It would be super helpful if developers were able to create tables from within the app, using the variables/variables names as columns. Customizability from within app doesn’t have to be robust, but it would be helpful to create a table after creating each variable inside the app, rather than be forced to create all the columns in a table despite it being the same inside the app.
Hey @dsun ,
Writing up a feature request for this now, a couple questions so I can make sure we document what you’re picturing accurately -
Would you want to be able to create a table within the app editor, or within a running app, or both?
My concern with being able to create a table from within a trigger (in a running app) would be customers ending up with 1000s of tables (1 for every order for example), and then struggling to manage tons of tables en masse.
Thanks for the ideas! This is how you drive the direction of the product!
Pete
My idea was that developers would be able to create a table from the app editor using the variables already available in the app.
My use case is that I would like to create an app that can save and load data. In TULIP, application data is saved on completion, but there is no way to access and edit completed data, so I have to store data into a table to save and read from the table to load. Being able to create the table from the app editor rather than manually inputting each variable type and variable name into the table editor would be a god send.
The table should still be the same, however the column variable and column name should be able to be autofilled using the variables in the app.
My vision did not include customers creating the tables within a running app, however the function could become a globalized version of save for all TULIP apps if implemented within a running app.
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Hey @dsun
Thanks for the additional context. I will update the feature request accordingly.
I think this is a fantastic idea, very often you are copying 1:1 from app variables to table fields, would be great if you could automatically create these from an app, as opposed to having to duplicate them one at a time. I have personally run into this a couple dozen times!
I will keep this post updated as this feature request works through the system.
Pete
Accessing completion data seems to me the real problem to be solved.
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That is absolutely one approach to this problem too. Completion data is super nice but comes with a few limitations (that tend to keep me from using completions). The other place my mind goes is tying the input fields directly to the table record, so app variables aren’t needed, but that comes with some limitations too. (most notably, you need to create the record, and ID, before the user can use any input fields).
There are a bunch of different ways to solve most problems in Tulip, and this problem is no different. In my opinion Tulip should enable every approach we see users regularly taking in a painless way. @dsun’s approach to data storage (app variables + tables) is not an uncommon one.
Pete
I think this is a great idea. Even if we just had an extra checkbox when creating the variable called ‘Add to Table’, and then a list of tables available for selection.
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Understand, will make sens to make same mapping between variable and function connectors inputs when data is not store in Tulip tables but in external system, no?