Kuovonne's Guide to Airtable

Pages
- Kuovonne's Guide to Airtable
  Fields
  Overview of fields types
  Editable Field Types
  Computed Field Types
  Field Types by Formula Data Type
  Field Types in Scripting
  Specific field types
  Formula fields
  Demystifying Formulas (DareTable 2022)
  Rollup fields
  Select fields
  Attachment fields
  Uploading Attachments
  Attachment Size
  Attachment URLS
  Thumbnails
  Converting Field Types
  Naming fields
  Metadata fields
  Simple Metadata Fields
  Data Validation
  Additional Dependencies
  Original Record URL (Thumbprint) Field
  Column Divider Fields
  DareTable 2023 Presentation
  Field dependencies
  Formulas
  Formula Field Reference
  Writing Formulas
  Using AI to Write Formulas
  General tips for writing formulas
  Testing for Blank Values
  Drafting Formulas in Parts
  Function versus Operator
  Typing Special Characters
  Commenting Formulas
  Formulas to avoid
  Formatting Formulas
  Basic Rules
  Nested IF formulas
  SWITCH Formulas
  Operators
  Specific Formulas
  Ranges of Numbers Values
  Comma Separated List of Fields Values with Optional Fields
  Earliest / latest date across columns
  List Fields Values (one per line) with Optional Fields
  Rounding a date to the half year
  Url of Interface Page for a record
  Removing varying items from a list
  Data Type Conversion in Formulas
  Text to Numbers
  Numbers to Text
  Data type conversions with Dates
  Troubleshooting Formulas
  Formulas that won't save
  Hiding or showing #ERROR!
  Troubleshooting date/time/duration formulas
  Troubleshooting numeric formulas
  Troubleshooting formulas with lookups
  Troubleshooting text formulas
  Automations
  Triggering automations
  Triggering automations for typed values
  Triggering automations on existing records
  Sending Emails
  Ways to send emails
  Using links in emails
  Emailing Attachments
  Accessing updated record values
  Third party automations
  Managing automation runs
  Templates
  Templates for record values
  Templates using field values
  Controlling Access
  Sharing a base
  Access control considerations
  Techniques for limited access
  Airtable interface
  Share link access
  Synced table
  Prefilled forms + Automations
  3rd party portal
  3rd party webhook
  Preventing base duplication
  Specific Solutions
  Most recent form submission for ermail
  Email digest of a person’s records
  Sum of Multiple Select choices
  Link to multiple records based on select choices
  Dropping Lowest Score (top 4 of 5)
  Identify the position of a record in a linked record field (top 4 of 6)
  Sequential Numbering of Records
  Ending a list of rollup items with ", and"
  Table ID in a formula
  Latest/earliest date across several fields
  Associating People with Records
  First Tuesday of the Previous Month
  Miscellaneous
  Web API Calls for External Integrations
  Getting paid to work with Airtable
  Hiring a consultant
  Airtable Communities
  Making major changes to a base
  Suggestion for this guide

Kuovonne's Guide to Airtable

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Using AI to Write Formulas

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Using AI to Write Formulas

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While you can use AI to write some Airtable formulas, keep the following in mind:

At times AI makes up formula functions that do not exist in the Airtable formula language. AI suggests functions that exist in spreadsheets but not in Airtable.

How complex is your formula? While AI can product short formulas, the more complex logic you want to perform, the less likely it is that AI will produce satisfactory results.

How well can you articulate what you want the formula to do? The hardest part of writing a formula is often knowing exactly what the formula should do in all situations, not drafting the code.

How comfortable are you at identifying and testing edge cases? If you don’t consider edge cases, the function may product unexpected results. The worst case scenario is not having the function produce an error. The worst case scenario is that the function silently produces the wrong results without you ever realizing it, and you make important decisions based on those wrong results.

Who will maintain the function? If AI writes the function and you don’t fully understand it, what will you do when you want the function updated? Updating the function will likely add complexity, and the more complex the logic, the less likely that AI will product satisfactory results.

As of May 6, 2023, ChatGPT still suggests Airtable formulas that use functions from Excel and Sheets that do not exist in Airtable.

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