Feature Request: Built-in Display Formatting (Truncate/Round) Separate from Stored Value

AppSheet AppSheet Q&A
1

Hello AppSheet Team,

I am writing to propose a new feature that would significantly improve the development of financial, ERP, and inventory management applications.

The Problem

In many business applications, especially with calculations like AVCO (Weighted Average Cost), we must store values with very high precision (e.g., 0.25896) in the database. This is critical for ensuring calculation accuracy and preventing compounding errors over time.

However, for the User Interface (UI), we need to display these numbers in a clean, human-readable format, which is often rounded or truncated to 2 decimal places (e.g., 0.25).

The current workaround is to create two columns for every single value:

  1. [PreciseValue] (Physical Column): Stores 0.25896. This column is hidden from the user.

  2. [DisplayValue] (Virtual Column): Uses a formula like FLOOR([PreciseValue] * 100) / 100 to show 0.25. This is the only column the user sees.

This “two-column” method is very impractical and inconvenient. It doubles the number of columns needed, complicates the app structure, and makes maintenance difficult.

The Proposal

I request a new, built-in setting for Decimal, Price, and Number columns that separates the calculation value from the display value.

The current Decimal Digits setting is helpful, but it only rounds the display. We also need the ability to truncate (cut off) the extra digits.

My suggestion for the column settings:

  • 1. Stored Value: The full, high-precision number (e.g., 0.25896). This value would always be used by Bots, Actions, and formulas.

  • 2. Display Format (New Setting): A new property to control what the user sees.

    • Format Type: Rounding (like today) OR Truncating (the new, needed option).

    • Decimal Places: 2 (or any number).

Example

With this feature, I could have one single column [AVCO] with the value 0.25896.

  • My Bot uses 0.25896 for its next calculation.

  • The user sees 0.25 in the table view.

This would make building professional ERP and financial apps in AppSheet much cleaner and more efficient. Thank you for considering this.

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You will want to add the tag “feature-idea” to your post

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What is this?

There is no TRUNC() function. This AI has been pretty impressive, but this is a fail.