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Tables & Connections
Plan Your Connections: Complex Example
Working With Tables
About Connections
Plan Your Connections: Simple Example
Connection Types
Plan Your Tables
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Connecting Records Together
Special Tables
Connections: Troubleshooting & FAQs
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Numeric Equation Functions
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Source: Which Records Will the View Display
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How do I cancel my Knack account?
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Managing Apps
How do I change the favicon for my app?
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How do I remove the "Powered by Knack" logo at the bottom of my app?
How do I give Builder access to a colleague or developer for one of my apps?
How do I white label my app?
How do I copy an app from my account to another account?
App Building
How do I show multiple dates on a calendar?
How do I add a logo to my app?
How do I find the most recent date from a connected table?
How do I create a field that always shows today's date?
Can I share or connect data between apps?
How do I create an "If, Then" or conditional equation?
How do I merge my apps, or copy pages, tables, or other app elements between my apps?
The menu isn't showing for my app on mobile devices. How do I fix that?
Is there a way to have new users be automatically logged-in after they register?
How do I bulk upload or import multiple files?
How do I move or copy fields or data from one table to another?
How can I show a customer's payment history if I'm collecting payments through my Knack app and through cash or check?
Is there a way to add a display rule to multiple columns at one time instead of having to update each column individually?
Do I need a separate user role table for my Vendors, Customers, Employees, Contacts, etc.?
How can I set up my app so users see only their own data?
Can I combine two date fields into a single date field? For example, combining a start and end date into a single field?
Does Knack offer a service for building apps or have developers I can hire?
How do I bulk upload or import multiple images?
How can I change the color of something in my app?
Is it possible to display more than 100 records at a time on a grid, list, or search view?
Can I?
Can I migrate or transfer data from Zoho, Quickbase, or TrackVia?
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Other
How secure is Knack?
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Is Knack GDPR compliant?
Storing sensitive data (credit cards, social security numbers, etc.)
Will Knack sign an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement)?
Which browsers do you support?
How do I batch download all of the images and files In my app?
Imports
I'm seeing an odd character when importing data. How can I get rid of it?
How do I update existing data using an import?
My import is failing or getting stuck. What do I do?
Can I undo or reverse an import?
I'm having trouble importing into a specific type of field. What can I do?
Some of my fields aren't importing correctly. How can I fix that?
I'm having trouble importing into a connection field. What can I do?
Can I import something other than data? Like tables, pages, views, etc?
My import is taking a long time. Can you take a look?
I'm getting an error when importing. What do I do?
Do the validation rules on fields trigger when importing data?
Can I schedule or automate imports?
Can my users import data from the live app, instead of going through the builder/back-end?
I am importing data for the first time. How do I do that?
Can I import data into more than one table at the same time?
How To Guides
Add Functionality to Your Live App
How To Create Discount Codes
Create an Add To Favorites Feature
How to Access Private Records Without a Login
Accept Payments in a Live App
Manage Your Records
Use an Edit Form to Create Records If They Don't Exist
Track Which User Last Updated a Record
Copy a Record Using Record Rules
Track When Records are Created and Updated
Create a Version History for Records
Use Zapier to Insert Connected Records
Work with Connected Records
How to Show Multiple Fields in Your Connection Drop-Down
Showing Parent-Child Records in the Live App
Forms
How to Create Dynamic Dropdowns in Forms
Add Read-Only Fields to a Form
How to Change the Layout of Forms
Create a Multi-Part Form
How to Allow Users to Add New Options in Forms
How to Add Instructions to a Form
How to Customize the Text on a Submit Button
How to Automatically Capture a User’s Location on a Form
How to Use URL Variables to Pre-Populate a Form
Customize Views
How to Add a Map to a Details View
How to Add Connection Links to Views
How to Add Inline Editing to a Grid
Create a Print-Friendly Invoice Page
How to Click on an Image to Go to Another Page
How to Add Groupings to a Grid
Users & Logins
Force Users to Reset Their Passwords
Save a User's Payment Method
Create a Single Login Page for Multiple User Roles
Add Read-Only Access For Users
Show Records Connected To The Logged-in User's Company Or Other Group
Show Records Connected to the Logged-in User
Create an Admin User Role to View All Records
Workflow & Automations
Add a Pipeline to Your App
Create a Registration Form with Limited Availability
Add Stages to Your App
Store Multiple Images or Files for Individual Records
Use Multiple Image Sources for a Single Image Field
Create a Button or Link that Updates a Field to a Custom Value
Notify a User That an Item is Ready for Review
Add Assignments to Your App
Using Mailchimp
Approve New Records Before Displaying Them
Workflow Tools
Add Notification & Reminder Emails to Your App
Add Status Indicators to Your App
Logic, Equations & Formulas
Start an Auto Increment Field from Any Number
Display a Message When a Deadline is Approaching
Generate Simple Numeric Barcodes Automatically
How to Set a Random ID
Calculate Age in Years from a Birthday
How To Number Line Items
Show Upcoming Birthdays
How to Extract the Start and End Dates from a Date Field
How to Display Multiple Date Formats Using a Single Date Field
Reports, Queries, and Summaries
App Walkthroughs
Build an Inventory Manager App
Build a Quiz App
Build a Warehouse Manager App
Build a Member Directory
Build an Orders App
Build a Map Directory or Store Locator App
Images & Files
Manage Your Account
Manage Your Account
About Knack Accounts
Account Plans and Billing
Managing Your Apps
Managing Your Account Settings
Sharing Apps with Shared Builders
App Settings: Map Provider
Script Attack Protection: Whitelisted Custom Code Elements and Attributes
Script Attack Protection: Protected Areas
Security & Infrastructure
Security Best Practices
Knack Status
Data Locations
Builder Security Settings for All Knack Plans
Builder Two-Factor Authentication
Performance
Table of Contents
- All Categories
- Builder Guide
- Tables & Connections
- Working With Tables
Working With Tables
Updated
by Lesley
About Tables
Knack uses tables and fields to define your data.
Tables are used to separate your data into common groups. You can think of an table like a spreadsheet or a database table.
Fields are used to define specific attributes of an table. Think of a field as a spreadsheet column. You'll want to add a field for each attribute you want to store for a given table.
You access your tables by clicking on the "Data" link in the top left of your Builder:
Your app’s tables are listed in the Data section of the Builder on the left. Click on a table to access the table's settings.
What Should My Tables Be?
For most apps, figuring out what the tables are is fairly straightforward. But for cases when it’s less clear, here are some good ways to think about your tables:
- Consider your fields. It can help by starting at the bottom. List all the fields your app will need to display and manage, then group them into the most logical collections. These collections are your tables.
- Think about your pages. If you're adding forms, what inputs will those forms contain? If you want to display a table of records, what will the columns be? Ask yourself if each of the inputs or columns sound like they belong to the same group. If not, you will want to store them in separate tables.
- Singular or plural? If you have data that can be plural combined with data that is singular, then you may want to break up the plural aspects into a separate table. For example, let's say you want to track job applications (single), but each application can have a job history of previous jobs (plural). In this case, it makes sense to make the previous jobs a separate table that would connect to the application table.
- Do you have repeating data? If you are repeating the same information over and over again in your records, you may want to separate that info into its own table and connect it to your original records instead. This way you will only have to update it once.
Add Tables
Add a table by clicking the green plus button at the top of the toolbox on the left side of the Builder:
This will bring up a pop-up to add your table with tabs for 3 options.
- From Scratch
- By Import
- By Template
Add a Table From Scratch
This tab lets you add your table from scratch:
This means you'll need to add all the table’s fields yourself. This is the most common way to add a table if you are not starting with an existing spreadsheet.
First, give your table a name. We recommend you use the plural version of your table name (e.g. Companies instead of Company). Knack automatically creates a singular version and will use the right version when needed.
Click the "Add Table" button and your new table will be saved and added. You can now start adding fields to this new table. A default "Name" field (e.g. Company Name) is added automatically.
Add a Table by Import
If you are starting with an existing spreadsheet, click the "Import a Spreadsheet" tab:
Knack will create a field for each column in the spreadsheet (or each column you choose to add) and import each record into the table.
Click here to learn more about importing spreadsheets.
Add a Table by Template
Click on the “By Template” tab to select from common table templates:
All the fields listed for each template will be added to your new table. You're free to update, delete or add new fields after the table is added.
Edit Tables
To edit an table select the “more options” menu (the “...” icon) next to the table's name. Then select the "Settings" option. Here you will be able to edit the name, display field, and default sort order of that table.
Rename Table: The name of the table used throughout the Builder.
Set Display Field: The display field is the field that represents this table. This field is used throughout the application when these records are displayed in connection fields for this table. By default, this will be the first field in the Table.
Set Default Sort Order: The default sort order is used to order the records when no other sort order is given. This defaults to the order the record was added, but you can set it to sort by any field.
Copy Tables/Fields
An table and its fields can be copied by clicking on the more options menu (the “...” icon) next to the table’s name and selecting the "Copy" option:
You'll be given the option to copy the fields to either a new or existing table.
If you choose a new table, you'll be asked to name the new table. If you choose an existing table, you will be asked to select which existing table. Then you can select which fields to copy:
Connect Tables Together
The right column lists any connections the table has and a green plus button to add a new connection:
When you add a new connection it creates a special connection field in that table.
These fields can be used like any other field throughout your app. If you add a connection field to a form, it will operate like a "look-up," where you can select a record to connect to from the connected table.
Connections open up powerful functionality, such as:
- Displaying parent-child records in your app’s pages.
- Running formulas to find the totals and averages of child records.
- Showing records connected to the logged-in user.
Click here to learn more about what is possible using connections.
Table Records
Above the list of fields in the Data section, you can select the database icon which will show you all the records stored in this table. This can also be accessed for all tables on the “Records” tab from the left-hand menu.
Click here for more on managing records.
Delete Tables
You can delete an table by clicking on the more options (the "..." icon) next to the table's name and selecting the Delete option:
You'll be asked to confirm this action.