Introducing Custom Formula Fields

Up to this point, the fields that we've defined have all had one thing in common—they each require a user to give them a value. Fields like that are very helpful for storing and retrieving data, but wouldn't it be great if we could somehow define a “smart” field? That is, what if we could define a field that looked at information that was already entered into the system and then told us something new about it?

Fortunately, custom formula fields give us the ability to do just that. Just as you can use a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel to define calculations and metrics specific to your business, we can use custom formula fields to define calculations and metrics that are specific to our Recruiting app.

For example, on our Position object, we've already created fields for minimum pay and maximum pay. If Universal Containers gives out yearly bonuses based on salary, we could create a custom formula field that automatically calculated the average bonus that someone hired to that position might receive.

How would we perform this calculation if we were using a spreadsheet? The columns in our spreadsheet would represent the fields that we defined on our Position object, and each row of the spreadsheet would represent a different position record. To create a calculation, we'd enter a formula in a new column that averages the values of Min Pay and Max Pay in a single row and then multiplies it by a standard bonus percentage. We could then determine the average bonus for every position record row in our spreadsheet.

Custom formulas work in a very similar way. Think of a custom formula like a spreadsheet formula that can reference other values in the same data record, perform calculations on them, and return a result. However, instead of using cell references, you use merge fields, which serve as placeholders for data that will be replaced with information from your records, user information, or company information. And, instead of typing fields, operators, and functions, you can click to select them.

The net result is that anyone can quickly and easily learn to create formula fields. And, as with all platform tools, the cloud computing delivery model makes it easy to experiment. You can create a formula, view the results, and change the formula again and again, as many times as you want! Your underlying data is never affected.