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Option for one way links?

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David_Brownman
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

I have a few tables that are used as what is effectively glorified enums: read only and used primary as multi-selects in other tables. When I link to this table (let’s call it colors) from another table, it creates a two way relationship. I can see how this is useful, but it would be great if it were an option. ideally, it would mimic the SQL foreign key (that is, one direction) behavior more closely.

3 Comments
Andrew
Airtable Employee
Airtable Employee

Hey David,

Yeah, we’re considering something like this. We call the columns on the foreign table “symmetric columns”, and we’d make them optional.

In any case, one workaround is to just hide the column in your foreign table. It’s imperfect because it’s still visible in the expanded record and in other views, but it’s a start.

David_Brownman
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

Yeah, that’s what I’m doing now. Decently solution, but not idea. Thanks though!

Joanna_Cretella
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

I think what I’m looking for is a similar feature, or a way to combine the links on one side into one column. Right now in one base I have a table of People, and then a table of TV Shows. Within the TV Show table, I have sections for “Showrunner,” “Casting Director,” “Production Company,” etc. When I create linked records from the TV Show table to the People table under each of these categories, it creates multiple separate “Shows” columns in the People table for each category, which looks absurdly cumbersome. I don’t want to hide the columns altogether in the People table, I just want all of the links from the “Shows” table to be in the same column.