Getting random form data in multiple fields to show up in a primary field?

[John_Campbell]

Hi, I am relatively new to airtable. I have a form asking people for their top 3 of something (let’s say food) and they input it in separate fields under primary, secondary and tertiary. That is all in one record for one person.
Now I would like to list all of those favorite foods (maybe a couple hundred) in the primary field of a different table so I can present a view of all of the favorite foods.
I haven’t been able to figure it out. Any help or direction would be appreciated!
Thanks!

[Alessio_Monino]

hi @John_Campbell,
I think the best way to tackle the problem is to have the data into three tables (people, food, favorite foods) where favorite foods links people to food items and has a column called preference that is a single select and contains three options: primary, secondary, tertiary. You could then create a view in this favorite foods table that is grouped by people to see groups of all favorite foods per person.
In order to collect the data through forms, you can then keep collecting the food preferences in a form connected to people as you are currently doing. Then you have two options:

• EASIER, LESS FLEXIBLE: you can use Zapier, Integromat, or the Airtable automations to create separate records in the favorite foods table whenever a new person is created, one for each food item chosen
• MORE COMPLEX, BUT MORE FLEXIBLE: you can create a script which does the same thing. It is slightly more complex as it requires coding but is far more flexible as you can possible add complex conditions and logic as you scale the system and increase functionality

Hope it helps!

Website: alessiomonino.com
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Email: alessio.monino@gmail.com

[John_Campbell]

Thank you @Alessio_Monino ! I will look into this solution this weekend. Much appreciated :slightly_smiling_face: