Report Link Field, displaying different field

Question

I think this is a known but haven't been able to find anything online yet.

We have a Report Link field (not in a relationship) that displays records from another table. In this example the Report Link matches off the Year field present in both tables. We want to display the number of records found and not the Year field used to find matching records. When the report link field is added to a report it shows the Year as the link to the records. When the Report Link field is displayed on a form as a Report, the count is correct, so the data is there. How to display the number of records found, the count and not the Year?

There are no options in the Report Link properties allowing a developer to pick which field is displayed.

If this makes sense, is there an alternative solution we are not using?

I'm thinking about investigating using a Rich Text formula with the Report Link to style the Report Link array if that is possible but I doubt it.
Also thinking about displaying the form as a report on a page.

Thoughts?

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Jim Harrison
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michaeltamoush · Answer

I've had this same issue. For me, even though there was no relationship, somewhere, somehow along the way I was able to get that number, and pass it all around through lookup fields until it got to the table I wanted. A lot of times it can be a bit tricky, but sometimes if you dive deep enough you find a way....and it involves a maze of summary and lookup fields....

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Mike Tamoush
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michaeltamoush · Answer

Ahh, the famous 'you cannot create a summary field at this time'. I can do a brief explanation, but lucky for you Mark, who is also replying on this thread taught me what I am about to explain, so he can expand if needed.

When a formula field is your related field, you will get that error. The solution is to make another field that is your formula field (copy paste the exact formula you are using). Then change your current related formula field to a manual entry field (I usually call mine - Related Field Formula, and Related Field Manual).

Utilize a combination of dynamic form rules, automations, or table to table imports to constantly be copying your formula field to your manual field.

Now that your manual field is the actual related field, you can use it to make summary fields.

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Mike Tamoush
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markshnier__you · Answer

MikeThis part of your response is not quite correct.When a formula field is your related field, you will get that error.You are certainly allowed to have formula fields as reference fields on the right side of a relationship. However if that formula field directly or indirectly uses a look up field then it becomes invalid as a reference field for the purpose of making summary fields.&nbsp; &nbsp;There is a link that comes up when that error appears which explains which field types are not allowed as a reference field, But the typical problem is that the formula field uses a lookup field as part of its formula.As you stated, the typical work around if it is necessary to make that relationship is to instead have a scalar data entry field as the Related field and have an automated process copy the formula field into the scalar data entry field. This can be done with automations, or form rules, and if you need an extra safety net you can put in a nightly saved a table to table copy to copy the formula field into the scalar data entry field.------------------------------Mark Shnier (YQC)Quick Base Solution ProviderYour Quick Base Coachhttp://QuickBaseCoach.commark.shnier@gmail.com------------------------------

markshnier__you · Answer

Do you want to get summary totals the only way to do that at this time is to create a relationship and do a summary field. There was talk at EMPOWER about improvements to the formula language which will allow us to do a query right in formula field but that does not yet exist.

The alternative is to embed a summary report on your form which will show just a summary count on a one line summary report. You may need to use a dummy field to summarize on so all records summarized onto one line of the report.

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Mark Shnier (YQC)
Quick Base Solution Provider
Your Quick Base Coach
http://QuickBaseCoach.com
mark.shnier@gmail.com
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jimharrison · Answer

I guess I should mention the error I get when using a formula as a reference when trying to create a summary...

We are sorry -- at this time, you cannot create a summary field using a relationship where the reference field is this type of formula field. Please visit our limits page (https://hardermech.quickbase.com/db/main?act=dohelp&page=quickbase_limits) or contact Care for more information.

I'm going to try a snapshot and then a webhook to a text field.

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Jim Harrison
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Report Link Field, displaying different field

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