Show/Hide Field with conditional formula or column formatting not working

[normabeez]

Hi All,

I have a list that includes two columns.

• Failure Reason - (drop down choice)
• Comments - (single line text)

The goal is to have the Comments field/column remain hidden unless the choice "Unknown" is selected in Failure Reason.

In the Comments column, I have tried entering the following formula in the Column Formatting with no success. 

{
 "$schema": "https://developer.microsoft.com/json-schemas/sp/v2/column-formatting.schema.json",
 "elmType": "div",
 "txtContent": "=if([$Failure_x0020_Reason] == 'Unknown', 'Comments: ', '')",
 "children": [
   {
     "elmType": "div",
     "style": {
       "display": "=if([$Failure_x0020_Reason] == 'Unknown', 'block', 'none')"
     },
     "children": [
       {
         "elmType": "span",
         "txtContent": "[$Comments]"
       }
     ]
   }
 ]
}

I have tried using the following formula in the Edit Conditional Formatting field with no success. 

=if([$$Failure_x0020_Reason]=='Unknown', 'true', 'false')

SharePoint accepts the formula but when I refresh and test, the Comments field remains despite what is selected. When I researched into it further, I read that conditional formulas do not work with choice with multiple selections columns.

As a work around, I created a new Column called Unknown (intended to be hidden) and only have it populate with "Unknown" if the Failure Reason is unknown. Then I tried to run the formula in the Comments field based on that column. Still doesn't work, the Comments field remains despite choice selected.

I just want the comments field to appear only when someone picks "Unknown" in the Failure Reason field. I can't believe this is so incredibly difficult to achieve. Can someone please help me figure out what I'm doing wrong? This is infuriating! I would greatly appreciate ANY HELP!

[#2 · Accepted solution]

@normabeez 

If you are trying to hide the comments field from list form based on single selection choice column values, you can use the conditional formula in this format: 

=if([$ChoiceColumnInternalName]=='Unknown', 'true', 'false')

Where [$ChoiceColumnInternalName] is an internal name of your column in SharePoint list in this format: [$InternalNameOfColumn]. You can get the internal name of your SharePoint list columns by following this article: How to find the Internal name of columns in SharePoint Online?

You have to use $ only once before column name in the conditional formula.

Documentation: Show or hide columns in a SharePoint list or library form 

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