Introducing Formula Fields for performing dynamic calculations

Greetings,

With the Formula Field, you can generate numerical calculations using provided functions and available fields, enabling you to derive dynamic data. You can utilize mathematical formulas to populate results based on the provided inputs. This field is available as a custom field.

If your business is dealing with numbers and your decision-making is based on mathematical calculations, this feature will be beneficial to you.

You can create the field like how you create other fields. Navigate to Settings > Fields > Customize Fields > +Custom Field, provide a field name, and choose Formula as the type.

Once you select the field type to be Formula, you will have to choose the Output Type. The return type specifies the type of result obtained from a calculation. Once you select and save a return type, you cannot change it afterward, so choose carefully.

Formula Expression

The formula field comprises three key components:

Functions
Fields
Operators

When you access the Functions tab, you'll see a pop-up with a list of available functions on the left side. These functions can be added to the formula by clicking on them. Hovering over a function reveals details, such as its syntax, description, and examples, providing helpful context.

Within the formula editor, you can use shortcuts for quick access:

Use '@' to insert functions.
Use '#' to add fields.
Use '~' to add operators.

The formula editor validates the formula and identifies any issues related to incorrect functions or fields when you click the "Check Syntax" button. You can only save the formula once the expression has no errors.

Additionally, you can add a tooltip for the formula field to provide extra information. This tooltip appears next to the formula field in detail view.

Blank Value Computation

When you create a formula field, you can specify how to handle blank values in the fields used in the formula.

You can find this option under Blank Value Preference, where you can choose one of the following:

Consider blank values as empty for strings: This option is selected by default when you create a new formula field.
Consider blank values as 0 for integers and decimals: This option interprets the blank value as 0 depending on the data type.

Example:

Profit is the formula field, calculated as: Revenue - Cost.

The fields used to generate the profit field are:

Revenue
Cost

If the Profit field is blank:

If you select blank values as empty for the Profit field:

Revenue is seen as empty.
Therefore, the formula doesn't produce a result, leaving Profit blank or empty.

If you select blank values as 0 for the Profit field:

Revenue is treated as 0.
The formula calculates Profit as based on this value.

Permissions

Both administrators and users with field-level permissions can access this feature.

Availability

This feature is exclusively available for Premier Edition users.
The limitation is set to 10 per module.

Help documents

Forumula Field: Overview
Use Cases

That's all for this enhancement. We sincerely hope you find it useful. Please give it a try and leave your feedback in the comments section below. Watch this space for future announcements.

Thanks and have a good day!

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