On Form Open, populate an User and Timestamp field. No way to trigger rule on Form Open?

Question

Hi!Use case: On opening a form (new or existing record) I want to auto-populate a field (e.g. timestamp field with now() and a user field with currentUser()) when the fields are currently empty.I tried the following:❌ A trigger that is just user == <other> with a blank field --> should be true on open but does not do anything❌ A custom when formula with the content `true` --> definetly true on open, but does not do anything❌ Record ID != -1 (also always true) does not do anything✅ A trigger "when checkbox is checked" using a helper checkbox: As soon as user checks, checkbox, the field fills correctly. But this is not the intended behaviour🤔 The options to change field value after save and validation also seems to work (mostly) But this is not the intended behaviour.Any way of enabling this pattern of "fill a field when form is opened (and field is empty)" would be helpful.

Denin · Accepted Answer

Just to clarify for anyone that needs help: You need to uncheck "Run change actions when a condition changes..." which will be checked by default. When you uncheck this, the rule will be applied instantly (on form open), otherwise it is only applied if a field value changes.

If you wanted to run the rule only on a new form, not an edit form, you can also add a rule like if Date Created = blank, then do something combined with above.

hueyal · Answer

I was able to successfully accomplish this with form rules.See screenshot for example for defaulting the user.  (A similar configuration works for defaulting a date field.)

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