1 Most of the computations by Roe scheme (1981) to solve the fluid equations is performed in the physical domain either over unstructured grids, like some triangular grids, or structured grids, like some quadrilateral grids, say for two-dimensional computations. With the choice of triangular grids some benefits of the Roe scheme, as a non-diffusive scheme in essence, is partially lost due to the grid line obliqueness w.r.t. flow. In contrast, quadrilateral grids are more appropriate for the Roe scheme as they are better able to align with the flow. Besides, with the choice of quadrilateral grids it is also possible to convert the fluid equations from physical to computational domain. There are only very few reports and articles on the application of the Roe scheme in generalized coordinates. To solve the fluid equations by Roe scheme in computational domain (or generalized coordinates) and to give a formula for the numerical flux Roe in generalized coordinates is the main goal of this paper. In detail, the following subjects are addressed in this paper. (1) A comprehensive knowledge of the grid-geometry is obtained. That is, the cosine direction of the grid lines, the cosine direction of the control volume faces and the area of the control volume faces are described in terms of the metrics of transformation from the physical domain to that of the computational domain. (2) The governing equations of fluid motion in physical domain and those in computational domain are put side by side term by term and a formula is obtained to give the numerical flux Roe in generalized coordinates. This numerical flux is written in terms of grid-geometry (metrics of transformation from the physical domain to the computational domain) and flow parameter. In part II of this publication the method is applied to some determining inviscid and viscous cases.