I am using an ID col as the Key, and the ref is the first name col, but then on the referenced sheets instead of first name in that col i get the ID.
Should the ID columns be the reference AND the key?
The Ref field always contains the key of the referenced record.
We always find records by using their key.
So if I need the first name to display what’s my best option? Add another col just for ref field?
@Tammi_Canelli Here’s an example app, too: https://www.appsheet.com/samples/This-app-shows-the-difference-between-keys-and-row-labels?appGuidString=53280014-1d95-4d1f-93e5-a2a2e9be53a5
Basically it goes like this…
CustomerTable ID (Key column) Customer Name (Normally Label field)
Order Table ID (Key column) Customer ID (Ref type > Customer table)
makes no sense.
i can’t get the first name to appear no matter what i try.
in my tables the first and last name are separate columns.
last name appears just fine.
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i need the name saved to the sheet not the id number
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@Tammi_Canelli
The Ref must contain the key. That is how the referenced record is retrieved.
If you need to retrieve the name, or any other field value in the referenced record, you can always do so by using a de-reference expression.
For example, using Aleksi’s example, you could retrieve the customer name from the current Order record by writing: [Customer ID].[Customer Name]
If there was a Customer Address field in the customer record, you could retrieve it by writing: [Customer ID].[Customer Address]
You can use a virtual column to combine the first and last names to yield a label. This is described in this article https://help.appsheet.com/data/columns/row-labels
I’m also struggling with this. I am testing our employee database on the app. I have an employee ID and employee name on one table. I have a leave table to track each leave taken by employees.
I want to make the employee name in the leave table the REF, but it is writing the ID to the sheet. I know this is the default behavior, but I can’t seem to find a solution to write the Employee name on the leave sheet that works for me.
Any suggestions? Thanks.
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Thank you for your time, I had actually been through those articles before posting. I am in the same predicament.
Alrighty! How about these?
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Hi
I have similar problems.
I want to make a drop down list to the products names not for theirs ID’s. According this link -
I only can use the KEY so it means the “name” needs to be the KEY. It make no sense… “Name” is not a key. In various examples you define the name as a key, which basically incorrect.
eco_lbo:
I only can use the KEY so it means the “name” needs to be the KEY. It make no sense… “Name” is not a key. In various examples you define the name as a key, which basically incorrect.
No, name needs to be the label.
Steve
Thanks , It does helps, though , what if I need to use other column rather than the Name and I need it Sorted?
Thanks
Ben
If you’re using a Ref value, the only value that will be displayed in its place is the label column value.
To sort Ref values:
Did anyone get a straight answer for this? its very frustrating and makes no sense to me. My google sheets now display unique IDs instead of the company name which is the label. so when I go to analyse the data within something like Google Data Studio I get no useful information as its all letters and numbers and not English.
i really don’t see why I cant have the label displayed back in my spreadsheet as opposed to the unique ID. its like they are forcing you to use the app only to work within and not use any data from the sheet you used to create it within in the first place
Mike_Venner:
i really don’t see why I cant have the label displayed back in my spreadsheet as opposed to the unique ID.
Why not use the label column as your key column? There are good reasons not to, but if it bugs you so much and you aren’t able to work with separate key and label columns, you can redesign your app to make them the same.
Everyone says you should have a separate column for the unique IDs so that’s what i done. I have a unique ID and a column for company name as well as a load of other columns. the company name is the label and the unique ID column is the key. it all works fine in the app but the google sheet displays the unique ID in the company column instead of the company name.
That s what it is.