After initial data upload has been completed, sometimes you need to convert it into another format or represent it in some other form. TeamDesk allows you to perform such modifications on the fly.
As an example let’s take the following situation: you have the Name column where you store the first and last names of your clients in a simple text format. However for some future manipulations you need to parse these data and store them in two columns: First Name and Last Name. There’s no need to spend hours to find the right solution to accomplish this task. TeamDesk functionality helps you do it with just a couple of steps. Basically you should do just the following:
- Create a formula – text column called First Name. The formula should be Left([Name], " ")
- Create a formula – text column called Last Name. The formula should be NotLeft([Name], " ")
- Thus, data from the Name column is duplicated and divided into 2 additional fields – First Name and Last Name. When two new columns are ready, check if views and reports represent data correctly and in the way you need.
- Change type of the First Name and Last Name columns into regular text column. At this step all data taken from the original Name column are recorded into the newly created columns.
- Now if necessary, you can change type of the Name column: make it a formula – text column. The formula should be: List(" ",[First Name],[Last Name])
What is the most amazing about these manipulations, is that all objects, tables and elements that ever had any references to the original Name column, keep operating without any errors or data losses.