Link & Load a free text field (multiple values) to Multipe Select

Feature Request
1

Hi,

You may refer to the previous support forum question…
Link & Load a free text field to Multipe Select - Support - Ragic Community

I would like to be able to this, and it is somewhat necessary for what I am working on!

I have a field LOCALITY on the property unit sheet, a free text field, it gets its info from three separate fields; Closest City, Greater Area, Area/Suburb.

I Link & Load the Locality field to the Listing sheet. At the moment the loaded Locality field on the Listing sheet is set to free text. I have tried setting it to Multiple Select, hoping that it would recognize the address values provided, separated by a coma.

But, it does not work, instead shows all values as a “single multiple select entry”, however if just one value is provided, it works fine in that case! Hmmm

The reason that it is kind of important/good that a free text can actually loaded to a multiple select, is specifically because I will be able to easily search and sort this field in the sheet view, i.e. with the individual items being present in the drop-down. This seems to occur when the field is set to multiple select or even just selection.

The only real downside for now, is as I said, the search capability is somewhat diminished without having a dop-down present in the sheet view!

I am surprised that it does not work at the moment! For if I were to import this same data else ware, into a website for instance, to populate a multiple select field, with the free text combined data mentioned, then in that case it would recognize my free text field, and the separate values present, separated by comas.

My two cents!

Thanks,

Kane

2

Hi Kane,

Thank you for your suggestion.

I’m sorry, but the requested functionality is currently not possible. The reason is that the values of your Locality field are derived from different fields. For instance, if the Locality field values are “A city, B county, C area,” the actual stored value in the Locality field is a single combined value, not three separate values. This is how it is originally stored in the Property Unit sheet. Therefore, even if you link and load it into another sheet, you will still have only one field value, not three.

The logic behind this process differs from that of a Multiple Select field. When using a multiple select field, the source form provides multiple options to choose from, and each selected option is stored as a separate value. For example, “A city,” “B county,” “C area” would be stored as individual values in their respective fields, rather than being combined into a single field.

In light of this, I recommend utilizing text filtering on the listing sheet and saving it as a Frequent Searches. This approach will allow you to quickly find data that meets the specified conditions.

Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,
Benson

3

Hi Benson,

Thanks to getting back to me!

Really this Feature Request I could live without! :slight_smile:

Basically, as I think I already mentioned the only downside for me right now, is that on the Listing sheet when I go to sort or filter the LOCALITY field, there is no dropdown list or available options to choose from. A real bumber!

Thanks for explaining how it works and why it is not possible, at the moment, but, I thought Ragic could do anything!

lol

Actually, from my perspective, only with basic programing experience, like I may have said before, the way i see it, if I was to export this “free text field” with whatever additional data, to another system, lets say my WordPress site, it would have no problem in being able to recognize the values present in the Free Text field, separate by a comas.

So as you can imagine I am surprised that it is not supported in Ragic. Not really actually, it’s just that I believe that it should be possible actually!

So pls let me know if I am right in thinking this!

How about if I was to export the data out and then import it back in, into a Multiple Select Field, would it recognize it!

Anyway, I know this is a different case, it’s a link and load, not an import per say, but I am sure that you can appreciate my point of view here!

Actually, Benson, you said currently not possible. Any idea if or when it may be possible?

It would be nice to know! Actually, if you even think that it could be possible, that alone is very exciting information to know! I’m sure you agree!

I’m sure the Team will decide if or when to implement if possible! And do what is best for everyone!

Anyway, thanks for your time, don’t want to keep you for too long!

Kane