Skip to main content

Formula Field Character Limit

  • March 29, 2018
  • 5 replies
  • 45 views
J
Forum|alt.badge.img+18

Is there a character limit in the Formula field type beyond which the formula no longer processes? It allows me to type in arbitrarily long formulas, but I notice that sometimes after a certain point the editor no long suggests auto-fill options when typing in the formula, and when I finish writing a long one, it seems like the end parts of the formula don’t process. Then when I go back to look at the formula, the end part of it is not present in the Formula box, even though I know I typed it in there.

(A separate, but related issue - the thing I am trying to accomplish with this is converting a month number from a date field to the month name. So my hyper-long formula starts IF(MonthNum=1,"January",IF(MonthNum=2,"February",IF(... etc. If you know another way I can accomplish this that wouldn’t run into character limits, that’d be great too - thanks!

      5 replies

      W
      Forum|alt.badge.img+5
      • W_Vann_Hall
      • Inspiring
      • March 29, 2018

      To answer your second question, try

      DATETIME_FORMAT(DATETIME_PARSE(MonthNum&'','M'),'MMMM')

      I can’t imagine the formula you cite could come anywhere close to maxing out Airtable’s maximum formula length or even a maximum line length (if such a thing exists); I suspect you’ll shortly receive a request from someone like @Kasra asking for specifics of your implementation. In the meantime, Airtable will accept formulas formatted in a more-traditional style,such as

      DATETIME_FORMAT(
    DATETIME_PARSE(
        MonthNum&'','M'
        ),
    'MMMM'
    )

      You can copy-and-paste either version of that formula into your base.

      J
      Forum|alt.badge.img+18

      To answer your second question, try

      DATETIME_FORMAT(DATETIME_PARSE(MonthNum&'','M'),'MMMM')

      I can’t imagine the formula you cite could come anywhere close to maxing out Airtable’s maximum formula length or even a maximum line length (if such a thing exists); I suspect you’ll shortly receive a request from someone like @Kasra asking for specifics of your implementation. In the meantime, Airtable will accept formulas formatted in a more-traditional style,such as

      DATETIME_FORMAT(
    DATETIME_PARSE(
        MonthNum&'','M'
        ),
    'MMMM'
    )

      You can copy-and-paste either version of that formula into your base.


      Perfect, thank you @W_Vann_Hall! I did not know that DATETIME_FORMAT could return a non-numeric month like that.

      W
      Forum|alt.badge.img+5
      • W_Vann_Hall
      • Inspiring
      • March 29, 2018

      Perfect, thank you @W_Vann_Hall! I did not know that DATETIME_FORMAT could return a non-numeric month like that.


      DATETIME_FORMAT() and DATETIME_PARSE() are capable of all sorts of neat stuff.

      My latest fun hack has been to use the 'X' format specifier to calculate a ‘days since Unix Epoch’ identifier, providing a unique numeric ID for any date between January 1, 1970, and January 19, 2038. I can then use this ‘days since epoch’ value to access data from other records to use in calculations in the current record to do things like create a running balance, track the difference in price from that of the previous day, display a week’s worth of data in a sliding window, and the like.

      J
      Forum|alt.badge.img+18

      DATETIME_FORMAT() and DATETIME_PARSE() are capable of all sorts of neat stuff.

      My latest fun hack has been to use the 'X' format specifier to calculate a ‘days since Unix Epoch’ identifier, providing a unique numeric ID for any date between January 1, 1970, and January 19, 2038. I can then use this ‘days since epoch’ value to access data from other records to use in calculations in the current record to do things like create a running balance, track the difference in price from that of the previous day, display a week’s worth of data in a sliding window, and the like.


      Sir, you are a scholar and a gentleman. I will be poring over the “Show and Tell” forums this weekend! New to Airtable, but boy do I love it.

      L

      To answer your second question, try

      DATETIME_FORMAT(DATETIME_PARSE(MonthNum&'','M'),'MMMM')

      I can’t imagine the formula you cite could come anywhere close to maxing out Airtable’s maximum formula length or even a maximum line length (if such a thing exists); I suspect you’ll shortly receive a request from someone like @Kasra asking for specifics of your implementation. In the meantime, Airtable will accept formulas formatted in a more-traditional style,such as

      DATETIME_FORMAT(
    DATETIME_PARSE(
        MonthNum&'','M'
        ),
    'MMMM'
    )

      You can copy-and-paste either version of that formula into your base.


      I have the same problem with my formular. The last part of the response text (multiple select) does not appear, can not be read. This formular is not hosted in any web. What can I do?

      Thank you

      Lidia

        Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement