What is a formula column?
A formula column is a column a Rowhouse grid works out for each row, written in Salesforce’s formula syntax, without adding a formula field to the object.
In Salesforce
A Salesforce formula field is defined on the object: it is part of the schema, needs field-level security set for each profile or permission set, and appears wherever the object’s fields do. Its syntax — functions, operators and field names, including fields reached through lookups such as Account.Name — is the one Rowhouse reuses.
How Rowhouse handles it
Rowhouse evaluates a formula column on the server as rows are read, returning text, a number, currency, percent, date, date/time or checkbox. The Grid Admin tab checks the formula as you type, with Salesforce’s own message. A grid holds up to ten formulas, columns and display rules together, each up to 3,900 characters. Formula columns are read-only and cannot be sorted, grouped, filtered, searched or subtotalled.
Examples
TODAY() - DATEVALUE(CreatedDate), returning a Number with no decimal places, gives a “Days on file” column on a contacts grid. Other examples from the Grid Guide: FirstName & " " & LastName, Amount * Probability and CloseDate - TODAY(). A row the formula cannot work out, such as a division by zero, shows a blank cell.
More on Grouping and display rules →
Related terms
Formula column: questions
Can a formula column read a field the user cannot see?
No. A user who cannot read a field the formula uses does not get the column. A formula can read $User, $Organization and $Setup, though, which no field check covers, so put nothing in a grid formula its users should not see.
Can I edit a formula column?
No, formula columns are read-only. To show and edit a field of a related record, use a related record’s field instead, such as Account.Industry.
Three things you can verify without asking us
Free. Not freemium, not a trial, not a tier.
Install it, assign the permission sets, build your first grid on the Grid Admin tab. Everything else is in the Grid Guide inside the app.