Steps to reproduce
- Create a new base
- Add a new formula (via the Properties pop-up) with any name (e.g. “test”) and any content (e.g. “file”).
- Rename the formula to any other name (e.g. “test alt”)
- Add a new formula and give it the initial name of the original formula (here “test”)
Did you follow the troubleshooting guide? [Y/N]
Y
Expected result
A new formula is created with the desired name (here “test”).
Actual result
The old formula is overwritten with a new and empty formula (and thus effectively deleted). Still the formula retains the updated name of the old formula (in my example “test alt”). No formula with the desired name is created.
In the table of the base, the old formula is now shown twice (two columns, both with the updated name). This can be fixed by simply hiding the property once and then showing it again.
The pop-up for editing the formula still shows the old name of the old formula / desired name of the new formula, but updating the formula updates the old formula. When closing out of the editing screen, only the old formula with its updated name remains in the property screen (reflecting the actual state).
Environment
SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: v1.10.6
Installer version: v1.9.12
Operating system: Darwin Kernel Version 25.1.0: Mon Oct 20 19:32:56 PDT 2025; root:xnu-12377.41.6~2/RELEASE_ARM64_T8132 25.1.0
Login status: logged in
Language: de
Catalyst license: insider
Insider build toggle: off
Live preview: on
Base theme: adapt to system
Community theme: none
Snippets enabled: 0
Restricted mode: on
RECOMMENDATIONS:
none
Additional information
When creating a new formula and actually giving it the current name of an existing formula, the existing formula is also overwritten / deleted without warning. While this behaves well regarding UI, deleting formulas without a warning to me is in itself weird behavior. And after opening the bases-file in a plain text editor, I also suspect it to be the key reason for the behavior described above. Because formulas seem to retain their fixed original name indefinitely and just gain an additional displayName property, explaining the observed behavior (minus the visual bugs).
So it seems more like a conceptual problem, that probably will have to be solved by just better communicating with the user (once again, minus the visual bugs). I just saw, that referencing another formula within a formula is also done by the original name. So at the very least, the original, unchangeable name should also be shown somewhere in the UI when editing it.