Old bug encountered AGAIN: Column type changed by editor / Editing interface issues

[Kirk_Masden]

This is an old issue that I really wish AppSheet would address:

New Bug Encountered: Column type changed by app editor Questions

Today, in the Data --> Columns part of the app editor, I edited the formula on a virtual column. The “type” had be designated as “image” but editing the formula caused it to revert to “text.” For someone who knows what to look for, this is a minor irritation. For a novice, however, this kind of problem, which causes an unanticipated problem that can be hard for someone without much experience to debug, this kind of thing wastes a lot of time. I strongly recommend that it be fixed.

New Bug Encountered: AUTO Changing column types Questions

Just wasted 15mins debugging a dependant drop down. The issue was the column type had change AUTOMATICALLY from Text to Number. Despite the data it was pulling in was clearly text only I’ve had this happen numerous times now over the past few weeks. I go into a column to edit something, come out, then notice the type has changed. Never used to do this There are bug reports going back to at least March reporting this Apart from when you add an entirely new table or regenerate a new column …

Recently, I’ve been bothered by a DateTime virtual column that keeps getting changed to a ChangeTimestamp column type:

There is no conceivable situation in which this would help a user because ChangeTimestamp columns have to be “real,” don’t they? I can understand the AppSheet interface automatically assigning a column type when one has not been assigned yet by the app developer but why must the interface keep changing column types just because the app developer tweaked an expression?

One more thing: We don’t have an “Editing interface” or “App editor” tag that we can choose when we post to this forum. I hope that AppSheet considers the editing interface to be a key component of the AppSheet platform and therefore will provide us with a tag to help users and AppSheet personnel discuss the interface. Thanks!

[MultiTech]

Here’s some info I just learned:

New Bug Encountered: AUTO Changing column types

Just got through with an email string from support: This is intended behavior and will continue to operate this way.

New Bug Encountered: AUTO Changing column types

Anytime you save the app formula, not sure about initial value, appsheet will reevaluate what column type it thinks the column should be based on your formula.