Comments in Calculated Columns

When creating a calculated column it is possible to add comments within the code. This is so that Users can leave behind a brief explanation of what the calculation does so that it is easy to follow again in the future and help with troubleshooting.

There are two syntaxes available to choose from when leaving a comment

“# “: a hash followed by a space, this comments out any following text on the same line
“/* … */”: text encased in forward slashes with asterisks, this is a multi-line comment – allowing you to leave a longer comment if required.

Using Comments

Comments are loaded with the Calculated Column; as such a large number of lengthy comments could reduce the performance of the Report. We recommend keeping comments brief and only adding them when necessary.

Example Comments

Example 1

# CASE statements need to start with the word CASE
CASE
# Define what is Support and what is Professional Services
WHEN  type_name = 'Support Call' THEN 'Support'
WHEN  type_name = 'General Enquiry' THEN 'Support'
WHEN  type_name = 'Implementation Case' THEN 'Professional Services'
/* define the ELSE output
then end the CASE statement with END*/
ELSE 'NA'
END

Example 2

# case statement for colour coding fields
CASE
/* If Job Role is director then make the background green with black and bold text
If Job Role is manager then make the background red with black text */
WHEN person_job_role = 'Director' THEN 'font-weight: bold; background-color:#38a582; color: black'
WHEN person_job_role = 'Manager' THEN 'background-color:#c12e28; color: black'
# Everything else is blue with black text
ELSE 'background-color:#3f7ec1;color: black'
END