Tables and views

A table holds your data in typed columns and rows, like a table in a database. You see and edit it through views: a table can appear on the canvas several times, each view with its own filter, sort and columns, while the data stays in one place.

Organization›Space›Model›Table
A model canvas with the Countries, Recycling Companies and Battery Chemistries tables side by side. On the right, the details pane for Recycling Companies shows its row, column, view and link counts, its description, its table links, the dataset it belongs to and its columns with their types. A model canvas with the Countries, Recycling Companies and Battery Chemistries tables side by side. On the right, the details pane for Recycling Companies shows its row, column, view and link counts, its description, its table links, the dataset it belongs to and its columns with their types.
Three tables on a model's canvas. The details pane on the right describes the selected table: its description, links, datasets and columns.

What a table is

Every table has exactly one home model, where it is edited. Inside that model, everyone who can edit the model works on the table's latest data and sees each other's changes as they happen.

A table is made of:

  • Columns, each with a name and a type. A column can also carry meaning: a description, a unit, and whether it is a key.
  • Rows, which hold the values. Each row has a stable identity, so links, history and AI assistants keep pointing at the right row when it changes.
  • Versions. Every change to the data or the columns makes a new version, so you can go back, compare, and decide which version other people read.

The same table can be reused in other models without copying it: they import its released version, read-only.

Kinds of table

Where a table's data comes from decides what you can do with it. The icon beside a table's name in the model's Directory tells you which kind it is.

KindWhere the data comes fromCan you edit it here?
OwnedCreated, uploaded or pasted in this modelYes, if you can edit the model
ConnectedA connection such as Google Sheets or PostgresNo. Change the source, then sync
ImportedAnother model's table, at the release you readNo. Its owner edits it in its own model
Recipe resultA recipe run; the title carries a Σ and a recipe result chipNo. Run the recipe again to update it

Views

A view is one appearance of a table on the canvas: a slice of it, filtered, narrowed to some columns, or sorted, while the data stays in the table.

One table, several views The Orders table holds five orders with their customer, status and amount. Two views show it on the canvas: Open orders filters it to the three orders whose status is Open; Finance hides the Customer and Status columns and sorts by amount, largest first. Both views read and write the same rows. THE TABLE · STORED ONCE ITS VIEWS · ON THE CANVAS Orders Order Customer Status Amount #1041 Acme Open 1,200 #1042 Globex Paid 860 #1043 Initech Open 2,450 #1044 Umbrella Paid 310 #1045 Hooli Open 975 Edits made in any view land in these rows. Orders Open orders Order Customer Status Amount #1041 Acme Open 1,200 #1043 Initech Open 2,450 #1045 Hooli Open 975 Status is Open Orders Finance Order Amount #1043 2,450 #1041 1,200 #1045 975 #1042 860 #1044 310 Customer, Status hidden Amount, largest first
One Orders table, two views. Open orders filters the rows; Finance hides two columns and sorts by amount. An edit in either lands in the table.

The first view is made with the table; you can add more, and each one keeps its own:

  • Position and size on the canvas.
  • Columns: which columns it shows, and in what order.
  • Filter: which rows it shows.
  • Sort: the order of its rows.
Two views of the Countries table on the canvas. On the left, the Europe view shows Country, ISO code and Region, filtered to the 22 European countries, with a filter icon beside its title. On the right, the Reference view shows all 35 countries with all four columns. The details pane for the Europe view lists its filter, Region contains Europe, and the EU member column, hidden in this view. Two views of the Countries table on the canvas. On the left, the Europe view shows Country, ISO code and Region, filtered to the 22 European countries, with a filter icon beside its title. On the right, the Reference view shows all 35 countries with all four columns. The details pane for the Europe view lists its filter, Region contains Europe, and the EU member column, hidden in this view.
Two views of one Countries table. Europe is filtered and hides the EU member column; Reference shows every row and column.

A view never holds data of its own. An edit made in any view lands in the table, and every other view of it shows the change at once.

Views are useful for looking at one table two ways side by side: open orders next to closed ones, or a narrow view with just the columns a colleague needs.

Add a view

  1. In the Directory panel on the left of the canvas, right-click the table.
  2. Choose New view.

The new view appears beside the table's other views, and the Directory lists it under the table.

Two shortcuts do the same from the canvas. Select a view, press ⌘ C (Ctrl C on Windows and Linux), point at an empty part of the canvas and press ⌘ V: a copy of the view lands where you pointed. Copy a few column headers instead, and the pasted view shows only those columns.

To remove a view, select it and press ⌫. Removing a view removes only that appearance; the table and its data stay.

Show and hide columns

In the details pane's Columns list, point at a column and click the eye, Hide from view, to take it out of this view only. A hidden column shows a crossed-out eye; click it, Show in view, to bring it back. Hiding a column changes nothing for other views or for the table.

The details pane

Select a table and the pane on the right of the canvas describes it. Its sections appear when they apply:

SectionWhat it shows
HeaderThe table's name and its counts: rows, columns, views, links and datasets
DescriptionWhat the table holds, in words. See Column meaning
ColumnsEvery column with its type, description, unit, intents and links
FilterThe view's filter, with Add Filter or Edit Filter
Table LinksThe tables this one links to. See Links between tables
DatasetsThe datasets this table belongs to
RecipeFor a recipe result, the recipe that made it, with Open recipe
SourceFor a table from a database, the SQL query it was imported with
Import RequestsPeople asking to import the table, for its owners to accept or decline
CheckpointsThe table's history. See Versions and releases

Select a single row and the pane shows that row's fields instead, with links you can follow to related rows.

Delete and restore a table

Deleting a table moves it to the model's trash. Nothing is lost for 30 days.

  1. In the Directory panel, right-click the table.
  2. Choose Delete table. For an imported table the item reads Unimport table: it removes the import from your model and leaves the original untouched.
  3. If the table belongs to a dataset, the Move to Trash dialog names it. Confirm with Move to Trash.

The model's trash sits at the foot of the Directory panel. From there:

  • Restore brings the table back with its data, views and history.
  • Delete permanently removes it at once. The dialog lists the datasets it belongs to, because they will show it as deleted.

Deleting a whole model works the same way, one level up: see Trash and recovery.