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[SOLVED] Limit linked record selection to a view

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Katherine_Duh
Airtable Alumni (Retired)
Status: Launched
123 Comments
Daniel_Saunders
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

With a โ€˜link to another recordโ€™ data type, Iโ€™d love to be able to filter which options are available to pick.

Use Case:
Iโ€™m using Airtable to make a rostering database. Iโ€™ve got one table that stores the jobs to be rostered for each event, and another table with a list of volunteers and the jobs theyโ€™re able to do.

Each job is a column in the Roster table, and each job is linked to the โ€˜Peopleโ€™ table. I would find it useful if I could filter people based on whether they are able to do the job specified in the column.

Kai_Harris
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

Agreed. I have a similar use case and it would greatly increase usability if we could filter the records available to link. This would prevent users from entering an invalid entry.

Mike_Eovino
7 - App Architect
7 - App Architect

+1 here. Iโ€™d also be OK if I could use a filtered view instead of the base table.

Katherine_Harkn
6 - Interface Innovator
6 - Interface Innovator

Yes to this. Itโ€™s extremely important to be able to filter the options in a dropdown. For example one of mine is a list of events. Currently past events are able to be selected, which is not ok! Also it makes the dropdown too long and unwieldy.

David_Smedberg
6 - Interface Innovator
6 - Interface Innovator

I agree with this request. I have a similar use case-I have a โ€œtransactionsโ€ table, and need to be able to see only transactions from the past month in the โ€œcategoryโ€ table.

Katherine_Harkn
6 - Interface Innovator
6 - Interface Innovator

This feature was already requested 3 months ago but it was never answered except by other people saying how important it is! So Iโ€™m doing it again.

Please please let us use views on linked fields, not just tables. The capacity for corrupting the data is huge when we canโ€™t control what can be selected. For example, I have a list of events at which something can be hired. I want to prevent the selection of an event in the past, the selection of an item thatโ€™s already hired out, the selection of a blacklisted user. When I process the return of a hire I select the hire from a list - I want to only display current hires, not have to trawl to the bottom of a list of past hires first. Thereโ€™s so many ways this is essential!

At the moment I solve this by using a sort order to push the most likely selections to the top of the list. But given that the sort order isnโ€™t applied unless you actually click the button, this creates quite an overhead. For example, when I add a user itโ€™s probably because I want to immediately add a hire for that user. So I want the user at the top of the list, which is where my sort order would put it, but first I have to go into the base and reapply the sort.

John_Beaudoin
7 - App Architect
7 - App Architect

+1 for this request. My project table links to a tasks table. I need to assign uncompleted tasks to projects, but linking to the tasks table shows both completed and incomplete tasks. I might be able to use a workaround for the time being (suggestions?) but long-term linking to table views, or filtering results, is a better approach. Thanks!

Jonathan_Fuller
6 - Interface Innovator
6 - Interface Innovator

Have you tried sorting the Linked Table (on the actual table view) so that the most recent records are at the top? Obviously this is still cumbersome however just a thought.

Iโ€™ve found myself using the index fields of linked tables as Formulas and tie in additional data so that when I am choosing the Record I have a fair amount of the data of a record available in the Linked Table list.

Jonathan_Fuller
6 - Interface Innovator
6 - Interface Innovator

Was this ever responded to or acknowledged? I hear a lot of people concerned about linking Bases however I believe this request along with more Permissions capabilities have received far more requests.

Katherine_Harkn
6 - Interface Innovator
6 - Interface Innovator

Yes this is what I do, but since there is no autosort feature, itโ€™s very cumbersome. Plus although this allows the correct data to be presented at the top, it doesnโ€™t prevent the user from selecting wrong data.