Why is it that when I enter a formula for a c...

[Edgar_Butron]

Why is it that when I enter a formula for a column item my Column Name disappears in the form???

I don’t have the Column Name as Hidden and have listed them as Required, but they still do not show up. I also verify my formula and everything checks out good until I save my changes and then it doesn’t show up in my Form.

Please help.

[Harry2]

@Edgar_Butron Hi Edgar, what is the app formula that you use?

If a column has an app formula, the column will no longer be editable by the app user. If the app formula of the column generates a blank/empty value, you will end up with a required column that is blank but is not editable by the app user. As a result, if the column is displayed, the app user will not be able to save the form even though they are also not able to fix the situation by themselves (the column is not editable).

As a result, any non-editable column that is also blank will be automatically hidden.

To fix this problem, please double-check the app formula to make sure that it does not generate a blank/empty value.

[Edgar_Butron]

@Harry

[Edgar_Butron]

This is a Valid_if formula that i put in. I’m referencing a table within this workbook to show its Repair Order entries. @Harry

[Edgar_Butron]

I have data in my spreadsheet for it to show something but nothing comes up. And it is saying that the expression is valid which is leads me to believe that its able to ready my spreadsheet correct

[Edgar_Butron]

would the duplicate entries be an issue? I’ve tested that out a couple of months ago with no issues so i don’t see why this would be a problem. Just a thought? @Dinh_Nguyen_Nguyen

[Edgar_Butron]

Would this be the reason i’m not able to reference my table? My account is using a Office 365 Business Onedrive source and excel. @Dinh_Nguyen_Nguyen +Praveen Seshadri

[Harry2]

@Edgar_Butron Hi Edgar, regarding the original problem: this problem has nothing to do with the Valid_If expression. Rather, the problem is caused by the use of the column’s app formula.

Any column that has an app formula is a read-only column, i.e. the app user cannot edit the column. This is because the app will automatically compute the column’s value using the formula. If it also happens that the formula in question generates a blank/empty value, and the column is a required column, then the app user will face a conundrum: the column must be filled out because it’s required, yet it is blank and also read-only. In such a situation, the app user will be prevented from submitting the form even though they have done nothing wrong. As the app user are unable to do anything to remedy this situation, the app will automatically hide the column so that the app user can proceed with filling out and submitting the form.

Regarding the second problem, were you trying to add a second Office 365 data source other than the main Office 365 data source of your account? I’m afraid that this is not allowed since each free account can only use a single data source. In your case, this means that you can only use tables from the Office 365 account associated with your AppSheet account, and you won’t be able to add tables from any other Office 365 account.

[Harry2]

@Edgar_Butron Here’s why the formula shown in the screenshot will generate a blank value. The formula is as follows:

=concatenate([repair order], [operation])

When you add a new row into the table, both columns “Repair Order” and “Operation” are blank. As a result, when you combine their values together, you will end up with a blank value.

Also, I notice that you are using an app formula to compute the ID of the repair order. For IDs, it is highly recommended that you use Initial Value instead of App Formula to compute their values. This is because Initial Value is only evaluated once when the new row is first added to the table, which means that once the row has been added, the ID will not be recomputed and will remain the same. In contrast, app formulas are computed every time a row is added or edited. As a result, if an existing row is edited, and the values of columns “repair order” and “operation” are modified, the ID of the repair order will also be recomputed and modified accordingly. Since you probably don’t want the IDs of existing repair orders to change, you should use Initial Value instead of app formulas. You can read more about the difference between the 2 here:

help.appsheet.com - App Formulas and Initial Values App Formulas and Initial Values help.appsheet.com