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I’ve tested multiple formulas, and “=BLANK()” in conditional formulas works perfectly, but “!=BLANK()” does not work at all.



I was going to attach numerous screenshots walking through examples of this problem and how to reproduce it, but I am apparently a “New User” and am therefore limited to one screenshot - and it’s impossible to show everything necessary in one picture. Please fix this.


Did you try by replacing !=Blank() by !="" ?


Like this :



IF(

AND(

{Form Name?}!="",

{Form URL}!="",

{Notification Emails}!="",

{Submission Message?}!="",

{Google Sheet Tie-in?}=1

),

'✅',

'🚫'

)



Sometimes that’s just it … :woman_shrugging:


It’s also worth noting that I don’t think any of your “!= BLANK()” are necessary.



You can just say


IF({Form Name?},...)



If there is a value in the referenced field, it will evaluate to true, if there is no value (ie, it is blank), it will evaluate to false. No need for the superfluous “!= BLANK()”.


It’s also worth noting that I don’t think any of your “!= BLANK()” are necessary.



You can just say


IF({Form Name?},...)



If there is a value in the referenced field, it will evaluate to true, if there is no value (ie, it is blank), it will evaluate to false. No need for the superfluous “!= BLANK()”.


This works! Thanks! Still think they should get the !=BLANK() functionality working (there’s no reason it shouldn’t), but I appreciate the workaround.


Did you try by replacing !=Blank() by !="" ?


Like this :



IF(

AND(

{Form Name?}!="",

{Form URL}!="",

{Notification Emails}!="",

{Submission Message?}!="",

{Google Sheet Tie-in?}=1

),

'✅',

'🚫'

)



Sometimes that’s just it … :woman_shrugging:


Still think they should get the !=BLANK() functionality working (there’s no reason it shouldn’t), but this definitely works - I appreciate the help.


Still think they should get the !=BLANK() functionality working (there’s no reason it shouldn’t), but this definitely works - I appreciate the help.


BLANK() behaves strangely in regards to text fields; I suspect internally Airtable stores an empty string differently from the way it encodes a true null value.



For instance, try this:





  1. Using a new base, define a number field, and call it {A}.


  2. Define a formula field, {B}, with this formula: IF(A!=BLANK(),1,0).


  3. You should have three empty rows with two fields defined. Enter a number in the {A} cell for row 1. {B} for row 1 should change from 0 to 1.


  4. Do the same for {A}, row 2. Now the first two {B} cells should each contain 1.


  5. Delete the value from {A}, row 2. {B}, row 2 should reset to zero.




Now, follow the same steps, only this time make {A} a single-line text field. You’ll find that deleting the value from {A}, row 2, does not reset {B}.


😠



Just got bitten by this one again. Is this on the list guys?



Using the API in my case: [myDate != ‘’] works fine, nmyDate != Blank()] does not and in my case returned a truckload of records that didn’t need updating.


Piping up here to be another person struggling with this. The workaround works, but I just spent so much time trying to figure out what was faulty with my logic when the answer was nothing 😦 Please make !=blank() work—it’s a standard assumption once you know =blank() does work.


Chiming in with agreement here. 😦


I was having similar difficulty using the BLANK() function. I was reading these community posts for help.



This simple filter shows the records where the Project Value (currency field) is empty works as expected.





I assumed the following formula would work in field and present the same results:





It did not, hence the name of the field, Project Value Blank or $0.00 as it returns 1 for $0.00 as well as empty fields.



Somehow, when I use this formula:



NOT({PROJECT VALUE}!=BLANK())



It only returns the empty or blank records as desired. Anyone want to explain this logic?





Hopefully, using the NOT() function will help others here with their use cases.


I was having similar difficulty using the BLANK() function. I was reading these community posts for help.



This simple filter shows the records where the Project Value (currency field) is empty works as expected.





I assumed the following formula would work in field and present the same results:





It did not, hence the name of the field, Project Value Blank or $0.00 as it returns 1 for $0.00 as well as empty fields.



Somehow, when I use this formula:



NOT({PROJECT VALUE}!=BLANK())



It only returns the empty or blank records as desired. Anyone want to explain this logic?





Hopefully, using the NOT() function will help others here with their use cases.


@Eric_Petersen: check Blank() & Zero problem or the link a couple of posts higher: Using "!=blank()" is not returning the correct result :winking_face:


@Eric_Petersen: check Blank() & Zero problem or the link a couple of posts higher: Using "!=blank()" is not returning the correct result :winking_face:


Try:


not(field != blank())


I am curious you have a working solution @Tuur now.


Try:


not(field != blank())


I am curious you have a working solution @Tuur now.


Sure. As explained it the posts above. 🙂



It still is an Airtable bug though.


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