New beta: JSON editor block

[Kasra]

Hello! We have a little new block in beta that you might find useful if you store JSON in your tables. You can select a cell in grid view for a single line or long text field, then start typing in the block to add or change the JSON contents.

The JSON editor block makes it easier to work with JSON by formatting the contents of the field with colored syntax, indenting, and warnings for malformed JSON.

Click here to join the beta. Once you click that link, the “JSON editor” block will be available in the list of blocks when you go to install a block.

P.S. we’ve open sourced this block here so you can remix it if you’re in the custom blocks beta: GitHub - Airtable/apps-json-editor

[Bill_French]

Kasra:

useful if you store JSON in your tables

And if any of you are wondering what sort of a whacko developer would store JSON data in a field, here’s one reason.

[kuovonne]

Wow, I was browsing the support docs and saw this beta but no signup link. One of my scripts stores JSON data in a text field, so this is perfect.

[andywingrave]

THIS. IS. AMAZING!

[andywingrave]

Aw! I tried it, but I think missed the point of this @Kasra - I’d love to be able to build a JSON file from my Airtable Schema…(i.e. build a different JSON structure than the output from the API)

This is still cool, but I will normally just use VSCode for this - I’ll never have a need for something else to be honest.

Bill.French:

And if any of you are wondering what sort of a whacko developer would store JSON data in a field, here’s one reason .

Haha! Nope - I do it all the time, but I actually usually use formulas to build out my JSON at the record level, but what I’ve found at the moment, is I’m doing a lot of lookups in the apps I’m building, when it would be amazing just to be able to build a read-made JSON file with all of that done for me. If I could define a custom JSON schema from my Airtable that would be huge for me

[Bill_French]

andywingrave:

build a different JSON structure than the output from the API

This is possible - I have one project where we used GraphQL to create an entirely different interface into the Airtable API.

andywingrave:

I will normally just use VSCode for this

Indeed, the VS Code editor is tough to beat, but we have to consider all those users who will never use VS Code and who may need to view JSON data in a structured manner. I see this new capability as a “green light” to utilize JSON payloads as data objects without fully driving our client/users off the cliff. Until now, embedding JSON in a text field was a rogue idea despite the advantages it presents in many use cases.

andywingrave:

but what I’ve found at the moment, is I’m doing a lot of lookups in the apps I’m building, when it would be amazing just to be able to build a read-made JSON file with all of that done for me.

That’s exactly what GraphQL does.

[Bill_French]

kuovonne:

saw this beta but no signup link

It’s automatic I think - you click it and it registers based on your Airtable account.

[kuovonne]

Yes, I got it now. I was referring to when I first noticed the JSON beta in the support docs a couple of days ago. There was no link in the support doc back then. Another support doc said that publicly available betas would have signup links in the support doc page. Airtable sure has a lot of different ways of handling betas!

[Bill_French]

kuovonne:

Airtable sure has a lot of different ways of handling betas!

LOL - yes. This is the subtle cost of doing things more elegant, which can sometimes be another way to describe “obscure”.

[Kamille_Parks]

kuovonne:

Airtable sure has a lot of different ways of handling betas!

Relevant: https://community.airtable.com/t/request-centralized-location-for-beta-listings/30253