Manual override for formula columns

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1

I have a lot of situations where I like to use a formula to automatically calculate and update the value in a column, but sometimes I want to enter a value manually that overrides the calculated value.

At the moment I do this by having two columns, one with the formula and a second where I place the manual override. See for example this table where the estimated size of a task as calculated based on the sub-tasks, but I can override this estimate with a manual entry (see Task 1 versus Task 2). Functionally works fine, but is a bit inelegant having to see both columns and while makes sense for me as the doc maker, it’s not always intuitive for other users.

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Rather than a simple yes/no override, it would be ideal if this could be conditional (similar to disable button if …). That would support my third example Task 3, which I might initially estimate as Large but then as I the sub-tasks increase in size above this the manual override could be disabled.

From a design perspective, columns that have override enabled could be signified with a small symbol right of the column title (similar to the display column).

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2

Good idea! I’ve often felt the need for a hybrid column that’s both formulaic and editable, this solution could work

The Value for new rows field is sometimes not enough as it only computes on row creation

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3

This usually works. But a lot of the time I run into timing issues where the value needed is derived from another column that doesn’t have a value at time of creation.

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