Function: Now()

Airtable Questions Fields and Formulas
1

I’d use it in a formula field. Its output would trigger an automation to notify e.g. me and the submitter of a form that our next talk is scheduled to start in e.g. 72 minutes:
IF(
AND(
start,
NOW()+0.05 = start
),
“remind”
)
Whether the field “start” includes a date and a time or not, AirTable reacts with the text: #ERROR!
How do I make it work?
I don’t know whether fromNow helps.
(The output can be “remind” or another string of characters.)
My goal: Let people schedule e.g. online talks e.g. with me by filling a form.
Who would help me achieve it under what terms?
I’ve found here no conversation with this topic.
For this, one has a button in Podio. What the hell am I doing here?

2

I do not recommend using NOW().

  • At best, it is only updated every 5-15 minutes, at worst, it can be an hour or longer before it is updated.
  • It is resource intensive and can slow down a base.

You should also perform date/time calculations using DATEADD(), not +. That is probably why you are getting an error.

Performing direct comparisons of date/time values with = can also be problematic because they can only be equal for a fraction of a second. It is better to use a date/time comparison function.

FROMNOW() is not going to help you because it returns a text string.

3

I’d understand code better than words.
They say that these formulae are not valid:
IF(AND(start, DATEADD(hh, -1, start)), “remind”)
IF(AND(start, DATEADD(start, -1, “hours”)), “remind”)
They say the same thing about the formulae without: AND
You can tell me which formula is correct.

4

This formula is not a valid Airtable formula for multiple reasons. I’m also confused why it includes a link to a Microsoft webpage. You cannot use SQL functions in Airtable formulas. To see a list of valid Airtable formula functions, use the Airtable Formula Field Reference.

This formula has a few issues with it as well.

  • If your formula has curly quotes instead of straight quotes, it won’t work. Your formula might actually have straight quotes, but there are curly quotes in your post.
  • This formula does not compare the date to anything. As long as there is a value in the {start} field, the result will be the text string “remind”.

I think you want to the field to show “remind” an hour before the start time, but this will not do that. You could try comparing the result with NOW(), but that is problematic for other reasons that I mentioned in my previous post. In general, I don’t think you are going to get Airtable to do what you want, unless maybe you always have the view of records open and constantly look at them and are okay with a 5-15 minute delay.

5

Make.com/Zapier/MS Power Automate, have you tried if that can help?