Table of Contents

About Fields

Lesley Updated by Lesley

What are Fields?

Knack uses tables and fields to structure your data. 

Fields are used to define specific attributes of a table. You can think of a field like a spreadsheet column. You'll want to add a field for each attribute you want to store for your table.

Where do I access fields?

Fields are accessed from the Data section in the Builder, in the Toolbox, by selecting the table where you want the field to be placed. The fields for that table are listed in the center column:

Manage Fields

Add a Field

To add a field, click the “Add Field” button at the top when viewing an table and select a field type. Click here for more on the different field types.

First, give your field a name.

Keep in mind these names will be used to build your Live App, so we recommend keeping them reader-friendly. We also think it's important to pick field names that are very clear to anyone with Builder access.

Field types are grouped like so:

  • Text: Short Text, Paragraph Text, Rich Text, Text Formula
  • Number: Number, Currency, Equation, Auto Increment, and Formulas
  • Choice: Multiple Choice and Yes/No
  • Date: Date/Time and Timer
  • File: File, Image
  • Personal: Name, Email, Address, Phone, Signature
  • Other: Rating, Link, Signature, Connection
  • Connection: Look-up

Edit a Field

From the "Data" section in the Builder, select the table where you want to edit your field. To edit, click on the field or click the More Options menu (the “...” icon) and select “Settings” from the dropdown:

 

This will bring you to the field options.

Convert the Field Type

You can click on the field type text on the left and change (convert) the field type. 

An update to the field type has the potential to update any existing records using that field, as Knack will attempt to convert any existing data when possible. 

For example, if you change a field’s type from from short text to link, Knack will use the short text for the URL component of the link field. 

But if you change a field from paragraph text to a file, Knack has no way to migrate that data, so that field’s data will be cleared for each record.  

 You’ll receive a message in green when you select a field type that’s compatible with the existing field type and a warning message in red when the field type isn’t compatible: 

Delete a Field

From the "Data" section in the Builder, select the table where you want to delete your field. To delete, click the More Options menu (the “...” icon) and select  “Delete” from the dropdown. You will be asked to confirm before the field is deleted.

Any deleted field will be removed from the entire application; all data for that field will be deleted, and the field will no longer appear in any of your views.

Move a Field

Click and drag any field up and down to change the order it will appear in.

Copy a Field

Fields in an table can be copied by clicking 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 from that table to a new or existing table. In order to copy the fields into the same table, select the Existing table option and select the table from the dropdown:

Then you can select which fields you want to be copied:

Click here for more information on copying tables and fields.

Field Settings & Rules

Field Settings

Every field type has different settings options. Click here for more on the different field settings available.

Field Keys

Every field in your app has a unique field key, such as field_1. Field keys can be viewed and searched from the Data section of the Builder.

To show field keys, click the id icon in the top navigation to display the field key below the field names. This will also enable searching by field key from the keyword search in the Builder.

Validation Rules

Validation rules are used to prevent bad data input from your users. Read more about validation rules. 

Conditional Rules

Conditional rules are used to set a field’s value based on values for other fields. Read more about conditional rules.

Use Fields in Your App

Fields can be used in a couple of different ways in your app.

Using Fields in the Builder

In the Records section of the Builder, all fields and their associated values are displayed. See the Working with Records article for details on how to edit the field value in a record.

Using Fields in the Live App

For any view created based on an table, that table's fields are accessible within that view. See the About Views article for information on how to set up views to display your field's values. The Live App's display of your field's values is also addressed in that article.

Notes & Troubleshooting

Order of Execution on Validation Rules & Conditional Rules

Validation rules are run before conditional rules on a field when a record is added or edited.

Connection fields

Connection fields are a special field type and are detailed in our Connecting Records Together article.

How did we do?

Text Formulas

Text Formula Functions

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