Why was @rowname replaced by a more complicated method for variables?

[minogue]

I know, that %rostertitle% exists. I use it in most cases, but %rostertitle% cannot be accessed for variables as mentioned here:

Accessing %rostertitle% in string variable

Lachlan, there is no way to access %rostertitle% in the syntax. Perhaps, you can mention both in your question, such as “Where did you buy %rostertitle% %vother%?” with vother being the variable name where the value of the other item is specified. Best, Sergiy

Luckily I found an alternative:

@rowname not working in 5.19 (build 16084)

As suggested in the earlier thread, using the following expression in place of @rowname is giving the desired result name1.First(x=>x.Item1==@rowcode).Item2 But using @rowname still shows “obsolete,don’t use it” in place of the name of the household members.

Is there a reason why a this perfect simple to understand bit of code now has to be replaced by this more complicated version or is it not possible to have %rostertitle% and @rowname at the same time? Please bring it back.

As some seam to question why this is needed, here is an example:

I have a list of names and for each of the names I would like to take the first 3 character@rowcode + the roster row id (e.g. “Thomas” → “THO-01”, “Peter” → “PET-02”, …) as I need a short id the interviewers can write on their samples which have limited space to write on. (This is safer and easier for the interviewer than writing any random short uuid on it as we had issues before with them making small mistakes that mixed up samples or made them unidentifiable).

I already implemented that now but it took me a lot longer to find a solution. Please take this as feedback for furture users so they do not have to suffer.