# Creating standard field in entity that "Self References" that entity? **URL:** \ **Category:** Get Help\ **Created:** [April 12, 2024, 12:55pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/creating-standard-field-in-entity-that-self-references-that-entity/6076 "2024-04-12T12:55:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![interr0bangr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/interr0bangr/32/8089_2.png) [@interr0bangr](https://community.fibery.io/u/interr0bangr)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 12:55pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/creating-standard-field-in-entity-that-self-references-that-entity/6076/1 "2024-04-12T12:55:37Z")
To get around the current limitations of auto-relations and not having formulas in filters, I’m trying to create a formula field that will just self-reference the entity it’s associated to. I was hoping to just be able to use the [This Entity] field in the formula, but it only seems to work inside of a filter function. Also, because formulas can only reference fields related to the entity they’re in, and not all the databases in Fibery, I can’t just do: ```auto Filter([Public Id] = [This Entity].[Public Id]) .Sort() .First() ``` I know I can do this by referencing the other relations that an entity may have, but I’m trying to create a standard field I can easily add to all databases that doesn’t need to be customized each time. Is there any clean and simple way to do this? ---
**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 12:59pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/creating-standard-field-in-entity-that-self-references-that-entity/6076/2 "2024-04-12T12:59:53Z")
> [@interr0bangr](#): > > create a formula field that will just self-reference the entity it’s associated to Not sure I get what you want to achieve. Do you want to have a field in an entity, which returns the entity itself? Why? ---
**Author:** ![interr0bangr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/interr0bangr/32/8089_2.png) [@interr0bangr](https://community.fibery.io/u/interr0bangr)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/creating-standard-field-in-entity-that-self-references-that-entity/6076/3 "2024-04-12T16:13:42Z")
> [@Chr1sG](#): > > Do you want to have a field in an entity, which returns the entity itself? Exactly! > [@Chr1sG](#): > > Why? There’s several Fibery limitations I’m trying to work around: 1a. Not having any way to have filtering/conditional logic when auto-linking 1b. Not being able to auto-link using many-to-many fields 2a. Not having formulas in filters. Specifically automation filters in this case. 2b. Not having branching logic in automation rules. Maybe if I knew how to script things, it would make things easier for me, but I don’t so I have to rely on more traditional methods like formulas and automations which get very exhaustive to build and maintain. Here’s a common scenario that we struggle to handle without having many, many separate automations that can be complex and sometimes unreliable. Using a self referencing field, I’ve been able to simplify everything into a single automation now, which is awesome, and now I’m trying to scale that approach to be able to streamline many other automations I have as well. Relational Hierarchy: [Iteration] M-M [Sprint] [Iteration] M-M [Team] [Team] 1-M [Sprint] Ideal Logic: WHEN [Iteration].[Week Number] = [Sprint].[Week Number] AND [Iteration].[Year] = [Sprint].[Year] AND [Iteration].[Teams] is any of [Sprint].[Team] (Team A, for example) LINK [Iteration] to Team A’s [Sprint] and if any of the conditions are no longer met, UNLINK the iteration from the sprint. You helped me with a similar scenario in another thread before if it seems familiar [Contains equivalent? - #12 by Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/t/contains-equivalent/3625/12) ---
**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 4:36pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/creating-standard-field-in-entity-that-self-references-that-entity/6076/4 "2024-04-12T16:36:37Z")
If Iteration M-M Team and Sprint M-1 Team then I don’t understand what > [@interr0bangr](#): > > [Iteration].[Teams] is any of [Sprint].[Team] can mean. Do you mean Iteration.Teams contains Sprint.Team? ---
**Author:** ![interr0bangr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/interr0bangr/32/8089_2.png) [@interr0bangr](https://community.fibery.io/u/interr0bangr)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 4:59pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/creating-standard-field-in-entity-that-self-references-that-entity/6076/5 "2024-04-12T16:59:59Z")
Yeah, contains is what I meant. An iteration could have Team A and Team B working on it, so in that case it would need to show up in both the Team A Sprint and the Team B Sprint. In the case only 1 team is working on a particular iteration, it would only be linked to the sprint for that team, for that time period. ---
**Author:** ![Chr1sG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/chr1sg/32/3941_2.png) [@Chr1sG](https://community.fibery.io/u/Chr1sG)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 7:13pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/creating-standard-field-in-entity-that-self-references-that-entity/6076/6 "2024-04-12T19:13:41Z")
If I understand it correctly, here’s how you can do it: Use an auto-relation to link Iterations to Sprints based on them having matching Week and Year (a.k.a. simultaneous): ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/fibery/original/2X/9/9fa6e0eac104d0aea9e938fa0f815b1b5ed833be.png) Add a formula on the Iteration db to get a list of its Team IDs: `Teams.Join("[" + [Public Id] + "]", " ")` Now you can use a formula on the Iteration db to find which of the simultaneous Sprints are owned by a Team whose ID is in the Team ID list: `[Simultaneous Sprints].Filter(Find([This Iteration].[Team IDs], "[" + Team.[Public Id] + "]") > 0)` And you can do the opposite on the Sprint db: `[Simultaneous Iterations].Filter(Find([Team IDs],"["+[This Sprint].Team.[Public Id]+"]")>0)` Did I get anywhere close?