Hiding Fields On a Form

Ross Mulligan

Hello,

I have a form in which a person makes a selection in one field, which prompts another field to appear. In a later field after the one that shows up under a certain condition, if a person requests a new document to be made and not a revision, I need that field that just popped up under the condition to go back to a hidden state. Is this possible?

Ayelet Weiner

Without having more context, it's hard to answer this question. My suggestion would be to try and rearrange the questions on your form. If possible, try starting off with asking the user what they need. New document with revision or New document without revision, etc. then go from there.

Ross Mulligan

Thanks for the reply. The issue I'm having is that the two questions with logic are not mutually exclusive. Whether a technician requests a new document or a revision of a visual aid, each prompts a different response. Let me see if I can break it out better without having to give you access to the form. If I have to eventually do that, it's fine.

Question 3 is Document Type with questions 1 and 2 having no affiliation to question 3 or logic tied to them separately. If a technician in question 3 asks for work to be done to a visual aid, a box appears as the new question 4 asking for a part number or CEQ, which is intended. This means the old question 4 is now the new question 5, which is the second question with logic tied to it. On this logic question, if the technician says the request is truly a new document, then everything is fine. But if that technician says it is a revision to an existing visual aid, another box pops up asking for the existing document's title. This ultimately causes redundant information to be asked. Often, the part number or CEQ is what we title our visual aids, which is why it's redundant.

If I were to remove the visual aid option completely, then my sheet is fine. The only logic is tied to whether it's a new request or a revision. If it's a revision, then they get prompted for the original document title that my team needs to edit. For example, another kind of document we make is a work instruction. If a technician wants a work instruction revised, then they must provide the title. Titles of work instructions are not part numbers. Instead, they are very unique documents of which no two are alike.

I guess what I'm asking is, I can see on the logic page that we essentially are asked: "When something is ____"

"then show the following ____"

Why are we not also given the option to change what the subsequent action is? Instead of showing something, I want to hide something. Is this a feature of Smartsheets I am unaware of, or does it not exist? Thanks again for any feedback!

Jake Gustafson

@Ross Mulligan did you find a workable solution for your issue? I have encountered something very similar to what you are describing here. I have a field that is needed only when the issue is found in 4 of my 7 warehouse location options, but if it is one of those 4 options, then a Product Type may warrant the field to be unnecessary.

What becomes more troublesome is that when displayed, I need the field to be required, so having it available in an irrelevant situation will cause confusion for end users.