Calculations

[JckDY]

What is the difference between formula fields and calculated fields/values?  Which is better to use?

Help plssss

[Perzival]

Hi @JckDY,

The calculated field works better in some cases especially when it comes to reporting, however it will always depends on your work flow. Like for instance, the  advantage of the formula field is the value is being stored in the table, that said the formula field would be more effective when you need to save the calculated input from your DataPage to your Table,  because the calculated field/value can't be saved in the table. On the other hand, If you don't need to save the information in the table, you may want to use the Calculated field as it is more flexible and powerful with SQL and can also logically pass parameters.

You may visit the following articles for much detailed info.

https://howto.caspio.com/datapages/datapage-components/calculated-values/

https://howto.caspio.com/tables-and-views/data-types/formula-fields/

 

Cheers,

Z

 

[JolliBeng]

Hi JckDY,

If you want to see the result right after you entered the data on your fields, you can use Calculated Values.

Here is a sample Submission Form that has a Calculated Value.

-JolliBeng

[DefinitelyNot31337]

Hi @JckDY,

 

Formula Fields and Calculated Fields are fundamentally the same. Their values are processed and can be dynamic based by the values of the other fields.

 

To give you further insight, I'll just give a few contrast points between the two.

* Everything that a formula field can do, a calculated field can.

* A formula field is defined on a table-level, whereas a calculated field is defined in a DataPage.

* A formula field may only reference to fields that are in the same table, while a calculated field may select/reference to fields from other tables (Most SQL queries)

* Last point, I think, is that formula fields may only have scalar values, meaning it does not have the ability to do SELECT statements, Subqueries, and get the current time, which a calculated field can.

 

So the deciding factor on which to use would be the scope of the field.

* If you want to be using a computed table field across multiple DataPages, Triggers, Views via a DataSource, formula field is the way to go.

* If you would be using a function that is not doable in a formula field, go for calculated fields instead.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Regards,

DN31337

[JolliBeng]

Hi !

Just to add more information about the Calculated Values: As of Dec. 6, 2016, 

• Calculated Values can use other Calculated Values in Submission Forms.

You may want to check Caspio Bridge 16.0 to know more about the details about the current release.

 

-JolliBeng

[NailDyanC]

Just to add in the previous comments above, you may check this link for the formulas that you can use only in Formula fields and in Calculated values: https://howto.caspio.com/function-reference/