Need guidance: AppFormula vs Initial Value

AppSheet AppSheet Q&A
1

I just realized that I have multiple fields in my main data entry table that get values carried over from the Users table that will never be changed.

I’ve been using an expression like this in the Initial Value field:
LOOKUP(USEREMAIL(), “Users”, “USER_EMAIL”, "FAMILY_GROUP”)

Those values will always be what was entered in the Users table. So my question is, should I move the expression to the AppFormula and simply hide the column? I need them in this data entry table for ease of calculating various Required If, Show If, etc.

Does my question make sense?

2

If the value absolutely never changes, you should keep it as Initial. You can still hide it if you want. The only benefit of switching it to an App Formula would be if there is a chance the value it is referencing could change.

2 Likes
3

Thanks for that clarification.