Select columns

A Select column, also called a categorical column, limits its cells to a set of labels you define: statuses, regions, priorities. Instead of typing Active and hoping everyone spells it the same way, people pick from the list.

Create one

Give a column the Select type with Set Data Type, or cast a text column to Select: the cast collects the column's distinct values as the starting labels.

Then define the labels with Manage categories, on the column's action bar or in its ⋮ menu.

Manage the labels

Manage categories lists the column's labels. From there you can:

  • Type a new label in New category... and press Enter.
  • Rename a label, and Change color to pick its chip colour.
  • Turn on Default for one or more labels (the switch shows when you point at a label). Every new empty row starts with them: rows you add on the canvas, and rows an assistant or an app adds without a value for this column. Imports, syncs, recipe results and restored rows don't take defaults, and existing rows are never filled in.
  • Remove category to delete a label.

A column holds at most 100 labels, each up to 255 characters.

Labels are only made here, never by typing into a cell, so a typo can't quietly become a new category.

Three behaviours worth knowing:

  • Removing a label is refused while a view's filter uses it. Clear or change the filter first, rather than have it silently match nothing.
  • Label changes aren't part of undo. Renaming a label changes every cell holding it at once, and an undo that quietly reverted a rename across the whole table would do more harm than renaming again.
  • Concurrent changes are caught. If someone else changed the labels while you were editing them, your change is refused instead of being applied over theirs.

Fill in cells

Select a cell and start typing: the picker opens with what you typed as its filter, and your pick replaces what the cell held. To add to the cell's labels instead, open the picker on them with Enter, Space, ⌘ E or a double-click. Click a label to toggle it, then press Enter to confirm or Esc to cancel.

A cell can hold one label or several. Labels show as coloured chips; when they don't fit the cell's width, the rest collapse into a +N badge you can open.

Filter on a Select column

A filter on a Select column offers its labels in a picker rather than a free-text box, so you choose from what the column can hold. Its operators are Contains and Not Contains: a cell tagged EU, Priority matches a filter that contains EU. See Filter and sort.

Cast a Select column

A Select column casts to two types only, both into a new column:

  • Text, which joins a cell's labels with commas.
  • List, which keeps them as separate values.

Any other cast isn't offered. See Columns and types.