Rounding Behavior in Result and Registration Structured Tables

This article explains rounding behavior with schema display precision when users submit registration or resubmit results tables in the Notebook. In addition to explaining the behavior, it outlines the timing of the upcoming changes to the behavior, and provides recommendations until that change is available.

Users can set display precision on schema metadata fields, as explained in this help article. While this functionality is intended to control how values are displayed, it leads to rounding effects in the two scenarios described below.

Result Table Behavior

When a result table has fields with schema-defined precision and is resubmitted, the system applies the defined display precision to all previously submitted values that: 

1. are unchanged, and
2. are not defined by a formula

These values are rounded and replace the original full-precision values in both the Notebook table display and the data warehouse.

Downstream Effects

• Any formula referencing a newly rounded value is re-evaluated after resubmission.
• When a Result table is resubmitted and values are rounded, any dependent formulas are recalculated using those rounded inputs. If the new calculated values differ from what was previously submitted, the table will appear un-submitted.
• These cells will be labeled with blue cell-level indicators, and users will see the previous value if it was previously submitted.

Registration Table Behavior

When a registration table with schema-defined display precision is submitted:

• The original full-precision input is no longer visible in the formula bar (see Image B in help article)
• However, this full-precision value is:
  • Still stored in the data warehouse
  • Still used in formula evaluations

This behavior is display-only and does not affect backend data.

Impact and Example for Result Schemas

Consider a case where a user enters the value 3.14159 into the field Value A, which is configured on the result schema-level to display two decimal places precision. The field Value B contains a formula that multiplies Value A by a factor of 4 [Value B = Value A * 4] and has no precision applied. Upon initial table submission, the warehouse retains the full inputted value, and Value B uses this value for calculation.

Initial Submission:

If after table submission the table is modified and resubmitted, Benchling reapplies the two-decimal-place setting to the field Value A. This rounded value is then saved in the database and synced into the warehouse. After resubmission is complete, the rounded Value A is then used by the table in the browser to recompute Value B.

After Resubmission:

The discrepancy between Value B in the UI and the database, leaves the table in an un-submitted state, with a blue cell-level indicator highlighting the mismatch. A further submission of this table would replace the initially full-precision calculated value in the Value B column for the new value 12.56 calculated with the rounded Value A input.

Upcoming Updates to Rounding Behavior

Benchling’s engineering team is actively working on a product update that will maintain non-rounded values during table resubmission. Once implemented, the system will preserve original precision unless a user explicitly modifies a cell. Customers will be notified when this update becomes available. This update has already been deployed to non-Validated Cloud tenants, and will be included in the 2025.4 Validated Cloud Release.

Recommendations

Until the product update is deployed, we recommend temporarily disabling schema display precision in registration and result tables. Doing so will ensure that non-rounded values are stored and used in formula calculations during result and registry table re-submissions.

Accessing Historical Data

Original data can still be accessed by viewing previous Notebook entry versions to find originally submitted values. Entry audit logs will show table submission events to make it easier to understand what entry versions will contain the original data.

Contact Support

If you have questions about this behavior or need assistance correcting affected data, please contact Benchling Support at support@benchling.com.