Overview

This example shows how a user can execute a formula from inside another formula using a function called ExecuteFormula and a formula type called Library Calculation.

This can be useful when a set of steps are used often - having a centralized custom function setup and available allows for ease of access and is simpler to update. 

In this example, we wish to calculate the surface area of a sphere using a centralized formula.

Note: we will use two custom fields called Sphere radius and Sphere surface area.

North52 Decision Suite

The North52 Decision Suite solution works like this:

• A formula is setup that triggers whenever the custom field Sphere radius changes on an Account
  • This formula will execute another Library Calculation formula
    • The first formula will pass the new Sphere radius value as a parameter into the Library Calculation formula
    • The Library Calculation formula then calculates the surface area of the sphere and passes back the value to the initiating formula
      • Our example uses an xCache record to reference the value for Pi
  • The first formula uses this new value to update the Account record field Sphere surface area

xCache 

• Navigate to Settings > N52 xCache
• Click New
• Set Category to LibraryCalculations
• Set the Base Key to LibraryCalculations_Pi
• Set the Value (Secured) to 3.14159265358979323846
• Click Save

Formula

Library Calculation Formula

• Navigate to Settings > N52 Formula
• Click New
• Set Source Entity to N52 Command
• Set Formula Type to Library Calculation
• Select Classic Editor
• Click Create
• Set the name to Calculate the surface area of a sphere
• Open the advanced editor and enter the following formula:

  4 * xCacheGetGlobal('LibraryCalculations_Pi') * Pow(CDecimal([north52_command.radius]), '2') 

• Click Save
• Make a note of the Short Code in the top right hand corner, you will need it for the next formula

Standard Formula

• Click New
• Set Source Entity to Account
• Set Formula Type to Save - Perform Action
• Select Classic Editor
• Click Create
• Change the name to Recalculate sphere surface area
• Expand Source & Target
  • Select Sphere radius
    • Note: this is a custom field, you will need to create it
• Open the advanced editor and enter the following formula (Note: you will need to swap the below Short Code (Ig9) with the Short Code of your formula. 'new_spheresurfacearea' is a custom field which you will need to create.):

  Smartflow(
  
    UpdateRecord('account', 
      [account.accountid],
      SetAttribute('new_spheresurfacearea',
                    ExecuteFormula('Ig9', '', SetFormulaParameters('radius', [account.new_sphereradius])))))

• Click Save

Testing 

• Open an Account record
  • Make sure the two custom fields are added to the form
• Make a change to the Sphere radius
• Click Save
• You should see the results in the Sphere surface area field: