Workfront

Matt117 · 3/14/24

Is there a full list somewhere of all the calculation expressions and what they do?

I'm trying to quickly learn how to use this feature because I used check boxes in my request form and now need to report on them but have no real ideal how to work with calculated fields.

For example, I found where someone else in my company created a calculated field for the very same reason I need one but what they did doesn't match any examples I managed to track down in the forums.

They simply used the following: {DE:"Field Name"}

J_Mas · 3/14/24

"DE:" is at the beginning of any fields that were created by your business (I believe DE stands for Data Extension). You should just treat it as part of the field name. You usually don't see the "DE: part if you're just looking at a field's visible name, but I belive it's part of the back-end naming convention. So when you're trying to use Text Mode or create a formula, you need to include the "DE:" part with the field name.

For instance, I have a field called "DE:Home base". Home base is a field that my business created, so you probably don't have a "DE:Home base" in your instance of Workfront. However, both my instance of Workfront and your instance of Workfront have a field called "plannedStartDate". That's a built-in field in Workfront, so you and I both have it. And because it's built-in, there's no "DE:" at the beginning of the field name.

I hope I explained that correctly. Feel free to correct me (anyone) if my explaination is incorrect.

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J_Mas · 3/14/24

If you haven't already, you may want to check out this page: Overview of calculated data expressions.

Matt117 · 3/14/24

Thank you for the link. I actually have seen that particular page and it's partially why I posed my question here. While it does detail out a number of expressions, I didn't see any of the ones being used by my company (we paid a 3rd party to introduce us to Workfront and set up some baseline templates and reports). I was hoping that there was a master list somewhere that would help me to understand how some of our reports were created so I could replicate them in my work.

J_Mas · 3/14/24

Could you give an example of some of the other expressions you're seeing?

Matt117 · 3/14/24

Certainly:

SUM and CONCAT are there but the structure of the expression doesn't really match the examples (unless I'm just missing something), and I'm not understanding what DE: represents as it's also not in the examples on that page. This could all just be me, I feel like I'm close to understanding (this seems slightly similar to Excel), but I'm not getting how some of the examples on that page are being used to generate the info I'm seeing.

{DE:Item/Items Requesting - Select Most Appropriate}

SUM({DE:Total Dollar Value})

CONCAT({DE:Print Specs}, " ", {DE:Which digital format?})

CONCAT({DE:Prefix},"-",{referenceNumber},"-",YEAR($$NOW))

J_Mas · 3/14/24

"DE:" is at the beginning of any fields that were created by your business (I believe DE stands for Data Extension). You should just treat it as part of the field name. You usually don't see the "DE: part if you're just looking at a field's visible name, but I belive it's part of the back-end naming convention. So when you're trying to use Text Mode or create a formula, you need to include the "DE:" part with the field name.

For instance, I have a field called "DE:Home base". Home base is a field that my business created, so you probably don't have a "DE:Home base" in your instance of Workfront. However, both my instance of Workfront and your instance of Workfront have a field called "plannedStartDate". That's a built-in field in Workfront, so you and I both have it. And because it's built-in, there's no "DE:" at the beginning of the field name.

I hope I explained that correctly. Feel free to correct me (anyone) if my explaination is incorrect.