Creating & Managing Data Tables

TLDR; This page covers help on creating and managing data tables explains the structure and purpose of data tables, compares them to spreadsheets, and provides guidelines for organizing data within an app. It covers creating tables for different data types, naming conventions, and the importance of parent-child relationships. The article also discusses the default data tables included in new apps, methods for creating new tables (from scratch or importing CSVs), and the settings available for customizing data tables.

What is a data table?

A Data table is a collection of fields that comprise a common group.

For instance, a Companies data table would consist of a collection of basic information that would define each company, including Company Name, Company Address, Company Website, etc. Each item of information is referred to as a field, and all fields grouped together form a Companies data table.

A data table is a collection of common fields, similar to how a spreadsheet is a collection of common columns.

In a spreadsheet titled Customers, there may be columns including First Name, Last Name, Email, and Gender. Each column refers to a basic item of information that describes a customer, and the collection of these columns defines the Customers spreadsheet. Similarly in Tadabase, a data table titled Customers would contain fields including First Name, Last Name, Email, and Gender, and the collection of these fields define the Customers data table.

Just as each row in a spreadsheet displays the collection of columns to form a single Customer record, a record in a Tadabase data table displays the collection of fields to form a single Customer record as well. In this way, records in a data table in Tadabase are similar to rows in a spreadsheet.

To sum the comparison of how Tadabase structures data similarly to spreadsheets, users can think of data tables as spreadsheets, fields as columns, and records as rows.

Structuring data tables within your app

When creating your app, it is best to create a data table for each clustered type of data you would like to store. For instance, if you are creating a custom CRM app to track your customers, proposals, tasks, and notes, it would be best to create four separate data tables, one for each set of data.

Custom CRM Data Tables:

If you are creating a contact directory app to track your contacts, the companies each contact works for, and every time you communicate with each contact, you would create three separate data tables, one for each set of data.

Contact Directory Data Tables:

Pluralizing your data tables

As each data table will display multiple individual records, it is best to title each data table in plural form rather than in singular form. For instance, a Customers data table will display multiple individual records of each customer while an Employees data table will display multiple individual records of each employee. Therefore, it is best to title data tables in plural formatting.

Adding parent data tables before child data tables

It is recommended to add data tables in the order of parent data table to child data table. The child data table refers to the data table that belongs to the parent data table, similar to how a child belongs to a parent. Similarly, the parent data table refers to the data table that is more likely to remain constant, or parent-like.

For instance, if you have a Contact Directory application with a Contacts data table to track your contacts and a Companies data table to track the companies each contact works for, the Contacts data table is the child data table that belongs to the Companies data table (each contact works for/belongs to a company). Similarly, the Companies data table is the parent data table that is more likely to remain constant (contacts will come and go from companies while companies are more likely to remain constant).

When adding data tables within the Data Builder, it is recommended to begin with adding the parent/most constant data table first. Therefore, in this Contact Directory example it would be recommended to first add the Companies data table and then add the Contacts data table. Adding data tables in this order will enable you to first add your companies, and when adding contacts have the ability to select connected companies from a drop-down list.

In the event that data tables were added to the Data Builder in the order of child to parent, such as first adding the Contacts data table and then adding the Companies data table, you can simply enable a form to pop up within your Contacts component on the live app in order to add new companies on the fly from the contacts component.

Default Data Tables

While you create the data tables that define your app's data structure, every new app comes with two default data tables that you will find whenever you create a new app.

When you create a new app and are directed to the Data Builder you will find two default data tables:

Default users data table

The default users table is a pre-built data table you will use to add the data for the users whom you wish to log in to your app with role-based permissions.

For instance, if you are building a Project Management app you may wish to be the only user to login to your app to add and track projects, tasks, deadlines, team members, etc. In this case, you would create the following data tables for your Project Management app:

and within the default Users data table you would only add the login and user role information for yourself, the only user who will be logging in to your app. You can assign yourself the role of Project Manager or App Admin or whatever other role you wish, and as the only user defined in the Users data table you will be the only user with permissions to login to your app.

Alternatively, you may wish to enable team members to login to your app as well to give them custom-defined team member permissions, such as the ability to update the status of their assigned projects or track their assigned tasks and deadlines.

In this case, you would create the following data tables for your Project Management app:

In this case, rather than creating a Team Members data table you would add your Team Members data to the default Users data table in order to enable them to login with custom-defined Team Member role permissions.

Default sample data table

The second type of default data table that comes with each new app is the sample data table. To assist beginners with creating their first app, Tadabase provides a pre-built sample data table to demonstrate how Tadabase structures data with data tables, fields, and records.

This default sample data table can be deleted at any time by clicking on the Settings tab on the top data table menu and clicking Delete.

Creating New Data Tables

For your convenience, Tadabase offers two different methods for creating a new data table:

Creating a new data table from scratch is the most recommended method of adding a new data table because it offers the most flexibility and functionality to fully customize your data table around your exact data needs.

To create a data table from scratch, simply click the +Add Data Table button.

You will then be prompted to name your new data table. As a reminder, it is best to name your data table in plural formatting (Customers vs. Customer) as each data table will display multiple individual records of that data set.

You will have the expedited option to immediately add fields for this newly created data table by clicking on the Add Field button (expedited method), or you can click on the Create Table button to add fields on the next page (recommended due to the increased ease and flexibility this method provides for adding fields).

Each new data table will come with a default icon that will be displayed on its left within your app's list of data tables. This icon can be edited within the settings tab of each data table's navigation menu.

By importing CSV data

You can choose to add a new data table by importing data directly from an existing CSV file.

Uploading a CSV is a multi-step process and taking the necessary steps to verify that your CSV is formatted correctly will expedite the importing process drastically and ensure that your data is correctly imported.

To add a new data table by importing a CSV, click on the drop-down arrow to the right of the +Add Data Table button and select the +Add table from CSV option.

Once you select your CSV, you will be prompted to name your new data table.

You will then be prompted to browse for the CSV file you wish to upload to generate the new data table.

To auto-import your CSV data correctly, Tadabase will match your CSV header's columns with your new data table's fields. To do this, you will be prompted to answer whether your CSV file has a header row with names for each column and if yes, on which row are the column names located. Typically, CSV files do contain a header row with names for each column on Row 1 of the CSV file, so generally the response to this question will be "Yes, the headers are on row 1".

You will also be asked to select the type of delimiter your file contains. By definition, CSV (Comma Separated Values) files use commas as delimiters, and "comma" will generally be the response to this question. However, if your CSV file is configured with a different character delimiter you can define the correct delimiter here.

Once you have completed verifying this information regarding your CSV, you can click Upload.

You will then have the opportunity to confirm your CSV columns' names as you would like them to be transferred into fields within your new data table. If your CSV file contains columns that you do not wish to include in your data table, this is where you can choose to exclude those columns. Lastly, you will also be prompted to assign each included column with a field type (text, number, date, link, etc.) so that Tadabase can correctly transfer your CSV columns into data table fields.

A. This is where your CSV column names can be altered to match your desired field names within your new data table.

B. This is where can choose to include or exclude CSV columns from being imported to your new data table.

C. This is where you can choose a field type from the drop-down field type menu that best defines your column/field. This step is highly significant in correctly importing your CSV into a Tadabase data table as each field type comes with its own purpose and functionality. For instance, using a date field will allow you to apply date specific filters.

Once you have confirmed the names and field types of the CSV columns you wish to include, click Save and watch as your CSV data is instantly imported into your new Tadabase data table.

Data Table Settings

You can view or change the settings of each data table at any time by clicking on the Settings tab of the selected data table's navigation menu.

Within the Settings tab of the selected data table, you can view or change the following data table settings: