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])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 $cacheBreaker variable anywhere else Test thoroughly - Verify both display values and drilldown functionality after implementing Document it - Leave a comment explaining why it's there for future developers The Bigger Picture This solution highlights an important principle in Quickbase development: sometimes the most elegant fix is the simplest one. While Quickbase is incredibly powerful, understanding its caching behavior can save you hours of frustration and overly complex workarounds. The next time you see formula fields that seem "stuck" displaying old values while their underlying data is correct, remember: a simple timestamp might be all you need to unstick them. Have you encountered similar caching issues in Quickbase? What solutions have worked for you? I'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments below.
[Snippet] How we Stop Backdating Entries from user
Starting a new series on sharing some knowledge. We have a simple app where we ask users to do production entries from shop floor daily in date , capturing it in [Production Date] We only wanted backdated entries for 1 day , so if today is 21 February 2025, entry for 20 Feb 2025 is allowed. Here's how we achieved it. Below is a Formula Field called Validations. var date decide = If(IsNull([Record ID#]),Today(),ToDate([Date Created])); var number daydiff= ($decide-[Production Date])/Days(1); If($daydiff<0,"You cannot do entry for future", $daydiff>1,"You cannot do entry for past","OK") We then went to Settings->Advance Settings-> Custom Rules - Turn ON If( [Validation]<>"OK",[Validation] )
Printing to Dymo Label Printer
Hello all, I just wanted to share how I was able to successfully set up a print button to print using a Dymo label. I have been searching online for a solution and I was being pointed to Trinity and that just wasn't an option with my organization. So below is the steps I took to get what I needed. Step 1 Create a Formula Rich Text field with the address information. Below is the formula I used to get it my address in one field. Everywhere you see brackets, those are my field names. I have Name, Organization, Street Address, Street Address-2, City, State/Region and Postal Code. You will need to change those names in my formula to fit your field names. Also, we have some [Organization] that are very long so we I had to add some adjustments to the font if the character length got to a certain size. My formula is attached in the word document labelled "Step 1 Formula". Step 2 Create a form on that table that specifically displays only the formula rich text field you created above. My field is named Address Label. The only thing you need to put on that form is the Address Label field you created in Step 1. Remember to hide your label on the form to remove the name of the field. The picture attached labeled "Step 2" shows what my form looks like. It won't be much since its only one field with a hidden label. Step 3 Make note of the Form Id number for your new form. Mine is '10'. Step 4 Create a formula URL field on your table to execute the print. My field is labeled "Print". I also made it a button for a cleaner look. The formula I used for my button is attached labeled "Step 4 formula and field settings" Replace Realm Name, TableID, [Record ID#] and IDofTheForm with your information. Realm Name Located in your URL browser. Mine is dekalbcountyga https://dekalbcountyga.quickbase.com/ TableID Located in your URL on the table you are wanting to access just before the /table. In this example, mine is kdubsk9v kdubsk9v/table [Record ID#] This is the key field in your table. The default for every table is [Record ID#], however, if you changed the name of your key field like I did, you will need to put that field name there. IDofTheForm Located in your main Form page. Previously I showed mine was 10 Change the settings in that field to display a button, open in a new window, etc. Image attached labeled "Step 4" is a screenshot of all my settings in this fieldOnce you have that done, the only thing you need to do is in the print settings, after you select your Dymo printer, you will need to change your margins to None. I am in now way a Quickbase pro but I will help anyway I can. Hopefully you all find this useful. :)Formula help with multiple choices
I thought I saved the one I added so if this is duplicate I apologize, I could not find my original. I want to have a formula field that says this but the , between Pacific Dunes 2 and [#of people in party}+1*9.63 is turning yellow and I have tried ( ) and,, but I can't get this to work. It tells me its expecting a comma If(Contains([Salesroom]="Pacific Dunes 1","Pacific Dunes 2", [# of people in party]+1*9.63) What I would ultimately like is If(Contains([Salesroom]="Pacific Dunes 1","Pacific Dunes 2", and GSlandsend [# of people in party]+1*9.63) or If[Saleroom]="Playa Grande" [#ofpeopleinparty]+1*7.81) that way I only have to have one field instead of 3 fields - I have two of the fields working like this If(([Salesroom])="GS Landsend", [# of people in party]+1*9.63) But as soon as I add more salesroom it doesn't like it Thank you so much Edit I was wrong its not even multiplying correctly so there is something wrong in the *9.63 or *7.81 Example - column # of people 3 and then plus 1 would be 28.89 but its coming out a weird number of 11.63 ?? I actually got it to add correctly by If(([Salesroom])="GS Landsend", [# of people in party]*9.63)+9.63Solved - Help with a formula
I am trying to build a formula and it's coming out with the wrong numbers. I am trying to replicate an excel spreadsheet. The formula they have is Total for this 8111.59 I have a numerical field called Purchase Price: example ($22,556.03) I have a numerical currency field called Closing cost : ($1950) I have a currency formula field called Closing Cost – 400/2 ([Closing Cost]-400): ($750) This is the field I am having trouble with field Closing -400/2-IVA Closing Cost -400/2/1.16 ( this number should be 667.10) it comes out at 4843.75 Last field is Currency formula [Purchase Price]*0.33+[Closing Cost minus 400/2]-[Closing -400/2-IVA] This field should have a sum of 8111.59 It would be nice if I could do this all in one formula field but I am not great at formulas so I thought breaking it down step by step would work – so that the person using it in reports would be able to see step by step I am lost and I am hoping someone can help me thanks a bunch - hope that made sense
Testing for Empty Forms
Hello, Each client within my app has a form/page with centralized information. On this form, there are many sections, including a section for files. Based on our company policy each active client needs to have a consent document signed for us to offer services. We want to be able to flag for our staff if a client form is missing a consent document. I figure I can use the IsNull formula, but I'm not completely sure how to leverage it. We have a checkbox formula set up to indicate whether an uploaded file is categorized as a consent document. Is there some way I could use this checkbox field with the IsNull formula to indicate if a client is missing their consent document? Any other ideas on how to gather this information? Thank you in advance! Abby :)
Extracting multiple substrings from a text string
I have a text string that contains data similar to the following: Company Name 1 | P25021201 - 4341297 | stp01YWTFMSXKS5f6u2z | $1200.00 | Company Name 2 | P25021201 - 4341112 | stp01RFEQRMDTC5f6u0l | $2400.00 | Wallet I need to extract the data that starts with "stp" and return it in the following format: stpxxxx1, stpxxxxx (i.e. stp01YWTFMSXKS5f6u2z, stp01RFEQRMDTC5f6u0l The problem is the number of "stp" strings in the text is unknown. Does QB support a looping mechanism? If yes, I could simply find the 1st stp string, remove it from the text string and keep looping until no more stp strings are found. Any help with this is greatly appreciated as it is causing an issue with a production app.Formula Help
Hello! We use quickbase to track legal agreements we issue. We have a field "Type of Agreement" that we populate with the agreement we issued. We would like to track how many hours we spend overall and have determined how long each type of agreement takes. I need a formula to take the Type of Agreement field and read it and know if its (ex.) MNDA it should show 3.75 hours. Can someone help?
