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As you can probably guess from the title, I am trying to use the formula =[Today] in a calculated field. I then use this field to compare two date fields. These represent start and end dates. Lastly, I have a fourth calculated column in which I determine if the "Today" field's value lies within those of Start and End.

Here is an excerpt from my schema.xml:

<Field ID="" Name="ProjectStartDate" DisplayName="$Resources:StartFieldString;" Type="DateTime" Format="DateOnly" Required="TRUE" Group="Site Columns"></Field>
<Field ID="" Name="ProjectEndDate" DisplayName="$Resources:EndFieldString;" Type="DateTime" Format="DateOnly" Required="TRUE" Group="Site Columns"></Field>
<Field ID="" Name="ProjectToday" DisplayName="$Resources:TodayFieldString;" Type="Calculated" Required="TRUE" Group="Site Columns">
  <Formula>
    =[Today]
  </Formula>
      </Field>
<Field ID="" Name="ProjectActive" Type="Calculated" ResultType="Boolean" DisplayName="$Resources:IsActiveField;" ReadOnly="TRUE">
  <Formula>
    =IF(AND([ProjectToday] > [StartDate], [ProjectToday] < [EndDate]), "true", "false")          
  </Formula>
  <FieldRefs>
    <FieldRef Name="StartDate" ID=""/>
    <FieldRef Name="EndDate" ID=""/>
    <FieldRef ID="" Name="ProjectToday"/>
  </FieldRefs>
</Field>

I also tried putting =IF(AND([Today] &gt; [StartDate], [Today] &lt; [EndDate]), "true", "false") into the formula because the < sign was underlined red in editor.

Does anybody know what I'm doing wrong? I don't get any meaningful error, just the above one. Even in ULS I get nothing.

EDIT: I don't know why but now I get a more meaningful error when deploying it with the < and > signs: Illegal syntax. Expecting valid start name character. I guess this error is about the red underlined < sign in markup editor. But how to fix if this syntax comes from Microsoft's site?

LeonidasFett
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1 Answers1

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You can not use TODAY calculations in a Calculated Column, because ListItems do not update like Excel Cells do.

You can do JavaScript Today calculations

How to use Today and Me in Calculated column

Community
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Danny '365CSI' Engelman
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  • oh, I read somewhere that it is possible to use =[Today], but not =IF([Today] < [Date]). Well, then I guess I need to try JS. – LeonidasFett Oct 06 '15 at 20:30
  • Thats when you use [TODAY] in a View Filter, functions do not work in a Filter, but you can do calculations like [TODAY]+31 – Danny '365CSI' Engelman Oct 07 '15 at 08:36
  • ok then I guess I was just confused about the usage. I did away with the boolean calculated field and do the checking in code behind instead. not as slim of a solution as I hoped for, but it does what I needed. – LeonidasFett Oct 07 '15 at 09:17