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!= Blank() or NOT(Blank()) - Which one is correct?

  • January 6, 2023
  • 5 replies
  • 653 views
M
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Hi,

I tried using != Blank() and NOT(Blank()) on several occasions for my formulars and have been getting different results. I'm not sure why.

Is it because only one of the two works and the other is ignored by my formular? Or does it depend on the format that I am trying to evaluate (dates, integers, strings)? 

Any help on clarifying this would be greatly appreciated and prevent mistakes in the future.

    5 replies

    Karlstens
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    • Karlstens
    • Brainy
    • January 9, 2023

    You've mentioned "NOT(Blank())" - but I'm not sure this makes sense?

    For example, if I have a Currency Field called "Price" that contains a numeracy value, in another Formula Field, to check if "Price" contains a value or is blank, I would write the formula;

    NOT(Price)
     
    M
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    • Malakai
    • Author
    • Known Participant
    • January 10, 2023

    You've mentioned "NOT(Blank())" - but I'm not sure this makes sense?

    For example, if I have a Currency Field called "Price" that contains a numeracy value, in another Formula Field, to check if "Price" contains a value or is blank, I would write the formula;

    NOT(Price)
     

    Well, if I look at the documentation (https://support.airtable.com/docs/identifying-blank-values) I would have to write Price = Blank(), to check if it is blank. And I am interpreting, that != Blank() would be the way to check if it is NOT blank. But like I said: I've been using != Blank() and NOT(Blank()) with different results. Confusing.

    Karlstens
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    • Karlstens
    • Brainy
    • January 10, 2023

    Well, if I look at the documentation (https://support.airtable.com/docs/identifying-blank-values) I would have to write Price = Blank(), to check if it is blank. And I am interpreting, that != Blank() would be the way to check if it is NOT blank. But like I said: I've been using != Blank() and NOT(Blank()) with different results. Confusing.


    Well, to clarify what you're doing, what result are you trying to achieve? What field types are you checking for blank values (Link Fields, Numeric Fields, Email fields etc), and what is the output you're needing in the formula field that's checking if the target fields are blank? In my Not(Price) example, whenever there's a value a 0 will return, if price is blank then a 1 will appear.


    Alternatively, in my formula field if I write;

    If(Price, true(), false())
     
    Then this will return a 1 when my price field has a value, and a zero if price is blank.
    Rutger
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    • Rutger
    • Known Participant
    • August 12, 2024

    Guys, is this me or is the Airtable way of interpreting empty number fields as True super weird? I come from Python where you can easily use np.isnan(). I have a column with 0,1 and empty values. I want to resolve my logical condition as follows:

    0 -> True

    1 -> True

    empty -> False

     

    i've now wasted 15 min on this to no avail. Any tips?

     

    Ok wtf, it gets even more ridiculous. 

    IF(x=0,
    TRUE(),
    FALSE()
    )
     
    resolves as TRUE for an empty cell. Please airtable support can you help me solve this issue here?
     
    I resolved the issue by adding another single_select column and trying to process my frustration haha.

     

    Rutger
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    • Rutger
    • Known Participant
    • August 12, 2024

    Well, to clarify what you're doing, what result are you trying to achieve? What field types are you checking for blank values (Link Fields, Numeric Fields, Email fields etc), and what is the output you're needing in the formula field that's checking if the target fields are blank? In my Not(Price) example, whenever there's a value a 0 will return, if price is blank then a 1 will appear.


    Alternatively, in my formula field if I write;

    If(Price, true(), false())
     
    Then this will return a 1 when my price field has a value, and a zero if price is blank.

    when the price is zero, it returns a false which is unexpected.

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