Atlas Docs

Formula fields allow you to create calculated values based on other fields in your dataset. Use formulas to perform mathematical operations, manipulate text, work with dates, and build conditional logic—all automatically computed for every record.

How Formulas Work

Formulas in Atlas reference other fields in the same record to compute a result. The formula is applied to every record in your dataset, and values update automatically when referenced fields change.

Formulas can use functions, operators, and field references
Reference fields using the @ symbol followed by the field name: @Price * @Quantity
Formula results are read-only and cannot be manually edited

Adding a Formula Field

Open your dataset in the data table view
Click + Add Field in the table header
Select Formula from the field type dropdown
Enter your formula in the expression editor
Choose the output format (Number, Text, Date, etc.)
Click Create to save

Using AI to Generate Formulas

Atlas can generate formulas from natural language descriptions.

Click Generate with AI in the formula editor
Describe what you want to calculate in plain English
Review the generated formula
Click Apply to use it, or refine your description

Example prompts:

"Calculate the total by multiplying price and quantity"
"Find the number of days between start date and end date"
"Combine first name and last name with a space"
"Return 'High' if score is above 80, otherwise 'Low'"

Operators

Binary Operators

Operator	Description	Example
`+`	Addition or string concatenation	`@A + @B`
`-`	Subtraction	`@A - @B`
`*`	Multiplication	`@Price * @Quantity`
`/`	Division	`@Total / @Count`
`^`	Exponentiation (power)	`@Base ^ 2`
`%`	Remainder (modulo)	`@Value % 10`
`//`	Integer/floor division	`@Total // @Count`
`>`	Greater than	`@Score > 80`
`<`	Less than	`@Age < 18`
`>=`	Greater than or equal	`@Rating >= 4`
`<=`	Less than or equal	`@Priority <= 2`
`==`	Equal to	`@Status == "Active"`
`!=`	Not equal to	`@Type != "Draft"`
`&&`	Logical AND (both must be true)	`@A > 0 && @B > 0`
`\|\|`	Logical OR (at least one must be true)	`@A == 1 \|\| @B == 1`

Unary Operators

Operator	Description	Example
`+`	Positive value	`+@Value`
`-`	Negation	`-@Value`
`!`	Logical NOT	`!@IsArchived`

Functions Reference

Math Functions

Function	Description	Example
`ABS(value)`	Absolute value	`ABS(@Difference)`
`CEIL(value)`	Round up to nearest integer	`CEIL(@Value)`
`FLOOR(value)`	Round down to nearest integer	`FLOOR(@Value)`
`ROUND(value, decimals)`	Round to decimal places (default 0)	`ROUND(@Price, 2)`
`SQRT(value)`	Square root	`SQRT(@Area)`
`POW(base, exponent)`	Raise to power	`POW(@Base, 2)`
`EXP(value)`	e raised to power	`EXP(@Value)`
`LOG(value)`	Natural logarithm (base e)	`LOG(@Value)`
`LOG10(value)`	Base-10 logarithm	`LOG10(@Value)`
`MOD(dividend, divisor)`	Remainder after division	`MOD(@Value, 10)`
`FACTORIAL(value)`	Factorial of positive integer	`FACTORIAL(5)`

Trigonometric Functions

Function	Description	Example
`SIN(value)`	Sine (radians)	`SIN(@Angle)`
`COS(value)`	Cosine (radians)	`COS(@Angle)`
`TAN(value)`	Tangent (radians)	`TAN(@Angle)`
`ASIN(value)`	Inverse sine (arcsine)	`ASIN(@Value)`
`ACOS(value)`	Inverse cosine (arccosine)	`ACOS(@Value)`
`ATAN(value)`	Inverse tangent (arctangent)	`ATAN(@Value)`
`ATAN2(y, x)`	Arctangent of y/x with quadrant handling	`ATAN2(@Y, @X)`

Statistical Functions

Function	Description	Example
`SUM(*values)`	Sum of values	`SUM(@Q1, @Q2, @Q3, @Q4)`
`MIN(*values)`	Minimum value	`MIN(@A, @B, @C)`
`MAX(*values)`	Maximum value	`MAX(@A, @B, @C)`
`AVERAGE(*values)`	Arithmetic mean	`AVERAGE(@Score1, @Score2)`
`MEAN(*values)`	Arithmetic mean (alias)	`MEAN(@A, @B, @C)`
`MEDIAN(*values)`	Median value	`MEDIAN(@A, @B, @C)`
`STDDEV(*values)`	Sample standard deviation	`STDDEV(@A, @B, @C)`
`VARIANCE(*values)`	Sample variance	`VARIANCE(@A, @B, @C)`

Text Functions

Function	Description	Example
`CONCATENATE(*values)`	Join strings together	`CONCATENATE(@First, " ", @Last)`
`LEN(value)`	Character count	`LEN(@Description)`
`LOWER(value)`	Convert to lowercase	`LOWER(@Email)`
`UPPER(value)`	Convert to uppercase	`UPPER(@Code)`
`STRIP(value)`	Trim whitespace from ends	`STRIP(@Name)`
`SLICE(value, start, end)`	Extract substring	`SLICE(@Code, 0, 3)`
`REPLACE(value, old, new, count)`	Replace occurrences (count optional)	`REPLACE(@Phone, "-", "")`
`CONTAINS(value, search)`	Check if contains substring	`CONTAINS(@Tags, "urgent")`
`FORMAT(fmt, *values)`	Format string with placeholders	`FORMAT("{} - {}", @Code, @Name)`
`STR(value)`	Convert to string	`STR(@Number)`
`TEXT(value)`	Convert to string (alias)	`TEXT(@Number)`

Regex Functions

Function	Description	Example
`REGEX_CONTAINS(value, pattern)`	Check if matches pattern	`REGEX_CONTAINS(@Email, "@.*\\.com")`
`REGEX_MATCH(value, pattern)`	Check if matches from beginning	`REGEX_MATCH(@Code, "[A-Z]{3}")`
`REGEX_EXTRACT(value, pattern)`	Extract first match	`REGEX_EXTRACT(@Text, "\\d+")`
`REGEX_REPLACE(value, pattern, replacement, count)`	Replace pattern matches	`REGEX_REPLACE(@Phone, "\\D", "")`

Date & Time Functions

Function	Description	Example
`NOW()`	Current date and time	`NOW()`
`TODAY()`	Current date	`TODAY()`
`YEAR(value)`	Extract year	`YEAR(@Created)`
`MONTH(value)`	Extract month (1-12)	`MONTH(@Date)`
`DAY(value)`	Extract day of month	`DAY(@Date)`
`HOUR(value)`	Extract hour	`HOUR(@Timestamp)`
`MINUTE(value)`	Extract minute	`MINUTE(@Timestamp)`
`SECOND(value)`	Extract second	`SECOND(@Timestamp)`
`WEEKDAY(value)`	Day of week (Monday=0, Sunday=6)	`WEEKDAY(@Date)`
`WEEKNUM(value)`	Week number (ISO 8601)	`WEEKNUM(@Date)`
`ADD_MONTHS(value, months)`	Add months to date	`ADD_MONTHS(@Start, 3)`
`ADD_YEARS(value, years)`	Add years to date	`ADD_YEARS(@Start, 1)`
`TIMESTAMP(value)`	Convert to timestamp	`TIMESTAMP(@DateString)`
`FROM_UNIX(value)`	Convert Unix timestamp to date	`FROM_UNIX(@UnixTime)`
`TO_UNIX(value)`	Convert date to Unix timestamp	`TO_UNIX(@Date)`

Time Duration Constants

Use these with date arithmetic:

Function	Description	Example
`D()`	One day	`@Date + 7 * D()`
`H()`	One hour	`@Time + 2 * H()`
`M()`	One minute	`@Time + 30 * M()`
`S()`	One second	`@Time + 45 * S()`
`MS()`	One millisecond	`@Time + 500 * MS()`
`W()`	One week	`@Date + 2 * W()`

Logical Functions

Function	Description	Example
`IF(condition, true_value, false_value)`	Conditional value	`IF(@Score > 80, "Pass", "Fail")`
`CASE(*args)`	Multiple conditions with values	`CASE(@Score >= 90, "A", @Score >= 80, "B", "C")`
`NOT(value)`	Negate boolean	`NOT(@IsArchived)`
`TRUE()`	Boolean true constant	`TRUE()`
`FALSE()`	Boolean false constant	`FALSE()`
`BLANK(value)`	Check if value is missing/null	`BLANK(@Notes)`
`FILL_BLANK(value, fill)`	Replace missing values (default 0)	`FILL_BLANK(@Score, 0)`

Conversion Functions

Function	Description	Example
`INT(value)`	Convert to integer	`INT(@Price)`
`FLOAT(value)`	Convert to decimal	`FLOAT(@Text)`
`STR(value)`	Convert to string	`STR(@Number)`
`TEXT(value)`	Convert to string	`TEXT(@Date)`
`TIMESTAMP(value)`	Convert to timestamp	`TIMESTAMP(@DateStr)`

Constants

Function	Description	Value
`PI()`	Mathematical constant π	3.14159...
`E()`	Euler's number	2.71828...

Geographic Functions

Function	Description	Example
`ST_Area(geom)`	Area of polygon	`ST_Area(@geometry)`
`ST_Perimeter(geom)`	Perimeter of polygon	`ST_Perimeter(@geometry)`
`ST_Length(geom)`	Length of line	`ST_Length(@geometry)`
`ST_Centroid(geom)`	Center point of geometry	`ST_Centroid(@geometry)`
`ST_X(geom)`	X coordinate of point	`ST_X(@geometry)`
`ST_Y(geom)`	Y coordinate of point	`ST_Y(@geometry)`

Formula Examples

Calculate Total Price

@Unit Price * @Quantity

Apply Discount

@Subtotal * (1 - @Discount / 100)

Full Name from Parts

CONCATENATE(@First Name, " ", @Last Name)

Days Until Due

(@Due Date - TODAY()) / D()

Add 30 Days to Date

@Start Date + 30 * D()

Status Based on Date

IF(@Due Date < TODAY(), "Overdue", IF(@Due Date == TODAY(), "Due Today", "Upcoming"))

Grade from Score (using CASE)

CASE(
  @Score >= 90, "A",
  @Score >= 80, "B",
  @Score >= 70, "C",
  @Score >= 60, "D",
  "F"
)

Handle Missing Values

FILL_BLANK(@Score, 0)

Extract Numbers from Text

REGEX_EXTRACT(@Text, "\\d+")

Format Currency

FORMAT("${:.2f}", @Price)

Calculate Age in Years

(TODAY() - @Birth Date) / D() / 365

Area in Square Kilometers

ST_Area(@geometry) / 1000000

Output Formatting

After creating a formula, configure how results are displayed:

Output Type	Formatting Options
Number	Decimal places, thousands separator
Currency	Currency symbol, decimal places
Percentage	Decimal places
Date	Date format pattern
Text	No additional formatting

Formula Editor Features

The formula editor includes:

Syntax highlighting - Functions, fields, numbers, and text are color-coded
Autocomplete - Suggestions for functions and field names as you type
Error detection - Real-time validation with error messages
Field picker - Click @ to browse and insert field references
Preview - See calculated results before saving

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Formula returns blank	Check that referenced fields have values. Use `FILL_BLANK()` for fallbacks.
Division by zero	Add a condition: `IF(@Divisor != 0, @Value / @Divisor, 0)`
Date calculation wrong	Ensure fields are Date type, not Text. Use duration constants like `D()`.
Text not concatenating	Use `CONCATENATE()` or `+` operator. Numbers may need `STR()` conversion.
Unexpected results	Check operator precedence. Use parentheses to clarify order.

Formulas vs Other Computed Fields

Field Type	Use Case
Formula	Calculate values from fields in the same record
Lookup	Display values from linked records
AI Field	Generate content using natural language instructions
Area/Perimeter	Auto-calculated from geometry (system fields)

Documentation

Other

Links

Formula Fields