Format Formula as Checkbox

Hi @DanielAssayag - I don’t think you can format it as a functioning checkbox, but you could implement a formula with the “true” value as an emoji:

Formula I’ve used is:

IF({T/F} = TRUE(), “ :white_check_mark: ”, “ :x: ”)

More details here:

JB

Even though this solves the issue, I also second the request for checkmarks as a formula format. Why, because emojis look different o every device, aren’t center aligned, and are harder to use as filters.

Thirded, for all the reasons above :slightly_smiling_face:

This creates a big functionality hole in the product: there is, at the moment, no way of using a formula output a bool value to be used in blocks. Or am I missing something here?

You most certainly can use formulas for boolean values. I see this request as a purely visual preference one (matching the appearance of the Checkbox-type field over relying on emojis).

I’m upvoting this too. Critically for us, it also integrates better with third party systems eg Stacker that rely on the boolean format - try using emojis and they treat the field as a string. And looks aren’t trivial - formatting a boolean formula as a checkbox makes it look better, which improves the client experience, adds value to the service, and creates a good impression!

This is a bit of an oldie now and still a good product suggestion. A better workaround than emojis (which was all we had back then) is to use the scripting block to update the second boolean field based on the true/false value of the first boolean field. Something like this would do the trick:

let table = base.getTable('Bool');
let query = await table.selectRecordsAsync();

for (let record of query.records) {
    table.updateRecordAsync(record, {
        'Scripted Checkbox': record.getCellValue('Checkbox')
    })
}

Still not as automated as a formula of course.

Thanks Jonathan! Haven’t ventured into scripting blocks yet - will give this a go.

Like others, I would appreciate the addition of this feature. Using an emoji in a Formula makes the data less semantic for use elsewhere, and having to write a bespoke script or automation is tedious. It seems much more intuitive to edit the formatting of a Formula or Rollup.

Surfacing some other posts that requested this functionality for the Airtable product team (over 13k views in aggregate, including this post):

• Setting a checkbox field using a formula
• Formulas that result in TRUE()/FALSE() can't be formatted correctly
• Conditional Formatting formula?

I would also like to echo this feature. This example has only a boolean as outcome, it would be great if we can format the outcome as such:

IF(Field=0, TRUE(), FALSE())

The interface to configure the outcome already exists for other formattable formulas. Here’s the current formatting options for a numeric outcome from a formula field:

I suggest a similar setting for a boolean outcome:

With the addition of the Interfaces product this is even more paramount than before.

These are no longer just “visual preferences”, they affect all the Airtable UI that depends on things being semantically a boolean (true/false) value.

This includes the use of Filters on interfaces, header groupings, API consumption and I’m sure other aspects that are not top of mind.

This is a very basic functionality that affects a lot of downstream consequences.
Please prioritize getting this in place!

Adding my voice to this one as well. Key issue on top of visuals in the base itself, is API calls for that field aren't returning true boolean like a checkbox does, but returns 1/0. Output needs to be the same as the checkbox output.

'Warning: The following Airtable records will be ignored because they have filed validation: Unexpected value [1] for [fields.1.Stop Work (Recon)]; expected value of type [[boolean]].'

This would be a very useful option please! I won't explain my reasons - they are all described by other users above

Almost 5 years to the day, and we still don't have such a simple and obvious improvement. We sometimes use emojis as a workaround but they are horrible as it it means both positive and negative glyphs are "truthy" values to IF(), their literal values are a pain to filter, etc.

Here from the future to add my name to the list of people requesting this formula! 

ZOMG they did it. Thank you, Airtable.