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Question

Use value from other field as default for field in form

  • July 27, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 40 views
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We have a form with settings for customers that is used for 2 types of customer, where one of those is basically a parent to the other. For a lot of fields the rule is that the setting of the parent is valid as long as the field is empty in the form of the child.

This works fine, but we would like to be able to show the value that is used for the parent in the form of the child so it is clear which settings are used for the child.

I think this basically means we would like to use an expression as the default for the childs form. That way we can show the parent's value without actually having to copy and store the value to the field on the form of the child.

 

      3 replies

      Arie V
      Community Manager
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      • Arie V
      • Community Manager
      • August 21, 2026

      ​@Sabine This sounds like something you can already do with an Expression field. Could you give that a try?

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      • SabineRookie
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      • September 4, 2026

      ​@Arie V I know we can use an expression field to show the value of the parent, but we would like the value of the parent to be shown in a database field as a default. That way if the child does have a different value the user can overwrite the default from the parent and store the child value. I have been told this is not possible. If we want to use expression fields we have to show every field twice, once with the parent value and once with the child's value, that takes up a lot of space on the form.

      Superhero

      ​@Sabine I would suggest replacing the form of the table with an equivalent view. Use a 1:1 reference if needed when maybe the grid is still usable, so you can use for example a COALESCE(child_value, parent_value) to show a “Child” entity value first and when NULL it will show the “Parent”.

      With some decent Layout/Default logic you can come far to (dis)allow certain allowed changes and in combination with the needed Instead Of Trigger. In addition you can also add hidden column to use Conditional Layout to make aware a user is looking at the actual Child info or that it is the inherited Parent info.

      It does require some changes, but I think a view will become more clear and easier to handle than trying to add all kinds of expression fields. Your own suggestion is indeed not possible as such and I think it would also become way too abstract if Thinkwise were to try implement such a feature.

      I hope this may help you towards a agreeable solution.

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