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Inset a formula into a cell

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toufic_abboud
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

can i insert a formula into a cell to sum the values of a specific column?

2 Replies 2

Not in the way you may be used to with Spreadsheets. Airtable isn’t a spreadsheet, which means cells do not have a spatial relationship to each other. A cell does not know what cells are above or below it, and it cannot reference other cells directly.

All formulas take place at the level of a column (which is called a “Field” in Airtable). The same formula evaluates inside of every cell in the Field for which the formula is set. The formula can reference other Fields, and when it does, the cell for record #1 that is evaluating that formula will always look at the referenced field in record #1, never in another record. You cannot reference specific records directly within formulas.

The way you would SUM the values of a specific column in Airtable is by linking all records in your Table to another Table, which acts as shared table for making calculations. All records in Table 1 (where the records you want to sum are located) will be linked to THE SAME record in Table 2 (where you will perform your SUM calculation).

In Table 2, you will create a field that is of the type “Rollup”. Set it to look at the linked records from Table 1, the Field (column) from Table 1 you are wanting to sum, and using the SUM(values) rollup formula.

You can also Group by some criteria and look at the summary bar :tongue: