Automatic linking of tables based on any field

[ScottWorld]

Two of the major limitations of Airtable when creating a link from one table (“Table A”) to another table (“Table B”) is that:

1. We can ONLY link to the primary field in the other table (“Table B”). To truly unleash massive amounts of power & flexibility & customizability in any database system, we need the ability to MANUALLY CHOOSE which field in “Table A” should be linked to which field in “Table B”.

2. Linking is always done MANUALLY instead of AUTOMATICALLY. Unlike other database systems, Airtable doesn’t automatically scan for matching values in linked fields — a human must manually intervene by manually linking records.

Obviously, these changes would graduate Airtable from the realm of “beginner-level database program” into a more “advanced-level database program”, but it would enable us to create all sorts of advanced database solutions that we can’t create now. It would also remove lots of migration headaches when importing/migrating data into Airtable from other advanced database apps.

[Michael_Walker1]

we really, really need this feature too!

[Cynthia_Sanchez]

+1 to this feature! totally needed

[Zapier_Test]

Airtable automations can take care of this:

support.airtable.com

Linking Existing Records Using Automations | Airtable Support

The more comfortable you get with automations, the more you’ll come to realize their flexibility in being leveraged in complex workflows....

[aaron_bell]

I have hundreds of rows going into Airtable everyday, there is no way I can manually assign the linked record. I have the matching datapoint in both tables, shouldn’t this be enough? Is there any update to this?

[ScottWorld]

This thread is now somewhat outdated.

While linking records is still done manually in Airtable (instead of automatically like VLOOKUPS in spreadsheets), Airtable’s built-in automations and automation services like Make essentially solves this problem.

You just need an automation to kick in and create the link for you. So it’s not 100% perfection, but it’s good enough.

(Note: Airtable did not have automations when this thread was originally created.)

[aaron_bell]

It’s wild that this can’t be done automatically and you have to manually select the link.

Maybe I could do it in Zapier.

Is there any good posts on how this can be done?

Appreciate your help, Scott.

EDIT:

Found this post on Zapier but you will have to pay for the monthly service. I think I can have this automated in Python though, which I will try first.

community.zapier.com

How to create a linked record in a different table via Zapier | Zapier Community

I’m working in Airtable and I need help with configuring a Zap.So let’s say I have two tables, (1) People and (2) Companies. I’ve created a form view in the People table, which has the following fields {First Name}, {Last Name}, and {Company}. What...

[ScottWorld]

You don’t need to use 3rd-party tools — you can use Airtable’s native automations, which also enable you to write your own custom Javascripts.

If you’re looking at 3rd-party tools like Zapier, note that I don’t personally recommend Zapier. I personally recommend Make.com, which is significantly less expensive, significantly more powerful, and significantly more customizable than Zapier. Note that Make does have a little bit of a learning curve, but once you understand it, you’ve got the entire world at your fingertips. :winking_face:

Also, another 3rd-party tool is datafetcher.com, which lets you make standard API calls from within Airtable.

Also, if you’re having specific problems with your base:

For maximum visibility, be sure to post your question as a brand new thread, because this thread is 2.5 years old. Be sure to post screenshots and/or videos of any problems you’re having, to enable the best replies.

[supersparks]

Hello :wave: . This problem has caused me some headache on multiple projects over the past few years. So we are working on an extension that should allow you to accomplish an sql style join in minutes:

supersparks.io

Left join records from other tables on Airtable - Supersparks

Automatically link many records across tables on Airtable through a Left Join or Vlookup style function.

We would love to hear any feedback or questions in the meantime at hello@supersparks.io :muscle: .

[ycasias]

This really frustrates me as well. I really wonder why dont people use Coda more. But my clients use AirTable so i have to use airtable… oh well :grinning_face_with_sweat: