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May 02, 2018 06:43 AM
I have created a base for my classmates to update their contact info. How can I make the state field the 2 letter abbreviation vs the state name spelled out?
May 02, 2018 02:23 PM
Could you leave a example? :thinking:
May 02, 2018 03:58 PM
Instead of “Indiana” I only want the 2 letter abbreviation “IN”
May 03, 2018 06:30 AM
Can you just make the field a single select and enter the two letter abbreviations you want them to choose from?
May 03, 2018 09:02 AM
Maybe the LEFT
function helps you: https://support.airtable.com/hc/en-us/articles/203255215-Formula-field-reference#text
May 03, 2018 03:33 PM
Actually thought about that but would need to enter all 50. Thought there might be a quicker way.
May 03, 2018 05:59 PM
But, you only have to do it once.
May 04, 2018 03:53 AM
It’s actually not that hard to do:
That said, here’s a faster, easier way:
{State}
field.{State Select}
.{State Abbreviations}
in Row 1.Ctrl-C
to copy that cell.{State Select}
in Row 1.Ctrl-V
to paste the value into that cell.{State Select}
for record 1 is set to 'AK'
; the field type changes to single-select, with the 53[1] state options already configured.
You can now copy-and-paste your existing {State}
column — assuming it has been normalized to use correct abbreviations only — into the {State Select}
field to convert the data already entered to single-select format. (Note if {State}
contains any invalid abbreviations or spelled-out state names, they will be added as additional options to your single-select — probably not what you want.)