Drop-down fields often need to display values that already exist in your data tables — product names, categories, colors and other attributes stored in the data editor.
Previously, you had to copy these values from your data table and paste them into each drop-down field. Worse, whenever you updated the data table, you had to remember to manually update every affected drop-down field. This created maintenance headaches and opportunities for things to get out of sync.
Now that drop-down field values can be defined using formulas, there’s a better way: pull values directly from your data tables. Update the table once, and every drop-down field reflects the change automatically.
How it works
Imagine you have the following data table of products:
| Name | Kind | Size | Color | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean Breeze Knit | Sweater | Medium | Blue | 29 |
| Deep Blue Comfort | Sweater | Large | Blue | 49 |
| Royal Glow Pullover | Sweater | Large | Purple | 39 |
| Violet Cozy Wrap | Sweater | Small | Purple | 29 |
| Moonlight Shift | Dress | Small | Gray | 69 |
| Midnight Elegance | Dress | Large | Black | 129 |
| Sapphire Flow | Dress | Medium | Blue | 72 |
| Shadow Flex Shorts | Shorts | Medium | Black | 39 |
| Onyx Sport Shorts | Shorts | Large | Black | 52 |
| Ash Drift Shorts | Shorts | Medium | Gray | 49 |
| Mystic Air Shorts | Shorts | Large | Purple | 19 |
Create a form screen called Products and use the data editor to create one named value for each column. The product names become accessible as the Name named value, colors as the Color named value, and so on.
To create a drop-down field that lets users select a product, assign this formula to its Values property:
That’s it. The drop-down now displays all product names from the table.
Handling duplicates
What if you want users to select a color? This formula works, but creates a problem:
While there are only four unique colors (blue, purple, gray and black), the drop-down displays eleven entries — one for every product — with many duplicates.
Remove duplicates using the UNIQUE function:
For alphabetical order, add the SORT function:
Now your drop-down shows each color exactly once, sorted alphabetically.
Note: This technique requires named values and the data editor, which are not available in our Starter plans.