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Import and Map to Linked Records

  • June 10, 2021
  • 7 replies
  • 171 views
Rodney_urand
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Hi there, new to Airtable but familiar with relational databases. We want to import a CSV on a regular basis and then from the mapped data, have it fill data that is already in a lookup table.

The specific problem we want to solve is this:

We have a CSV file with a list of courses and instructors associated with the course. If the course in the CSV is SOWK 600 we want to import into our Fall 2021 table and have it link to the Courses table and the faculty table.

Can that be done? The relational database side of me says it can but i cannot find the appropriate terminology for Airtable.

    I

    7 replies

    Kamille_Parks11
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    Question: Is “Fall 2021” its own table? Have you considered storing all course-instructor pairings in one table and using filtered views to differentiate “Fall 2021” from “Spring 2022”?

    Regardless, if you already have a Link to another record-type field in the table you’re importing into, if the values being imported into the field that links to the [Courses] table matches the primary value of an existing Course record it will link to it, if not it will create a new record in [Courses] with that name.

    Rodney_urand
    Rodney_urand
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    • Rodney_urand
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    • New Participant
    • June 10, 2021

    Question: Is “Fall 2021” its own table? Have you considered storing all course-instructor pairings in one table and using filtered views to differentiate “Fall 2021” from “Spring 2022”?

    Regardless, if you already have a Link to another record-type field in the table you’re importing into, if the values being imported into the field that links to the [Courses] table matches the primary value of an existing Course record it will link to it, if not it will create a new record in [Courses] with that name.


    Hi Kamille, Fall 2021 is its own table. We would like to explore further the benefit from storing course instructor pairings in one table. The challenge is that there is a many to many relationship - many courses can be taught by many instructors so I havent been able to figure that out using a linear approach.

    When I tried a test import using Link to another record, it did not work. I am wondering what I am doing wrong. Is there someway I could get some further instruction regarding this?

    Kamille_Parks11
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    Hi Kamille, Fall 2021 is its own table. We would like to explore further the benefit from storing course instructor pairings in one table. The challenge is that there is a many to many relationship - many courses can be taught by many instructors so I havent been able to figure that out using a linear approach.

    When I tried a test import using Link to another record, it did not work. I am wondering what I am doing wrong. Is there someway I could get some further instruction regarding this?


    Can you post a screenshot of the Fall 2021 table showing the field names?

    Rodney_urand
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    • Rodney_urand
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    • June 10, 2021

    Can you post a screenshot of the Fall 2021 table showing the field names?


    Does this help: Airtable - CSWE

    Kamille_Parks11
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    Does this help: Airtable - CSWE


    Okay, so if you’re importing into the table [CSWE], the column from your CSV that you map to the Airtable field {Course} should do the linking for you on import if the imported record has a value of something like SOWK 708. Are you saying you’ve tried this and the import didn’t link to the course?

    You have two different fields with (effectively) the name “course id”, you may want to examine your nomenclature. {CourseID} seems duplicative of the {Course} field and does not yield unique values, have you considered using {course id}, which seems to produce unique values and is more descriptive, as your primary field?

    If you want to use that same table for courses next year instead of making a new table, you could simply add a single select field with options for “Fall 2021”, “Spring 2022” etc, and use that field to calculate the full course ID. Or use another link to a record field pointing at a table of [Semesters].

    Rodney_urand
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    • Rodney_urand
    • Author
    • New Participant
    • June 10, 2021

    Okay, so if you’re importing into the table [CSWE], the column from your CSV that you map to the Airtable field {Course} should do the linking for you on import if the imported record has a value of something like SOWK 708. Are you saying you’ve tried this and the import didn’t link to the course?

    You have two different fields with (effectively) the name “course id”, you may want to examine your nomenclature. {CourseID} seems duplicative of the {Course} field and does not yield unique values, have you considered using {course id}, which seems to produce unique values and is more descriptive, as your primary field?

    If you want to use that same table for courses next year instead of making a new table, you could simply add a single select field with options for “Fall 2021”, “Spring 2022” etc, and use that field to calculate the full course ID. Or use another link to a record field pointing at a table of [Semesters].


    That is a lot to unpack. I appreciate you replying. I will admit, it seems a little over my head, but I want to read it again and again to make sure I understand. To clarify, i did an import and the import did not link to the course so I think that is where I am going to start and see what happens.

    Thanks again, I will report back with results.

    Kamille_Parks11
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    That is a lot to unpack. I appreciate you replying. I will admit, it seems a little over my head, but I want to read it again and again to make sure I understand. To clarify, i did an import and the import did not link to the course so I think that is where I am going to start and see what happens.

    Thanks again, I will report back with results.


    The CSV you imported, does the matching column have values that match the primary column (left-most column) in your [Courses] table?

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