Separating a list of user characteristics into columns of individual cells

[Zach_Tufenkjian]

Hi all,

I have been assigned to set up a table through AirTable for a mobile app team I am a part of. I do not have that many technical skills but have used Excel frequently. Unfortunately we are all still learning with AirTable and I have run into an issue that I cannot seem to figure out the answer to.

We have a base that contains a table called “Users.” We have configured our API to automatically update this table every time a new user joins and add them to it. I am working on another table in the same base that only lists users and characteristics from specific ZIP codes. The goal is to have this table update in real time so that we can see users from these ZIP codes only instead of digging through the master Users table. I’ll refer to the other table as “ZIPs” for clarity purposes.

Here is my issue: I have used a Linked column to bring certain users over to the ZIPs table and added several Lookup columns to pull certain pieces of information from each of those users. Things like their email address, street address, phone, etc. However, I am trying to split up the results of the lookup field so that they are placed into individual columns. I want one row to be designated for one user, instead of having them all in one. Here is a screenshot of my issue: https://prnt.sc/txfhex

I have already tried using the solution on this community forum post but the formulas did not work for my application of it. I also need something that will easily scale.

Any and all help would be much appreciated. Please let me know if you have any questions for clarifications or if you see a better way to import these users from certain ZIP codes. Thank you!

[ScottWorld]

Why don’t you just group and/or filter your Users table by Zip Code inside the USERS table, instead of creating a separate ZIPS table?

[Zach_Tufenkjian]

We are making a new table that we can then send the user information to organizations we partner with. I am hoping to produce something that updates as the Users table updates. For context, the app is a local donation app and the organizations we partner with cover certain communities, meaning that we need to give them information about people in need from their area specifically.

[ScottWorld]

I still don’t see why you can’t do that from the Users table. That’s the way I would do it!

Perhaps others will chime in with their own differing opinions on the matter!

[Kamille_Parks]

Are you certain your API can only handle data from a Table, and not data from a View?

[Justin_Barrett]

Zach_Tufenkjian:

However, I am trying to split up the results of the lookup field so that they are placed into individual columns. I want one row to be designated for one user, instead of having them all in one.

Not sure if you’ve found an answer yet, but if I’m reading you correctly, it sounds like you want to take that looked-up data and have it formatted sorta-kinda like this:

User1 Name, User1 Street Address, User1 City, User1 Email
User2 Name, User2 Street Address, User2 City, User2 Email
User3 Name, User3 Street Address, User3 City, User3 Email
...

…instead of:

User1 Name, User2 Name, User3 Name
User1 Street Address, User2 Street Address, User3 Street Address
User1 City, User2 City, User3 City
...

Is that correct? If so, here’s the way to approach it. Instead of looking up each individual piece field-by-field, build a formula field in the [Users] table that combines all relevant data into a single field:

Name & ", " & {Street Address} & ", " & City & ", " & Email

Then you look up that single field in the [ZIPs] table, and each user’s complete data is all together.