Automatically Create a Unique Reference ID for each new record

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Feel like this has probably been asked but couldn’t find it. I am creating a RIsk Register. Each new risk item needs a new Risk ID. eg. R001 that always stays with the risk item. How do I do this so that say if I create a new risk item by inputting the name of a risk the first column auto populates with the latest risk ID? Many thanks in advance

2

Hi @Andrew_Bradbury !

Every record in Grist has a unique record ID assigned upon creation. You can use this ID in formulas to create your own format for the ID. To reveal a record’s unique ID, you can use the formula $id like you see in the ID column in the screenshot below. This is automatically assigned upon record creation and cannot be changed. In the Risk ID column, I use $id in a formula to create a formatted version. The formula in the Risk ID column is f"R{rec.id:03}".

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I asked the Assistant to write the formula but if you want to understand how to write this, there are a couple examples in our Formula Cheat Sheet that are useful here;

Thanks,
Natalie

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3

Totally nailed it thanks Natalie! - really useful, much appreciated.