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In my Contacts table I have 2 types (single-select) - “non-profit” and “legal” - and a linked record field to a Requests table. The Request record has two Lookup fields pointing to Contacts - one a lookup filtered by a view of nonprofit-type only, the other filtered by a view of legal-type only.  This is so my user can quickly distinguish the two types assigned to the request.

Now, I add 1 contact to each of the two fields in the Request. I would expect to see both Contacts linked to that Request. But the only Contacts shown as linked to that request are those entered in the first (“nonprofit”) column. If I force a “legal” contact into that first Request column, It shows up as expected on the Contact side.

I’m not understanding something about how linked records work. How should I structure the linkages between these fields across the two tables?  thx

 

Hey Stew, how’s everything?

Some screenshots would be helpfull to undestand your situation.

Do you mean you have 2 “Contacts (linked records)” fields in your Requests table? If so, this will generate 2 “Requests (linked records)” fields on your Contacts table. By default they will be named “Requests” and “Requests 2”.

Thus when you link one contact in your first Contact field, within the Requests table (probably named “Non-Profit Contact” then this will show in your “Request” field in the Contacts table. But when you link a contact to the “Legal Contact” column in the “Request” table, this will be reflected in the “Requests 2” field in the Contacts table.

Let me know if this is the case.

Best regards,

Matt Nixon

AHA! Thanks Matt, that is exactly the case. That explains the field that I had renamed “Requests 2 Purpose unknown”. Now that I get it, I can adjust my Contacts views (and a rollup count) appropriately.

Best,

Stew

Hey ​@StewC_BFF, ​@mtrebinonixon’s answer is spot on.

To avoid this in the future, it is a must that you make sure you keep an eye out for this cases were you will want to rename the field created automatically by Airtable as soon as possible.
Otherwise, your base could become pretty messy really fast!

You can find similar best practices here.

Mike, Consultant @ Automatic Nation

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