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Auto-populate linked field using formula

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Matt_Kivlin
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

Airtable today supports the linking of one table to another via a field, but that field must be populated either by:

  • Having the user key/select the appropriate value in the linked field
  • Using a manual process to occasionally populate data (i.e. copy/paste)
  • Using a 3rd party service like Zapier or Integromat to listen for record changes and populate the value

Option 1 works, but can be annoyingly inefficient from a data entry perspective.
Option 2 is too kludgy and isnโ€™t practical for anything beyond a 1 time data population.
Option 3 adds complexity and the need to learn/bring in another system.

Ideally, thereโ€™d be a way to auto-populate the Linked Field using a formula. The linking would either find a correlated record in the linked table, or if none found, then create a new record.

15 Comments
Olly_L
6 - Interface Innovator
6 - Interface Innovator

I agree, creating a new type of link field that could be generated from a formula would make the system much more powerful. It would be truly transformative.

Flash-Point
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

I agree too. The auto-population of a linked field would be incredibly useful.

After spending a few hours trying to find a solution for this, I came across Mattโ€™s post and used the Zapier option, which is not ideal and makes a very simple requirement far more complicated that it should be.

Michael_Andrew
7 - App Architect
7 - App Architect

Upvote this feature. We currently use Zapier for this.

ScottWorld
18 - Pluto
18 - Pluto

Totally agree. This is one of our Top 10 Feature Requests for Airtable. It is the bedrock of all relational database systemsโ€ฆ

โ€ฆand so is the ability for us to CHOOSE which fields should relate to one another in 2 different tables. In other words, we donโ€™t always want to relate to the primary key field in another table.

Now granted, Airtable didnโ€™t set out to become a relational database system โ€” they set out to be a simple spreadsheet program with some extra database features built into it.

But, since weโ€™re on the topic of turning Airtable into an advanced relational database system โ€” LOL! โ€” I might as well talk about the other big missing feature:

We need the ability for MULTI-CRITERIA RELATIONSHIPS (using 2 or more fields to create the relationship).

I think that the Airtable engineers may want to steal some ideas from how elegantly FileMaker conquered these problems, and how FileMaker shifted their platform over the years. FileMaker shifted from a model of NO RELATIONSHIPS AT ALL in the 1980โ€™s (outside of an automated โ€œone-way, single directionโ€ copying & pasting of data) to a SINGLE-CRITERIA relationship structure (although you had the freedom to choose ANY field to link to, not just the primary field) to a MULTI-CRITERIA relationship structure today.

David_Derby
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

This feature is needed yesterday!!! Update +1

Ruth_Frost
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

As a relative novice in using Airtable I am surprised to find this isnโ€™t here - I thought that was the point! But useful to quickly find it isnโ€™t possible so saving me lots of time trying to find out about formulas. Copy / paste for me today.

James_Matuszek
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

Agreed! Totally thought this would already be integrated into this software.
Would love to see an update.

Justin_Dalton
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

This feature is essential to my business, I canโ€™t believe it still hasnโ€™t been implementedโ€ฆ I need to setup literally thousands of linked records, and the only way to do it within airtable is by doing each record indvidually!!

ScottWorld
18 - Pluto
18 - Pluto

Thatโ€™s actually not true โ€” you can link a gigantic batch of records in one fell swoop, simply by converting an existing field to a โ€œlinked recordโ€ field. If any matches are found in the PRIMARY FIELD ONLY of the linked table, Airtable will link your records appropriately. If it doesnโ€™t find any matches, it will create new linked records in the other table.

Matt_Kivlin
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

I also recently ran across the following post that talks about using Scripting Block to auto-populate linked records (in this case for a junction table). I havenโ€™t tried it yet, but thought Iโ€™d pass along.