Explaination on how to use the formula field in columns

Ratatosk
Participant V

I don’t understand how it works.

What are some usage scenarios?

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GreenFlux
Participant V

The formula takes over the user-input in Form Views. It will auto-update the column every time the row is edited, and does not allow the user to edit the column directly.

The same expression used in an Initial_Value setting would just auto-fill the value, but would not prevent editing.


Example:

[Total] = [Qnty] * [Price]

As a formula, the Total would be forced to the calculated value every time the row is edited.
As an Initial_Value, the user could edit the Total after the initial calculation was filled in.

Haha, I still don’t entirely get it.

If the column is called Monkey and has the row entries Bonobo, Chimpanzee and Gorilla;. Can I write for example [_this]&" eats bananas" in the formula field, and the row entry Bonobo will be shown in the app as “Bonobo eats bananas”?

Check out the formulas used in this sample app:
https://www.appsheet.com/Template/AppDef?appName=Timesheet-71626-2#Data.Columns.Timesheet_Schema

The [Name] column in the Timesheet table is a Ref to the Employees table.

[Hourly Wage] uses a formula to pull in the wage from that Employee. So when a [Name] is selected, the correct [Hourly Wage] is auto-updated in that column, and the user has no option to edit the value.

But the same expression, [Name].[Hourly Wage], could be used in the Initial_Value instead of the formula-- which would allow editing after the value was populated.

Ahhh! Now I somewhat get it. Thank you!

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