Creating a Connection Field
To add a new connection field, click on the Connection field on the Add Field menu within your selected child data table.
Field Options
Creating or editing a Long Text Field will have the following options to configure:
- Connected Data Table
- Connection Type
- Display Value
Select the data table to connect to
This is where you can select the parent data table you would like this child data table to connect to. You can select the parent data table to connect to via a drop-down list.
One-to-One vs. One-to-Many
Select a connection type of one-to-one or one-to-many. Selecting the connection type will enable your users to either select one or multiple records when making this connection.
For instance, does one contact connect to one company or does one contact connect to many companies?
If you choose a one-to-one connection type, users will only be able to select one company for each contact as illustrated in the image below.
If you choose a one-to-many connection type, users will be able to select multiple companies for each contact as illustrated in the image below.
While you are prompted to choose a connection type of one-to-one or one-to-many for the child to parent data table (One contact connects to one company or One contact connects to many companies), Tadabase does not prompt you to select a connection type for the parent to child data table table (you are not prompted to choose if one company connects to one contact of if one company connects to many contacts). This is because Tadabase automatically manages the parent to child relationship for you and does not need to know if the parent-child relationship type is one-to-one or one-to-many. While the Tadabase platform does not need to be informed whether one company connects to one contact or to many contacts, it does need to be informed whether one contact connects to one company or to many companies.
Choosing a Display Value
Select the field you want users to use when connecting records using this connection field.
For instance, when adding a connection field within a Contacts data table to connect to a Companies data table, you can select which field within the Companies data table you would like to represent this connection when users connect contact records to company records. If you select Company Name as the display field, users will see company names when making this connection.
Display fields are used for representation only. Connected records are stored using the record ID, not the display field. Therefore, you can change the display field at any time, and changing the display field will not affect the connected records.
- Name-Select the field name you wish to use to reference this connection field.
The names for each field must be unique within each data table. Meaning, there can not be two fields within the same data table that have the same field name.
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Description- this is where you can optionally describe this connection field for your own reference.
Managing connections
Once you add connection fields to establish connections between data tables, you may need to periodically remind yourself of which data tables connect to one another and how they connect.
Tadabase provides two ways to view your connections- one on the data table level and one on the app level.
You can view the incoming and outgoing connections to/from each data table by clicking on the diagram icon located within each data table as illustrated below. For instance, the diagram icon of the data table in the image below displays a connection diagram of the Contacts data table connecting to the Companies data table via the Company field.
Additionally, you can view the full diagram of all your app's current connections by going to Settings > Support > Table Connection Graph. There, you will be able to view each connection and the field used to connect one data table to the other.
To change or delete connections, you can do so within the connection field of the selected data table.
Related vs. Connected Records
Connected records can extend one step further to related records. Related records are one step removed from connected records in that the records are not directly connected to one another but rather related to one another.
For instance, let's take the above Contact Directory example and add one more data table of Notes. Say you have a Companies data table, a Contacts data table with a connection field to the Companies data table (each contact belongs to a company), and a Notes data table with a connection field to the Contacts data table (each note belongs to a contact). Although the Companies data table and the Notes data table are not connected, they are related via the Contacts data table. This is illustrated via the Contact Directory app's table connection graph:
Although Companies and Notes are not connected, Notes are connected to Contacts which are connected to Companies, making Companies and Notes related. Like connected records, related records can be automated with record rules, summarized in related data tables, and viewed within the details page of a related record. For instance, within the details page of a specific company you can view all your contacts connected to this company as well as all the notes related to this company's contacts.
Let’s explore the difference between connected and related records using one more example.
Say you have a Customers data table, a Jobs data table with a Connection field to the Customers data table (each job belongs to a customer), and a Job Notes data table with a connection field to the Jobs data table (each note belongs to a job).
In this example, Job Notes are not connected to Customers but they are connected to Jobs which are connected to Customers. Therefore, the records within the Job Notes data table are related to the records within the Customers data table.
Below is a diagram illustrating the relationship of Job Notes being related to Customers via Jobs:
Similar to the example above, related Customer and Job Notes records can be automated, summarized, and viewed on one details page. For instance, within the details page of a Customer you can view all the jobs connected to this customer as well as all the job notes related to this customer's jobs as illustrated in the image below.