Calculated columns in SharePoint

One of the cool field type is the Calculated field. That is used to do some custom calculation or performing some logic based on existing field.

I used calculated field in one of the project that was based on SharePoint workflow and had some logic to kick of workflow. It was late 2 years back and that time I was not blogging. Recently I created couple of Calculated columns so I decided to blog it so that I can and my SharePoint felows can get benefit now and in future as well.

Calculated field works like Excel cell. For instance we want to calculate the next schedule/review date based after 60 days of the date supplied.

The formula for above scenario is very simple:

Next review date: [Review Date] + 60

Similarly if you want to show "First Name" + "Last Name" as Name in the list, just use below simple formula:

Name: [First Name] + " " + [Last Name]

We can also use IF ELSE in the formula. For instance if you need to calculate schedule/review date based on type of document. If document type is Urgent, then review should happen in 10 days otherwise in 30 days.

Next review date: =IF([Document Type]="Urgent", [Review Date]+10, [Review Date]+30)
Where [Document Type] is choice field, and 'Next review date' is calculated field type.

Remember, the fiels must be closed with [ and ] brackets.

Whenever I need to use formula in Calculated field, I open my excel and create a formula and use it in SharePoint.

For further reference please visit http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-sharepoint-services-help/examples-of-common-formulas-HA001160947.aspx