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Filters in multiple tables (question from a beginner)

  • July 10, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 9 views
A

Hi everyone,

I’m new to Airtable and databases in general. I’m trying to develop a system to match students and tutors, based on availability and other factors. For example:

  • Student A: available Wednesday and Friday
  • Tutor A: available Tuesday and Thursday
  • Tutor B: available Thursday and Friday

I want to be able to easily see that both Student A and Tutor B are available on Friday. I know how to create a “Multiple select” field for availability and set up a filter on each of my tables (“Students” and “Tutors”), but is there a way to filter both simultaneously?

Thank you!

    3 replies

    ScottWorld
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    • ScottWorld
    • Genius
    • July 10, 2021

    Welcome to the community, @Andrew_Shapira!

    The short answer is: No, you will have to do this manually or write a custom JavaScript to help you with this.

    The long answer is: Airtable is a platform of many (many) limitations, which places it at the very low end of database platforms.

    Unfortunately, what you want — dynamic filtering of linked records — is unavailable natively in Airtable, even though people have been requesting this feature for 5+ years,

    I would highly recommend emailing support@airtable.com about adding this feature to their product, but sadly, Airtable also has a history (or perhaps an internal policy?) of ignoring user requests. It makes Airtable one of the more frustrating products to work with. But at the very least, I think you should let them know that this is an important feature to you.

    However, you can use JavaScript to create your own custom additions to Airtable with their scripting app, so if you know JavaScript, you can likely create your own app that will let you limit your linked record choices based on dynamic conditions.

    There are also several JavaScript experts in these forums who may be able to help you with this.

    A
    • Andrew_Shapira
    • Author
    • New Participant
    • July 10, 2021

    Welcome to the community, @Andrew_Shapira!

    The short answer is: No, you will have to do this manually or write a custom JavaScript to help you with this.

    The long answer is: Airtable is a platform of many (many) limitations, which places it at the very low end of database platforms.

    Unfortunately, what you want — dynamic filtering of linked records — is unavailable natively in Airtable, even though people have been requesting this feature for 5+ years,

    I would highly recommend emailing support@airtable.com about adding this feature to their product, but sadly, Airtable also has a history (or perhaps an internal policy?) of ignoring user requests. It makes Airtable one of the more frustrating products to work with. But at the very least, I think you should let them know that this is an important feature to you.

    However, you can use JavaScript to create your own custom additions to Airtable with their scripting app, so if you know JavaScript, you can likely create your own app that will let you limit your linked record choices based on dynamic conditions.

    There are also several JavaScript experts in these forums who may be able to help you with this.


    Thank you! Do you know if any other online database products offer this feature?

    ScottWorld
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    • ScottWorld
    • Genius
    • July 10, 2021

    Thank you! Do you know if any other online database products offer this feature?


    I’m only familiar with Airtable and Apple’s FileMaker, which definitely offers this feature, but you would likely need a Certified FileMaker Developer to help you setup FileMaker since it is its own advanced programming language. If you go down that path, feel free to contact me at scottworld.com and I’ll connect you with my colleagues:

    I’ve never used Google Tables before, but they might offer this feature. Not sure. If you try Google Tables, be sure to report back here with your findings.

    And if you end up leaving Airtable, be sure to email support@airtable.com to let them know why.

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