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footnote() attaches footnotes to selected cells. It adds a reference symbol to each targeted cell and appends the corresponding note text as a new row in the footer.

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Function signature

footnote(
  x,
  i = NULL,
  j = NULL,
  value,
  ref_symbols = NULL,
  part = "body",
  inline = FALSE,
  sep = "; ",
  symbol_sep = ""
)

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Parameters

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x
flextable
required
A flextable object.
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i
integer | formula | logical
Row selector. Accepts integer indices, a one-sided formula (e.g., ~ col > 5), or a logical vector.
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j
integer | character | formula
Column selector. Accepts integer indices, column names, a formula, or a logical vector.
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value
paragraph
required
A call to as_paragraph(). Each element of the paragraph corresponds to a cell targeted by the i/j selectors.
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ref_symbols
character
Symbols to append to the selected cells as reference markers (e.g., c("a", "b", "c") or c("*", "**")). When a single symbol is provided, it is reused across all targeted cells.
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part
string
default:"body"
Which part of the table contains the target cells: "body", "header", or "footer". The value "all" is not allowed.
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inline
logical
default:"FALSE"
If TRUE, append the new footnote on the same footer row as the preceding footnote rather than creating a new row.
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sep
string
default:"; "
Separator used between footnotes when inline = TRUE.
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symbol_sep
string
default:""
Separator inserted between multiple footnote symbols in the same cell. For example, "," produces 1,2 instead of 12.

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Return value

The modified flextable object.

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Examples

Add three footnotes to the header row: 
ft <- flextable(head(iris))
ft <- footnote(
  ft,
  i = 1, j = 1:3,
  value = as_paragraph(c(
    "This is footnote one",
    "This is footnote two",
    "This is footnote three"
  )),
  ref_symbols = c("a", "b", "c"),
  part = "header"
)
ft <- valign(ft, valign = "bottom", part = "header")
ft <- autofit(ft)
ft
Add two footnotes inline (on the same footer row): 
ft <- flextable(head(iris))
ft <- autofit(ft)
ft <- footnote(
  ft,
  i = 1, j = 1:2,
  value = as_paragraph(c("Footnote one", "Footnote two")),
  ref_symbols = c("a", "b"),
  part = "header",
  inline = TRUE
)
ft <- footnote(
  ft,
  i = 1, j = 3:4,
  value = as_paragraph(c("Footnote three", "Footnote four")),
  ref_symbols = c("c", "d"),
  part = "header",
  inline = TRUE
)
ft
Repeat a single symbol across multiple cells: 
ft <- flextable(head(iris))
ft <- autofit(ft)
ft <- footnote(
  x = ft,
  i = 1:3, j = 1:3,
  ref_symbols = "a",
  value = as_paragraph("This is footnote one")
)
ft

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See also