# Seriously coniditonal formuals needed **URL:** \ **Category:** Ask the Community\ **Created:** [April 10, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://forums.knack.com/t/seriously-coniditonal-formuals-needed/14073 "2023-04-10T19:39:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RayWindlow47079](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.knack.com/raywindlow47079/32/4715_2.png) [@RayWindlow47079](https://forums.knack.com/u/RayWindlow47079)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://forums.knack.com/t/seriously-coniditonal-formuals-needed/14073/1 "2023-04-10T19:39:13Z")
I posted earlier but I want to push again that what is desperately needed is conditional formulas. We have a powerful system going here BUT SADLY LACKING IN SOME PRETTY BASIC MAJOR FEATURES. In my database I have the possibility of a SOLDIER being taken as a POW. Not all only some There is a flag to tell you YES or No We construct a text formula to tell us when where and where he was imprisoned. But text formulas being DUMB do not allow us to tell the system DO NOT GENERATE THIS TEXT FORMULA RESPONSE IF THE FLAG IS NO OR THE DATE TAKEN PRISONER IS NO. For the data to be meaningful free text needs to be added to it “Date Taken Prisoner :” for example. Because we can’t specify that the text formula should or should not be generated. EVERY SINGLE RECORD in the database ends up with the free form text “Date Taken Prisoner :” even though the flag is set to now he was not a POW. I have mutiple fields that needs conditional formatting and decisions.Because of the lack of CONDITIONAL PROCESSING every one of those fields contain text whether they are applicable or not. MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR WEAKNESS - PLEASE RESOLVE - CONTIIONAL FORMATTING IS INTEGRAL TO DATABASE DESIGN ---
**Author:** ![Ranasha](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.knack.com/ranasha/32/1785_2.png) [@Ranasha](https://forums.knack.com/u/Ranasha)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 8:07pm UTC](https://forums.knack.com/t/seriously-coniditonal-formuals-needed/14073/2 "2023-04-10T20:07:52Z")
Hi Ray, Thank you for bringing this to our attention, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. I would like to suggest an alternative solution to address this problem. To manage the different conditions, we recommend creating separate fields for each valid condition. For example, you could create “Field A” to show the text formula when the flag is set to “Yes,” and another field, “Field B”, to show a value when the flag is set to “No” (if necessary). Further, you can create a third short text field, “Field C”, with a conditional rule to manage the correct value based on the flags. If the flag is set to “Yes,” then set the value of the field to Field A. If the flag is set to “No,” then set the value of the field to Field B (or leave it blank if there is no value to show). You would then use this field, Field C, to display in your views. (Field B may not be necessary if the null value is just to leave the field blank.) Hopefully this helps. Feel free to reach out to support if you have any follow up questions. ---
**Author:** ![RayWindlow47079](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.knack.com/raywindlow47079/32/4715_2.png) [@RayWindlow47079](https://forums.knack.com/u/RayWindlow47079)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 9:27pm UTC](https://forums.knack.com/t/seriously-coniditonal-formuals-needed/14073/3 "2023-04-10T21:27:35Z")
Ranasha thanks for your reply - but I do not understand how this can be implenented. Text formula’s do not support evaluation of variable data ? unless I am missing some functionality that has not been explained in documentation ---
**Author:** ![Erik](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.knack.com/erik/32/982_2.png) [@Erik](https://forums.knack.com/u/Erik)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 12:03am UTC](https://forums.knack.com/t/seriously-coniditonal-formuals-needed/14073/4 "2023-04-11T00:03:50Z")
You can use conditional rules to set the value of a text field based off the value of other fields. It’s kind of a pain. You have to write rules that evaluate each expected condition and one that handles all others. Does that make sense? I can provide some images when I’m back at my computer… Edit: I’m talking about conditional rules, not conditional statements in a text formula or an equation. When you right click on the settings icon (I think) it is longer of the items you can click. You wrote rules that change the value of the field based off of some condition… ---
**Author:** ![RayWindlow56888](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.knack.com/raywindlow56888/32/4715_2.png) [@RayWindlow56888](https://forums.knack.com/u/RayWindlow56888)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 12:42am UTC](https://forums.knack.com/t/seriously-coniditonal-formuals-needed/14073/5 "2023-04-11T00:42:48Z")
Not quite what is needed. I have events for want of a better nane. WIA POW COMMENT Based on whether they contain values I want a compound result text string that includes or doesn’t include a constructed result. Example Resultant text: Name Rank Serial If POW then Date Taken, Place orherwise add nothing IF WIA then Date Wounded, Place otherwise add nothing Etc etc ---
**Author:** ![Ranasha](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.knack.com/ranasha/32/1785_2.png) [@Ranasha](https://forums.knack.com/u/Ranasha)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 12:46pm UTC](https://forums.knack.com/t/seriously-coniditonal-formuals-needed/14073/6 "2023-04-11T12:46:35Z")
Hi Ray, Correct - you cannot use conditional rules with Text Formula fields. However, you can apply them to Short Text fields to capture event conditions captured in your Text Formula fields. For example, you would configure your fields as follows: - Use a Text Formula field to create compound string for Name, Rank, and Serial - Use Text Formula Fields to create compound string for Date Taken or Wounded and Place - Use a short text field with conditional rules to set the value based on whether they choose WIA or POW. **Example:** ![FieldConfiguration](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/knack/original/2X/2/2ec0fbe01fc2b9bdab101981678da10e827f5c44.png) ![ConditionalRules](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/knack/original/2X/2/2ed554625b5f1b90a6cdd8e2f69579a382aacff9.png) (Since Date Taken, Date Wounded, and Place are the same types of data you could potentially use one field to capture the date and one field to capture the place) ---
**Author:** ![RayWindlow47079](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.knack.com/raywindlow47079/32/4715_2.png) [@RayWindlow47079](https://forums.knack.com/u/RayWindlow47079)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 8:19pm UTC](https://forums.knack.com/t/seriously-coniditonal-formuals-needed/14073/7 "2024-04-05T20:19:02Z")
Ransha sincere apologies for not replying, thanks for the suggestion albeit a year ago. I have had a lot of work going on with this database as we try to verify 24,000 soldiers who may or may not have participated at the Siege of Tobruk in 1941 so “desirables” such as this issue have gone by the wayside for the moment. Appreciate you having taken the time to offer a solution and now things are settling a bit I will give it a shot to see if it can happen for what I need. As an example of how I need it to work below is a pre-filled tribute card for each soldier. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/knack/original/2X/f/fec4e0cd24026d97ebad17e358d891764f5b30fe.png) You can see half way down there are section that contain no relevant information. This is where conditional rules to decide whether to add details or not add details so that I end up with a compressed results that would look like this instead. **Tribute Data Card** NX66161 Bombardier Percival Walter “Chum” CHURCHILL 2/3rd Anti-Tank Regiment 9th Division 2nd A.I.F Royal Australian Artillery Born 27 Aug 1904 CROOKWELL, NSW Enlisted 03 Dec 1940 PADDINGTON, NSW Deceased 25 Jan 1977 KINGSGROVE, NSW Veteran of Middle-East & South-West Pacific campaigns or Tribute Data Card NX66161 Bombardier Percival Walter “Chum” CHURCHILL 2/3rd Anti-Tank Regiment 9th Division 2nd A.I.F Royal Australian Artillery Born 27 Aug 1904 CROOKWELL, NSW Enlisted 03 Dec 1940 PADDINGTON, NSW Wounded in Action 04 May 1941 Tobruk, Libya Deceased 25 Jan 1977 KINGSGROVE, NSW Veteran of Middle-East & South-West Pacific campaigns The information is all there, it is s a matter of formatting a result so it is easier to display for the viewing public (when we finally introduce a public front end) rather than one with gaps etc etc. Cheers,