# Special values not working **URL:** \ **Category:** Ask for Help\ **Created:** [February 22, 2023, 5:05pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/special-values-not-working/58298 "2023-02-22T17:05:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ganymed](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/ganymed/32/27001_2.png) [@Ganymed](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Ganymed)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 5:05pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/special-values-not-working/58298/1 "2023-02-22T17:05:35Z")
Not sure if I read this right but it appears that the automatic update stoped working when editing an entry…Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![ThinhDinh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/thinhdinh/32/49_2.png) [@ThinhDinh](https://community.glideapps.com/u/ThinhDinh)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 11:39pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/special-values-not-working/58298/2 "2023-02-22T23:39:18Z")
What do you mean by the “automatic update”? Do you mean setting special values to columns in an edit screen? Do you have a video of the bug in action? ---
**Author:** ![Ganymed](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/ganymed/32/27001_2.png) [@Ganymed](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Ganymed)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 7:03am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/special-values-not-working/58298/3 "2023-02-23T07:03:49Z")
Simple set up - edit screen ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/glideapps/original/3X/0/5/05ea3579b78723d921697573475ace17021dc9f0.jpeg) Simple set up this used to work… ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/glideapps/original/3X/1/0/1012d3fcd5d91f8760be95342fc2ed2816f3c344.jpeg) Result in google sheet date and author are missing but email was updated ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/glideapps/original/3X/b/8/b8962ab70a4cdd254bebd93be0092d9413d8a188.png) ---
**Author:** ![Ganymed](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/ganymed/32/27001_2.png) [@Ganymed](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Ganymed)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 6:23pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/special-values-not-working/58298/4 "2023-02-23T18:23:00Z")
My first Loom - [Loom | Free Screen & Video Recording Software | Loom](https://www.loom.com/share/907378cf3e4644d591f1d93ea6cfbb69) ---
**Author:** ![ThinhDinh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/thinhdinh/32/49_2.png) [@ThinhDinh](https://community.glideapps.com/u/ThinhDinh)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 11:39pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/special-values-not-working/58298/5 "2023-02-23T23:39:30Z")
May I know why you are populating the rows in advance and not using a form (instead of an edit form)? ---
**Author:** ![Ganymed](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/ganymed/32/27001_2.png) [@Ganymed](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Ganymed)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 2:23pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/special-values-not-working/58298/6 "2023-02-24T14:23:27Z")
Sure, some of the references are used in other systems, the predefined “key” is more practical than a randomly created key and we need to maintain the syntax… ---
**Author:** ![ThinhDinh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/thinhdinh/32/49_2.png) [@ThinhDinh](https://community.glideapps.com/u/ThinhDinh)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 11:26pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/special-values-not-working/58298/7 "2023-02-24T23:26:27Z")
If the current system works for you, then it’s fine, but here’s my alternative. - Create a math column in Glide, write the formula: E\*1 with E being the “code” of the question. It will return just the numeric part. - In your Users table, create a rollup on top of the column above and get the max number out of it (last question’s numeric ID). - Create a math column in your users table, taking the formula L + 1 with L being the max number you retrieved above. This will get you the “next ID”. - Use an Excel formula column to combine the the letter “T” with the 4-digit formatted “next ID” using something like text(A1,“0000”) with A1 being the “next ID”. - Use the column above to write to the new question row every time someone submits a new question. The only problem you might have is the “racing” condition, so if two people submit at almost the same time then they might have the same “question ID”. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Murphy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/darren_murphy/32/47326_2.png) [@Darren\_Murphy](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Darren_Murphy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 12:07am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/special-values-not-working/58298/8 "2023-02-25T00:07:53Z")
> [@ThinhDinh](#): > > Use an Excel formula column to combine the the letter “T” with the 4-digit formatted “next ID” using something like text(A1,“0000”) with A1 being the “next ID”. erm… why not a simple template column? 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![ThinhDinh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/thinhdinh/32/49_2.png) [@ThinhDinh](https://community.glideapps.com/u/ThinhDinh)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 12:36am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/special-values-not-working/58298/9 "2023-02-25T00:36:12Z")
Because the numeric part might be 1, 10, 100 etc and I think it’s more convenient to have that Excel formula to help. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Murphy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/darren_murphy/32/47326_2.png) [@Darren\_Murphy](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Darren_Murphy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 1:03am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/special-values-not-working/58298/10 "2023-02-25T01:03:07Z")
ah, gotcha 👍 Saves using an if-then-else column ---
**Author:** ![Ganymed](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/ganymed/32/27001_2.png) [@Ganymed](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Ganymed)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 6:35am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/special-values-not-working/58298/11 "2023-02-25T06:35:51Z")
😀 thanks, the issue is however that the current (documented) approach stoped working… ---
**Author:** ![Ganymed](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/ganymed/32/27001_2.png) [@Ganymed](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Ganymed)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 8:31am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/special-values-not-working/58298/12 "2023-02-25T08:31:22Z")
Looking at the data we can see that first the date and than the email stoped working, probably after Feb 15. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/glideapps/original/3X/e/d/ede4bcdf80a00bd2dba80007a146a8dbf3aac037.png) So the question could be, what has changed about 10 days ago… ---
**Author:** ![Ganymed](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/ganymed/32/27001_2.png) [@Ganymed](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Ganymed)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 8:38am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/special-values-not-working/58298/13 "2023-02-25T08:38:53Z")
Happy to report that the problem has been fixed… 🤣 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![ThinhDinh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/thinhdinh/32/49_2.png) [@ThinhDinh](https://community.glideapps.com/u/ThinhDinh)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 8:53am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/special-values-not-working/58298/14 "2023-02-25T08:53:07Z")
Great to hear!