Get Started
How Knack Works
Design Your Database
Manage Your Records
Build Your Live Application
View and Share Your App
Do More With Knack
Learn More
Workflow
Connect Related Data
Users & Access
Calculations & Logic
Emails & Notifications
Search & Queries
Reporting & Dashboards
E-Commerce & Payments
Builder Guide
Builder Basics
Tables & Connections
Plan Your Connections: Complex Example
Working With Tables
About Connections
Plan Your Connections: Simple Example
Connection Types
Plan Your Tables
Use Connections in Your App
Connecting Records Together
Special Tables
Connections: Troubleshooting & FAQs
Fields
Numeric Equation Functions
Field Types
Validation Rules
Date Equation Settings
Numeric Equation Settings
Formulas
Equations
Conditional Rules
Text Formulas
About Fields
Text Formula Functions
Records
CSV Format Guide for Importing
Delete Records
Import Records
Export Records
Importing Connections
Working with Records
Batch Updates
Pages
Page Menu
User Pages
Deleting a Page That's Being Linked to
Working with Pages
Navigating the Page Preview
Printing Pages & PDFs
Page Rules
Views
Grid Column Settings
Maps
Source: Which Records Will the View Display
Calendars
Grid Settings
Details
Menus
Using Action Links
Reports
Lists
Rich Text
Combining Fields from Connected Records in Views
Using Record Rules
Forms
Using Display Rules
About Views
Using Submit Rules
Searches
Grids
Users & Logins
Users and the Page Menu
Manage Roles & Permissions
Single Sign-On with Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Custom
Manage User Records
Logins and Registrations
About Users
Live App Security Settings: HIPAA Plans
Live App Security Settings
Tasks & Emails
E-Commerce
App Customization
FAQ
Support
Accounts
How do I cancel my Knack account?
I'm over the storage limit for my account. How do I add more storage or get under the limit?
Need account access or to transfer account access because account owner or colleague left the company
I'm over the record limit for my account. How do I add more records or get under the limit?
Is there an option to pay via invoice, check, wire transfer, or something other than a credit card?
How do I freeze or pause my Knack account?
Where can I find a copy of my receipt or invoice?
How do I add more API calls to my account?
Managing Apps
How do I change the favicon for my app?
How do I backup or export my apps and data?
How can I track what users are doing in my app?
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?
Can I add chat or messaging to my app?
Can I sell my Knack apps?
Can I use Knack on mobile devices?
Do you have a sandbox or developer environment?
Can I send SMS or text messages using Knack?
Can I integrate Knack with other data, products, and services?
Can I create invoices and accept payments?
Can I have an app in a language besides English?
Can I email PDFs or other attachments to users with Knack?
Can I add Google Analytics to my Knack app?
Can I migrate my Access, Filemaker, SQL, or other databases?
Can I prototype for others?
Can I customize the look and feel of my Knack pages?
Can I use a barcode or credit card scanner with Knack?
Other
How secure is Knack?
Does the signature captured through a signature field constitute a legally binding signature?
Does Knack offer a partner program?
How does Knack work on mobile devices? Is it mobile-friendly? Can users download my apps?
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/Time 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
- Learn More
- Connect Related Data
Connect Related Data
Updated
by Lesley
Think about the data you want to organize. Odds are that you’re thinking about more than just individual records. You’re also thinking about the relationships that tie those records together.
It’s those relationships that give your data meaning and make it useful.
In other words, customer data isn’t just about individual customers. It’s also about what each customer orders, and the items related to each order. Project data isn’t just about projects, but also about which employees work on each project, and their related project assignments. Inventory data isn’t just about inventory, but also about how shipping and receiving affect inventory levels.
We call these relationships connections. When you define connections in Knack, you’re mapping your Knack data with how it works in the real world. Those relationships unlock powerful features that can tell the true story of your data.
For example, with connections you can:
- View related data: You can create relationships between your data so that when you view information about a company, you can also view information about all of the contacts that are associated with that company as well.
- Ensure users only have access to their own data: Limit the data that users see on a page so that they only see the data that is relevant to themselves. This way, customers only see the orders they have created once they login.
- Run calculations and visually summarize your data: Create reports that show the total sales made in a given month and even how much each salesperson contributed to that total.
In this article, we’ll review different examples of how you can use connections in your applications and more about how to define and manage your connections.
How Do Connections Work In Knack?
In Knack, connections are represented as a special field type. Connection fields allow you to create relationships between tables storing different data types within your app. If you have used other database solutions, you may have used primary and foreign keys, links, or joins to create relationships.
One common example is connecting Employee and Company data. When many Employees work at a single Company, this data is related. To show this relationship in your app, you can add a connection between the Employees table and the Company table.
Here are some other examples of related data that use connections:
- Assigning Managers to specific Locations
- Showing Orders related to a single Customer
- Enrolling Students in specific Classes
Learn More
What Can You Do With Connections?
View Related Data
You can visually show connected data when building your views and pages. This can show hierarchy by adding views to show connected data on a page displaying the details of a single record. Building in hierarchy allows users to drill down and view the details of a record alongside other related data. You can also visually reference connected data directly in a view by choosing which connected fields you want to share on a page.
One common example is showing Contacts connected to an individual Company. By connecting your Contacts and Company records you can build a detailed record profile for a Company.
In this example, we will view the profile for the Company “BASCO” which shows the list of Contacts connected to that Company.
From the detailed Company profile, we can then go a step further and view the profile for an individual Contact. When viewing the profile for a Contact, we can see any connected Notes that have been added.
Another example here is to show the connected Company data directly in a grid listing Contact records.
Other examples:
- View a detailed profile for a Project record showing connected Tasks, Milestones and assigned Employees.
- View a detailed profile for a Campaign to see connected Donations
- View a detailed profile of an Event to see connected Registrations
Learn More
- Learn how to show connected records on a page in your Live App.
- Learn more about Detail views to show individual records.
- Learn how to add a “view more details” link to your grid.
- Learn more about how to show connected values in views here.
Ensure Users Only Have Access To Their Data
Using connections you can ensure that users only see their data. This means users can login and only have access to records that they have permission to see.
Here are some common examples:
- Assigning Project Managers to specific Projects. These Managers can then login and only see records for the Projects they are assigned to.
- Enrolling Students in specific Classes. Students can then login and see their Connected classes.

Add Workflow And Run Calculations
Automatically connect or update records with forms.
Connections allow you to add automation to your app by creating or updating connected records when forms are submitted.
For example, if you have a form that updates a Job Application record as hired, you can automatically update the connected Job Posting record to show the job search is closed.


Learn More
- Learn more about using Form views
- Learn how to automatically update or submit new connected records with forms
- Learn how to track which user last updates a record
Share and combine connected data in records
In Knack you can share and combine connected data directly in records. This is done using special field types like text formulas, equations, and formulas.
For example, in the field connecting Contacts to Companies, you can display the name and phone number of each connected Company record.
Run calculations with connected data
You can also use connected values in calculations directly within a record. This can be done using equations and formula fields.
For example, in our Purchase Orders app, we use a formula field to calculate the "Order Total" based on the subtotals of all Line Items records connected to each Order record.
Learn More
- About text formula fields
- About equations
- About formula fields
- Learn more about adding calculations and logic to your app
- How to show connected values in fields
How Have Others Used Connections?
For many Knack customers, connections have allowed them to leave behind juggling spreadsheets, hours of manual data entry, and constant uncertainty around the accuracy of their data. Take RC Recycling for example.
Mike Richards was wasting 2 hours each day moving data around several spreadsheets to stay on top of his recycling projects, containers, drivers, and more. Using connections to create the necessary relationships, Mike built automated workflows that optimized operations.
Now, Mike always knows the state of his assets, drivers know exactly what they are working on, and customer management is a seamless process. In other words, Mike’s data is no longer working against him - it works for him.
You can read the full case study here.