Validate New Drop-Down Options Before Saving
I have a drop down field that allows user to create new options, but I'd like to prevent people from adding any options with a specific key word. I thought I could accomplish this with a formula field that would just check if the drop-down field contained the key word. The problem I've run into is that it seems the formula fields are reading the new option as '_other' rather than what has been entered. I assume that is the placeholder that's used because the new option doesn't actually get saved to the drop-down field options list until the record is saved, but I cannot think of an alternative way to validate the field because of this issue. Here was my formula, just for reference: If( Contains([field],"Keyword"), Case([field], "Valid Option with Keyword",false, "Other Valid Option with Keyword",false, true), false )
Mobile Phone - add picture
We have an extensive Time & Expense app that I want to be able to add the receipt picture via the mobile device camera per expense record. Adding the expense is easy, but our current method of adding receipts is an event related table with a collection of receipts that are not oriented per expense (yes, that one fixable problem). Now, I could add the "Add Receipt" button to the expense record, but they still have to photograph the receipt first. I want to do this in one step - click the "add receipt" button, the camera open, take the pic, save to the expense record. Is there a way to do this while avoiding another expensive add-on like FastField license per user seat? Thank you,Formula Field Caching: When A Rich Text Display Lies to You
A Problem That Had Me Pulling My Hair Out In working on Version 2 of Realm Insights (one of the applications that makes up the Governance Core Apps), which is slated to release June 13, 2025, I was working on a pretty complex rich text formula field for the new Audit Logs Admin Console Connected Table enhancement. Picture this: You've built a beautiful audit dashboard in Quickbase with interactive pills that show activity counts and drill down to filtered records. Everything works perfectly... until it doesn't. I had created a sophisticated rich text formula field that displayed audit log statistics in a clean, interactive format (Governance Core Apps ↦ Realm Insights app ↦ Users table ↦ Audit Log Header). Users could adjust a "Days in the Past" filter to see activity for different time periods. The drilldown functionality worked flawlessly - click a pill showing "31" and you'd see exactly 31 matching records. But then something strange started happening. After changing the filter, the pills would still display "31" but clicking through would only show 10 actual records. The summary fields were updating correctly, the drilldown queries were working perfectly, but the visual display was frozen in time. The Maddening 1st Workaround The only way I could get the display to refresh was to: Go into the field properties Make any small edit (even just adding a space) Save the field Watch the "Refresh to Update" link appear Finally see the correct values display This worked every time, but asking users to edit field properties just to refresh a display? That's not exactly a sustainable solution. Understanding the Beast: Quickbase Formula Caching Here's what was actually happening behind the scenes: The Architecture: My rich text formula field lived in the Users table It referenced summary fields that calculated data from the Audit Logs table The filter ("Days in the Past") also lived in the Audit Logs table Summary fields like [# of Table Creates] updated correctly when filters changed But the rich text formula field had no idea its dependencies had changed The Cache Problem: User changes "Days in the Past" filter Summary fields recalculate (working correctly) Rich text formula stays cached with old values Drilldown URLs work because they use current filter state Display shows stale cached data The "edit field properties and save" trick worked because it forced Quickbase to recalculate the entire formula dependency chain from scratch. The Elegant Solution After exploring several complex approaches involving lookup fields, pipelines, and dependency triggers, the solution turned out to be beautifully simple: var text cacheBreaker = ToText(Now()); That's it. One line at the top of my rich text formula. Why This Works So Well This timestamp-based cache breaker is perfect because: Always unique - Now() gives a different value every time the formula evaluates Forces recalculation - Quickbase sees the formula dependencies have "changed" Lightweight - No complex calculations or additional fields needed Universal - Works regardless of table architecture or field relationships Future-proof - Will work even if you add more summary fields or change your data structure When to Use This Technique This cache-breaking approach is ideal when you have: Complex rich text formulas with cross-table dependencies Summary fields that update correctly but display values lag behind Interactive dashboards where real-time accuracy matters Situations where manual field editing triggers correct behavior Implementation Tips Place it early - Add the cache breaker at the very beginning of your formula Don't reference it - You don't need to use the $cacheBreaker variable anywhere else Test thoroughly - Verify both display values and drilldown functionality after implementing Document it - Leave a comment explaining why it's there for future developers The Bigger Picture This solution highlights an important principle in Quickbase development: sometimes the most elegant fix is the simplest one. While Quickbase is incredibly powerful, understanding its caching behavior can save you hours of frustration and overly complex workarounds. The next time you see formula fields that seem "stuck" displaying old values while their underlying data is correct, remember: a simple timestamp might be all you need to unstick them. Have you encountered similar caching issues in Quickbase? What solutions have worked for you? I'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments below.
Reveal long multi-line text by clicking an ellipsis
I have multi-line text fields with unlimited length. In table reports I'd like them to function like social media comments where long strings of text are revealed by clicking the ellipsis ('...'). Wondering if this can be done in a Formula-Rich Text field. Currently my field displays the text up to the 30th space character followed by an ellipsis; the full text displays in the hover-over bubble. This works but I'd prefer the simplicity of click-to-reveal. My current Formula-Rich Text field is as follows: var text TitleText = SearchAndReplace([Text Field], "\"", "'"); If(Part([Text Field], 30, " ") != "", "<p title=\"" & $TitleText & "\">" & Part([Text Field], 1, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 2, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 3, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 4, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 5, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 6, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 7, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 8, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 9, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 10, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 11, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 12, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 13, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 14, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 15, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 16, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 17, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 18, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 19, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 20, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 21, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 22, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 23, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 24, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 25, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 26, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 27, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 28, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 29, " ") & " " & Part([Text Field], 30, " ") & "...</p>", [Text Field])
Count days between 2 dates with a twist
I have a Start date and end date I am using the Weekdaysub(end date), (Start Date). but i want to add a IF statement like say to add saturdays to the mix. so if I was to set the date from 5/25/2025 and end on 5/30/2025 but if the saturdays check box was clicked it would also add the saturdays between those dates and return 6 (Monday-Saturday) and if the saturdays was not checked it would return 5 (Monday - Friday)Best practice for using @mention in a log rich text field.
Anybody have a best practice on using the 'Mention' feature in a log rich text field? My use case is: A rich text field w/ log edits turned on is used as a collaboration tool for team members to provide updates and ask each other questions. They mention each other in the comments and receive an email when they have been mentioned, via the handy 'send to users @mentioned' feature in the new notifications (see image below). However, when the 'Log edits' setting is turned on, Quickbase will email ALL the users who have ever been mentioned, when really we want just the person/people who were mentioned in the most recent comment. My workaround for this is to create a formula field to parse out the most recent comment and then a webhook or form rule to enter this value into another rich text field, with the @mention feature turned on. This last rich text field is used in the 'To' setting of the notification. This is a lot of work to simply use the mention feature! Is there a better way to do it that I'm missing?
Provide Link to New Record on Predecessor Record
I've created a system where when a user clicks "Create New Agreement" URL button, a new record will be created that brings over key information, including the "predecessors" record ID so that the new record can capture that this previous agreement is a "predecessor". However, I'm trying to figure out a way on how to link the "predecessor" record to the newly created agreement as I want a user to actively see in the "predecessor" record that this work has already been completed. Any recommendations on how to do this? Thanks!
