Forum Discussion

JoshCollins's avatar
JoshCollins
Qrew Assistant Captain
9 years ago

Can I use a field multiple times in the same form?

Hello,

I'm working on setting up a new Quickbase app. I'm probably a 3 out of 10 when it comes to Quickbase programming knowledge.

My application is a very light-weight CRM/Estimate/Project Management tool for my construction company.

When providing an estimate to a customer, I need to be able to fill out numerous line items, give a description of each, then a price for each.

I am running into a problem when it comes to the creating the estimate form.

I have a Multiple Choice Text field with the different categories of services we perform.  My idea was to use the Multiple Choice Text field about 50 times on the form where the user selects the service category for each new line item they would like to include on the estimate, then enters a unique description of the work to be performed and a price to go along with that line item.  If this were built in excel, the column headers would be "Category, Description, Price."  

The issue is that Quickbase does not allow me to use the Category field more than once on a form.

I'm sure the best solution is NOT to create 50 different Category fields to accommodate the necessary line items.  Does anyone have a simple solution for this? (If the simple solution includes creating a new table for the categories, then referencing it on the Estimate form, please be as detailed as possible.  I've tried this and don't understand Quickbase enough to get it to work.)

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Josh
  • ChrisChris's avatar
    ChrisChris
    Qrew Assistant Captain
    9 years ago
    If you make a formula text field from that Category field, you will be able to use the formula text field multiple times.
    • JoshCollins's avatar
      JoshCollins
      Qrew Assistant Captain
      9 years ago
      Thanks for the suggestion Chris.  Is there a specific formula you had in mind that would create the multiple choice options?

      Sorry...I'm a newbie!

      Josh
  • ChrisChris's avatar
    ChrisChris
    Qrew Assistant Captain
    9 years ago

    Josh,

    Sorry, I did not read this carefully enough. You have the right idea to make a child table for Category, Description, Price. The Category field in the child table would be a drop down list.

    In the Parent Estimate table's form, embed the child Category record. You do this by embedding the report link of Estimate, then, in the properties for the Parent Estimate form, go to this report link. Configure on the right hand side to "display related Category directly on the form".


    Table structure:

    Estimates Parent >>> Child Category, Description, Price table.

    Does this make sense?

    • JoshCollins's avatar
      JoshCollins
      Qrew Assistant Captain
      9 years ago
      Hey Chris, I've followed your instructions but the result I'm getting isn't quite what I am expecting.  I'm sure I've done something wrong.  Screenshot below.

      I think I'm just a little too inexperienced on how to build this correctly.  Is there a resource for hiring some development help that you are aware of?

      Thanks again!

  • LauraThacker's avatar
    LauraThacker
    Qrew Captain
    9 years ago
    Is your structure like this:

    Estimate Table < Estimate Items

    In your Estimate would be your single-entry data such as date, customer name etc.  Then in your Estimate Items would be each individual "line item" that forms part of the Estimate.  This would be where you would select your category, select a line item etc. assign a quantity and enter or auto-calculate pricing for those line items.

    Then you can summarize your total pricing to the Estimate Table where you then get your "total" for your Estimate.

    The idea behind the child-table of estimate items is that each item has a single-selection field for each value that creates a unique-line item with its own qty and pricing.  I would not recommend building a list of line items in a single table using tens of "selection"/"entry" fields.

    I'd be happy to work through this with you offline and give you some guidance.
    • JoshCollins's avatar
      JoshCollins
      Qrew Assistant Captain
      9 years ago
      Thank you!  How do I contact you offline?

      Josh
    • LauraThacker's avatar
      LauraThacker
      Qrew Captain
      9 years ago
      Click on my profile name-link, QuickBasePros and my phone # and email are there.
  • ChrisChris's avatar
    ChrisChris
    Qrew Assistant Captain
    9 years ago

    Josh,

    Actually, you're off to a good start and you have exactly what I envisioned and explained. The user would create the Category child records in the Grid Edit report you have there. The Estimate parent record would be created at the same time as those child records.

    If you ever wanted to make edits, just pull up the parent Estimate record, or, you can open each individual Category child record and edit those individually in their own form.

    But, what you have here is excellent, and you're demonstrating an equally excellent understanding of QuickBase and how it works.


    • MCFNeil's avatar
      MCFNeil
      Qrew Captain
      9 years ago
      Josh (and Chris),

      The relationship is backwards.  You currently have it where each line item has many estimates.  

      You'll need to delete that relationship, and build a new one going the other direction.  
      >
      Each Estimate has many line item descriptions.

      Then you can do the same thing with the editable child (line item) table.  
  • DynDyn's avatar
    DynDyn
    Qrew Cadet
    8 years ago

    Hi, I have the same question as well.

    Basically, I have a drop down (lookup) field - company name, which is linked to the "Company" table. Would like to have multiple of it on the "Sales Enquiry" form, in case we get the same job enquiry from different companies.

    Tried duplicating the field and included that in the form, but it won't show 2 different company name records

  • NarayananKumbak's avatar
    NarayananKumbak
    Qrew Cadet
    8 years ago
    If your requirement is simply to display the field value multiple times in the same form, you could make a copy of the field (say field 2 which will be a formula text field = [field 1]). Field 2 can be added to the form any number of times. This helped me in my use case and I am not sure of it satisfies your requirement.