Often I might want to have an unsupported column type, e.g. “sequence of strings”. It would be handy to be able to set a column type to “Python object”, which would allow me to enter ("a", "b") and then use that python object directly in other formulas.
I can somewhat achieve this with a couple workarounds:
- Set a trigger formula
eval(value), set to trigger on “current field”. This means I can type in a python expression and have it be immediately evaluated and checked for syntax errors. - Use
evalwhen using this column in other formulas
But this is pretty clunky. I’m forced to set the column type to “Text”, which forces the annoying requirement to use “eval” in formulas, and prevents me from using python objects that can’t be converted to and from strings.
A natively supported “Python object” column could add a couple nice features:
- Use the same Python editor used for formulas
- Allow using
$Xsyntax (rec.Xalready works). The expectation would be that any expression is immediately evaluated, so you’re not storing/re-evaluating a formula.