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Formula fields: active versus static settings in in Field Organiser - Visokio Forums
Formula fields: active versus static settings in in Field Organiser
  •     Mees June 21, 2011 4:49PM
    Hi - We have noticed that formula fields created in DM blocks, suddenly remain active formula fields downstream and that the field's source fields therefore must be preserved. This has never been the case as far as we know, and our DM server-side files are developed based on not having this persistence of some fileds downstream.

    This causes major issues for us as it affects current DM files we are running for clients. For some an error pops up, but for some we are not sure if they still work as they should (which is even worse).

    - Is this expected behaviour for you?
    - When yes, is their an option to turn off this behaviour?
    - Can we do this for all blocks in the iok at once, in stead of opening all blocks we have?.

    Thanks
  • 13 Comments
  •     chris June 21, 2011 5:03PM
    Hi,

    We recently changed the default setting to allow formula's to remain downstream. Previously the default was for formulas to be changed to static fields. Your old workflow's should retain the original setting. You can turn on/off this behavior by clicking on the block tools dropdown and checking/unchecking "Preserve formula fields". There is no way to change this setting for all blocks at the moment. What does everyone think? Should we make the default for formulas to persisist or should it be that formulas are changed to static values?
  •     Mees June 22, 2011 2:09AM
    Chris many thanks for your quick answer. Very happy to hear that old DM files should still work and we can turn on/off the functionality. Few things however:

    1. We have tried the "Preserve formula in output" field but seems not be working or we use it incorrect. Situation: Field Organiser 1 had Date field field and a formula field that retrieves the Weeknumber from the Date field with the 'Dateunit' formula. Field Organiser 2 has both fields as well, but the Date field must be deleted and the Week field must remain. What should be the settings in terms of the "Preserve formula in output" field.

    2. Two days ago we had a bug we could solve, but we coudn't understand its origin. Now we can as it was caused by this functionality. It does however mean that old files do not always work on the old setting as you mentioned in your post. Situation: Two fields 'Company name' and 'Address1'. Because of not having a proper ID field we created an ID by combining these two fields in a formula field (not pretty we know, but sufficient for that particular dataset). Address1 was renamed to 'Address' in the same block and the formula field recognised the renamed fieldname. This was the bug, as the formula field now expects the old fieldname (Address1). I am sure we have more fields of this kind and that is a serious risk for us as we are not sure.

    3. I would appreciate a button to turn it off/on for all blocks

    4. I prefer having the old situation, so having static values in blocks downstream for the formula fields.

    Thanks
  •     chris June 22, 2011 6:03AM
    Hi,

    We have now changed the default behaviour of formula fields being converted to static fields by default in DataManager.

  •     chris June 22, 2011 6:41AM
    We are in the process of generating a new release with this change. In the meantime please use build b666.
  •     chris June 22, 2011 12:21PM
    Hi. Omniscope b675 is now available on the server. This release contains the fix described above.
  •     Mees June 23, 2011 4:03AM
    thanks Chris. This helps us a lot. Thanks for the flexibility Visokio!!
  •     chris June 23, 2011 4:23AM
    Hi. We will be implementing the following changes in the next few days:

    - If a block has formula fields, the number of formulas will be indicated in the block description, eg: 10 fields (5), 50 records. The number in brackets (which will also be blue) indicates the number of formula fields).

    - We will be adding an option in the view tools dropdown to turn on/off "Preserve formulas" for ALL blocks in the workflow.

    - We will be implementing non-intrusive messages that inform you when you have created a formula that is being converted to static values.
  •     chris June 24, 2011 10:25AM
    The changes described above have now been made. These will all be available in tonight's Omniscope 2.6 release.
  •     schergr December 2, 2011 5:04PM
    In trying to create a formula in the Field Organizer, I noted that I cannot use Variables. is this a bug, or by design? I see that I can use the variables in tables, but not when created through the field organizer block. thoughts?
  •     steve December 3, 2011 2:02AM
    You can. However you must define the variables outside of the formula editor.

    In the Field Organiser block, click Tools at the bottom, and Edit Variables.

    You will be able to define the constraints of the variables (min, max etc.) and the initial & default value. Then, when the data has been loaded into Omniscope, variable sliders and input boxes will allow you to change the variable value on a given tab.
  •     schergr December 5, 2011 8:29AM
    There is no "Tools" option in the "field Organiser" block. I am on Build 650. Is that the issue?
  •     steve December 5, 2011 9:08AM
    Yes. 2.6 left 'Alpha' in August. You should upgrade as soon as possible.
    http://www.visokio.com/download
  •     schergr December 5, 2011 10:01AM
    Done. Thanks.
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