Modify rows in Coda

Modify rows using a canvas button

Why you need the Foreach() function in Coda

It is all about this formula I created to showcase a client how to manipulate a table via a canvas button. The objective was to check some boxes based on a criteria. In our example that is a task and we we want to check all the boxes for this task.

action formula written on the canvas

You might be surprised to see an action formula written directly on the canvas. Typically, action formulas belong in buttons or automations, not displayed like this. However, I’m showing it to you here for demonstration purposes. This specific formula doesn’t actually do anything in this context; it simply illustrates how an action can be triggered a certain number of times when used in a button or automation.

You notice a few key parts:

1. Table and Filter: It starts by targeting a table and filtering it by the “Task” column. We’re looking for all tasks where the task number is “task 1”. This creates a list of rows that match this condition.
2. Iteration: We then use a foreach() function to iterate over this list. For each item in the list (represented by “currentvalue”), the formula modifies something.