Data Entry Form Template

[Charles_Gregg]

Is there a way to create a data entry form for entering records into a database? Trying to find a way to enter and update records more easily. Thank you.

[W_Vann_Hall]

Depending on the specifics of your base, you might find a form view appropriate. Otherwise, your best bet is to use a tailored grid view with all non-editable fields hidden and the editable ones arranged in as logical a sequence as possible.

[Charles_Gregg]

Thank you for that idea. I new to Airtable and this helps!

[Jeff_Chapman]

But the original question was, can i add a rows to a table from within Airtable using a form view similar to the way access allows data entry? Isn’t the form view only for external data additions? Sorry if I’ve missed a form view attribute.

[W_Vann_Hall]

Jeff_Chapman:

But the original question was, can i add a rows to a table from within Airtable using a form view similar to the way access allows data entry?

You may have appended this to the wrong thread — but, regardless, I’m confused as to what contrasts you are making. The last (and first) time I worked with Access, I decided life was too short to waste it needlessly, so I need your implicit comparisons made explicit…

[Jeff_Chapman]

When I switch from grid view to form view, I cannot enter data in that view. I get a message “Forms cannot be submitted from the form builder.” I guess to add rows one could always use the link you can create but why not add rows directly from Airtable using a data entry form? I did see that if you click Preview, you can get a form through which you can add data to your table.

[W_Vann_Hall]

I think you’re slamming up against Airtable’s very specific use of the term ‘form.’ In Airtable, a form is not a general-purpose, data-entry mechanism: It is a special type of view, intended to be accessed through a dedicated URL, designed to allow non-collaborators a means by which to add simple data records to a base. Forms cannot be used to read, update, or delete records; forms cannot be used to define linked records; forms cannot include formula, lookup, rollup, count, or autonumber fields. Since the form is not intended as a general-purpose data entry mechanism, no support is provided for calling a form directly from the form builder. (Conceivably, there may be some sort of magic baked into the form URL that tells Airtable to limit visibility and functionality.)

If your users need a form-like interface for data entry, it’s usually recommended they use the expanded record interface from a grid view. That can be accessed either by clicking the double-headed arrow at the left-hand edge of the record, or by selecting any field in the record and then pressing the spacebar.

[Jeff_Chapman]

Thank you thank you for such detail. You are absolutely right about “slamming” into the narrow definition of form and now I won’t spend time looking for what isn’t there.