Caluclation field : get all previous records from the same app (table)

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1

I have an app that contains a list of invoice records. Is it possible to use the calculation field to display other records in the field without having a relationship between these records ?

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Short answer is, this is SORT of possible, but not without a lot of hacking.

By default, the only two types of tokens you can access in a calculation field are:

  • Fields that belong to the app in which you are building the calculation field
  • Fields that belong to apps related to the app in which you are building the calculation field

So, if I understand your question correctly, if you want to display other app data in a standard calc field without a relationship, this is impossible. You would need to relate the apps together. If you didn’t want to do this directly, you could build a system of date based apps (Years, Months, Quarters, etc.), get your data connected to those, and then connect all date contains to whatever reporting you’re building.

No matter what, there has to be a relationship of some kind.

That being said, there are other options though. Tape calculation fields are capable of having an iFrame and it works brilliantly. You can even control the width and height of the field to make sure it fits nicely into the template.

Some additional options for an iFrame are:

  • Building an external link workflow in the app that contains the invoice records, have the workflow collect whatever data is needed and format it correctly, and then your iFrame calc field could display the results of this workflow.

  • Using Procfu Mini Apps, either indirectly via links or via the iFrame method.

  • Finding some other way to collect and display the data, but still using the iFrame.

I really love iFrames for this, I use them all the time to display data that’s not necessarily in context. They work on mobile too and I hope this continues to be the case when the new mobile app is launched :slight_smile:

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Thanks Andrew - I suppose I knew the answer already but got a little used to some good stuff in Infolobby.

I will definitely try out the iframe idea - that sounds promising !

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I know there’s most likely a lot of hassle involved, but I will look forward to the possibility in the future that a Tape calculation field will be able to use the fetch() API. If that becomes possible, then we can achieve Infolobby style calcs and beyond!

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