apache.org/user-guide/sql/window_functions.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache DataFusion: [`lead`](https://datafusion.apache.org/user-guide/sql/window_functions.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache DataFusion: [`nth_value`](https://datafusion.apache.org/user-guide/sql/window_functions.html) (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: [`first_value`](https://duckdb.org/docs/current/sql/functions/window_functions) (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: [`lag`](https://duckdb.org/docs/current/sql/functions/window_functions) (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: [`last_value`](https://duckdb.org/docs/current/sql/functions/window_functions) (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: [`lead`](https://duckdb.org/docs/current/sql/functions/window_functions) (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: [`nth_value`](https://duckdb.org/docs/current/sql/functions/window_functions) (read 2026-09-27) - Duckle: [`First Value`](https://github.com/slothflowlabs/duckle/blob/f85f8960edfb6efbf4cb89d58a7b32e16df0e867/website/docs/components.html) (read 2026-09-25) - Duckle: [`Lag`](https://github.com/slothflowlabs/duckle/blob/f85f8960edfb6efbf4cb89d58a7b32e16df0e867/website/docs/components.html) (read 2026-09-25) - Duckle: [`Last Value`](https://github.com/slothflowlabs/duckle/blob/f85f8960edfb6efbf4cb89d58a7b32e16df0e867/website/docs/components.html) (read 2026-09-25) - Duckle: [`Lead`](https://github.com/slothflowlabs/duckle/blob/f85f8960edfb6efbf4cb89d58a7b32e16df0e867/website/docs/components.html) (read 2026-09-25) - EasyMorph: [`Shift column up/down`](https://help.easymorph.com/doku.php?id=transformations:shiftcolumn) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache Hop: [`Analytic Query`](https://hop.apache.org/manual/latest/pipeline/transforms/analyticquery.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Ibis: [`Lag`](https://github.com/ibis-project/ibis/blob/05d2b293344e86cb41c1a426071734f7e270335a/ibis/expr/operations/analytic.py) (read 2026-09-27) - Ibis: [`Lead`](https://github.com/ibis-project/ibis/blob/05d2b293344e86cb41c1a426071734f7e270335a/ibis/expr/operations/analytic.py) (read 2026-09-27) - Ibis: [`NthValue`](https://github.com/ibis-project/ibis/blob/05d2b293344e86cb41c1a426071734f7e270335a/ibis/expr/operations/analytic.py) (read 2026-09-27) - KNIME Analytics Platform: [`Lag Column`](https://api.hub.knime.com/nodes/*RurwVi1VODgLDTQP?details=full) (read 2026-09-27) - Pentaho Data Integration: [`Analytic query`](https://docs.pentaho.com/pdia-data-integration/9.3-data-integration/pdi-transformation-steps-reference-overview) (read 2026-09-27) - Polars: [`DataFrame.shift`](https://docs.pola.rs/api/python/stable/reference/dataframe/modify_select.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Polars: [`Expr.diff`](https://docs.pola.rs/api/python/stable/reference/expressions/computation.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Polars: [`Expr.pct_change`](https://docs.pola.rs/api/python/stable/reference/expressions/computation.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Polars: [`Expr.shift`](https://docs.pola.rs/api/python/stable/reference/expressions/modify_select.html) (read 2026-09-27) - RapidMiner Studio: [`Lag`](https://docs.rapidminer.com/latest/studio/operators/modeling/time_series/transformation/lag_series_with_default_lag.html) (read 2026-09-27) - RapidMiner Studio: [`Windowing`](https://docs.rapidminer.com/latest/studio/operators/modeling/time_series/windowing/windowing.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Tableau Prep: [`Difference From`](https://help.tableau.com/current/prep/en-us/prep_multirow_calculations.htm) (read 2026-09-27) - Tableau Prep: [`LOOKUP`](https://help.tableau.com/current/prep/en-us/prep_function_reference.htm) (read 2026-09-27) - Tableau Prep: [`Percent Difference From`](https://help.tableau.com/current/prep/en-us/prep_multirow_calculations.htm) (read 2026-09-27) - Talend: [`tMemorizeRows`](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/components/8.0/tmemorizerows/tmemorizerows-component) (read 2026-09-27) - Trifacta: [`NEXT Function`](https://help.alteryx.com/aac/en/trifacta-classic/wrangle-language/window-functions.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Trifacta: [`PREV Function`](https://help.alteryx.com/aac/en/trifacta-classic/wrangle-language/window-functions.html) (read 2026-09-27) - VisiData: [`addcol-delta`](https://github.com/saulpw/visidata/blob/7609212ec2febafa9caba7183cbebfaf49627909/visidata/experimental/rownum.py#L73) (read 2026-09-23)