Number of rows; drop all rows except 1st

Hi, I need the number of rows in a list (data worksheet, results, etc.) for further use. Is there an elegant way? Clumsy ones: • descriptive statistics => fields “N” or “NObs” (crack a nut with a sledgehammer) • split worksheet => field “Count” • custom transformation, formula “count(A:A)” The first two require some subsequent merging, column properties,… in order to get the value back (error prone). The last one seems to be the easiest one, but how to I set up a following filter in such a way that I get only the first row instead of all rows with the additional variable?