I am glad each table in a base has one key column that must be unique (needed for relational databases), but instead of making this uniqueness requirement only available to the key column, please make this setting available to other fields also.
Some discussion on this topic has already been made (see Unique values in a column), but was listed under โSupportโ instead of โfeature requestโ.
Unfortunately they do not deem this as an โessentialโ feature.
Things in this app appear to be added to their road map based on the number of views and hits, and impact on the majority of users (as it should).
I am guessing that (because of its intuitiveness and usefulness) many users of this app dont have much clue or care about database structures or data integrity. To them this is just a flashy new to-do-list app with drop downs. And as for the other 20% or more, they just use the API to script their database needsโฆ which leaves us SOL unless you want to put a massive amount of manpower into setting up a simple table.
In fairness to Airtable, it seems that the majority of case studies and examples are for more casual uses.
If data structure and referential integrity are of the utmost priority to your app youโd probably be better off using a โproperโ database anyway.
I would never dream of using Airtable for any of the projects I currently have running on PostgreSQL.
This is a key feature any data management systems should have. Airtable is an exceptionally simple tool however basic yet very important and fundamentally necessary options such as this should not be ignored.
I also believe that unique values (at least on the name field), required fields and data validation are basic database functions and they should be implemented in AirTable. I would also like to have a way to lock down the options available in a drop-down. Right now, Editors can add values to a drop-down. Also, a field can be defined as Phone number but you can enter anything in it; same thing if the field is defined as email. The only field types that perform any kind of data validation are date fields and number fields.
