Trig Functions Formula?

[Bo-Fone]

It’s 2020 halfway through. Are we getting trig functions in formula field? I need to have the ability to instantly calculating values when some fields are populated (no script block manual triggering).

[Bill_French]

Ho @Bo-Fone and welcome to the community!

Bo-Fone:

I need to have the ability to instantly calculating values when some fields are populated (no script block manual triggering).

Okay - I predict you will see triggered (automated) script blocks before you see formulas to support this. That leaves you with one out (in the meantime) - server-side javascript calling into Airtable via the API and updating fields. And by “server-side” I mean something like Google Apps Script or NodeJS with Google Apps Script getting my vote because it’s the least costly and fastest time-to-production route.

I’ll make another prediction, trig functions will eventually appear in Airtable but not as native formulas; instead, as Scripts in Blocks when script blocks can serve as the development environment for extensible formulas.

[ScottWorld]

Bo-Fone:

It’s 2020 halfway through. Are we getting trig functions in formula field? I need to have the ability to instantly calculating values when some fields are populated (no script block manual triggering).

What trigonometry functions are you looking for?

I definitely wouldn’t hold your breath on this one. There have been ZERO improvements to formulas in Airtable since March 2016. It is one of the top areas of Airtable which is in desperate need of a major upgrade, and yet it has gotten no love, no improvements, and no attention from the Airtable team in over 4 years.

In addition to the major overhaul that is needed for the formula functions themselves, even the formula box itself has problems: it chokes on curly quotes, it doesn’t tell you where the error in your formula is, it condenses long formulas that were once nicely spaced out with spaces & carriage returns into one indecipherable blob of text, it has no color coding, etc.

You’re either going to have to:

1. Turn to JavaScript to help you with this, but scripts are not automatically triggered like formulas are.

or

2. Turn to an external website to help you with this, and use an automation tool like Integromat or Zapier to help you automate the process.

[Olpy_Acaflo]

Bill.French:

I’ll make another prediction, trig functions will eventually appear in Airtable but not as native formulas; instead, as Scripts in Blocks when script blocks can serve as the development environment for extensible formulas.

:winking_face:

Nice predictions, Mr FRENCH, isn’t it ?

:slightly_smiling_face:

[Bill_French]

ScottWorld:

Turn to an external website to help you with this, and use an automation tool like Integromat or Zapier to help you automate the process.

I don’t believe the glu-factories can assist in this requirement because their integrated scripting environments don’t support trig functions (last I checked). And this is why I said “server-side javascript”; it has to be a script environment capable of performing the math computations that @Bo-Fone wants to do.

[Justin_Barrett]

I have a hunch that this upcoming feature will make this process a little easier:

New beta: scripting action Scripting app

:wave: Zach here from the Airtable team. We have a new beta launching soon that may interest anyone who’s been using scripting block. With the scripting action beta, you can trigger a script to automatically run when a record enters a view in an Airtable base. For example, you can run a script when a form is submitted, or when a change is made either inside Airtable or using the Airtable API. If you’d be interested in trying out the scripting action and sharing your feedback, fill out this q…

[Bill_French]

Justin_Barrett:

this upcoming feature will make this process a little easier:

My data shows that no less than 71 feature requests in the community will be impacted in a favorable way by this feature. But that’s really the tip of the iceberg. Imagine all of the complicated Zaps and Integromat machinations that could be rendered needless with this capability. Surely not every external process can be displaced, not can many of them be displaced easily - but a fair number will vanish over time and move closer to “home”.

[Jeremy_Oglesby]

:thinking: … I came up with 72… there must be an error in my math.

:winking_face:

[Bill_French]

Indeed. ElasticSearch is generally spot-on with counts.

[Bo-Fone]

Thank you all for that insightful information! I will try out the new beta features. And in the meantime, I will just open my browser 24/7 and run script block non-stop to achieve this function. Until Airtable dislikes me by doing that or they make some updates. :shushing_face: :smirk: