Applying a formatting condition to multiple fields

Thursday 28 February 2019 @ 9:59 am

If I want to remove the decimals of several fields at once you can use CTRL-click or a cursor lasso to select all the fields, then go to the toolbar and hit the “reduce decimals’ button. Each click will remove one decimal from all of the selected fields.

You can do something similar when you want to apply a formatting condition formula. For example, if you want to turn negative numbers red while leaving positive numbers black. The font color condition formula looks like this:

if currentfieldvalue < 0
then CrRed
else CrBlack

To apply this formula to one field you select that field and then select the menu items “Format > Field”. On the “Font” tab you click the condition formula button next to font color. It will usually look like the top one of these buttons:

Once inside you paste in the formula above and then click “Save and Close. The formula button should turn red and look like the middle button above. This means the condition has a formula. When you click OK the negative values for that field will turn red.

Note that the formula doesn’t refer to a specific field, but to the function “CurrentFieldValue”. This function is only available when you do condition formulas and refers to the value of the field you are formatting. The advantage is that the same logic can be used on any numeric field and the condition will be exactly the same, rather than each field having to have a different formula that mentions a specific field.

If you want to apply this formula to several fields at once you could select that group of fields and then select the menu items “Format > Objects”. Like above, you go to the “Font” tab, click the [x+2] and paste in the formula. When you click “Save and Close, then then click OK all of those objects should have that property.

One thing to look out for when you are formatting multiple fields at once is a purple condition button (bottom example in the picture above). This only appears when you try to format multiple fields at once. This tells you that some/all of these fields already have a condition and that not all of them are the same. If you click a purple condition button it will show you a blank formula. If you put in a new formula you will overwrite any existing logic and all of the selected fields will end up with the new condition.

(For examples of my most popular formulas, please visit the FORMULAS page on my website.)







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