Learning Airtable: Building Database-Driven Applications with No-Code

✍ Scribed by Elliott Adams

• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Year: 2023
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 382
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Get a concise yet comprehensive overview of Airtable, one of the most versatile platforms to emerge from the no-code movement. Whether you're planning a new project, sharing data analysis within your organization, tracking a detailed initiative among stakeholders, or dealing with any other project that requires well-structured collaboration, this practical book shows you how Airtable is an accessible tool to tackle these challenges.

Author Elliott Adams guides you through the process of structuring your data in a relational database, creating automations based on changes to data in Airtable, and building user-friendly interfaces for no-code applications. This showcases how Airtable is superior to the typical options of either non-developers using spreadsheets or making large investments in time-consuming application development.

With this book, you will:
• Learn how Airtable can reduce the need for custom-built applications
• Use Airtable to replace internal tools such as spreadsheets
• Build applications utilizing relational data--without any knowledge of software programming
• Evaluate whether you can build a solution on Airtable rather than purchasing software
• Understand the limitations of the Airtable platform when compared with writing a software application from scratch

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Copyright
Table of Contents
Preface
Who Should Read This Book
Navigating This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
O’Reilly Online Learning
How to Contact Us
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. Introducing Airtable
What Is Airtable?
Airtable and the No-Code Movement
How We Got to Now: Spreadsheets and Databases Collide into Airtable
Airtable’s Primary Components
Three Sections: Data, Automations, and Interfaces
Bases, Records, and Tables
Fields
Views
Automations
Interfaces
Airtable Pricing
Airtable’s Competitive Advantage
The Airtable Community
Airtable’s Backers
Design and Product Excellence
Airtable in Context
What This Book Will Cover
Chapter 2: Working with Records and Fields
Chapter 3: Linked Records and the Lookup Field
Chapter 4: View Essentials
Chapter 5: Importing Data
Chapter 6: View Types
Chapter 7: Creating the Fall Tour Tracker Base
Chapter 8: Formulas
Chapter 9: The Rollup Field
Chapter 10: Extensions
Chapter 11: Airtable Automations
Chapter 12: Interface Designer
Chapter 13: Platforms That Extend Airtable
Appendix A: The Web API and Blocks SDK for Nondevelopers
Appendix B: Formula Functions and Operators
Summary
Chapter 2. Working with Records and Fields
Records
The Primary Field
Fields and Field Types
Input Fields
The Button Field
Calculated Fields
Chapter 3. Linked Records and the Lookup Field
Why Use Linked Records?
Define Relationships Between Things
Create a Single Source of Truth and Reduce Repetitive Manual Entry
Relationships Between Records in a Relational Database
One-to-One Relationship
One-to-Many Relationship
Many-to-Many Relationships
Aggregating Data from Linked Records
Lookup Field
Count Field
Chapter 4. View Essentials
Configuring Views
Getting Started with the Grid View
The Grid View’s Configuration Options
Filtering
Sorting
Hiding Fields
Height
Summary Bar
Coloring
Grouping
Creating and Organizing Views
Creating a View
View Permissions
Chapter 5. Importing Data
Importing CSV Files and Spreadsheets
Importing Tabular Data from CSV Files
Importing Google Sheets and Excel Data
Importing Different Types of Data
Numbers, Currency, and Dates
Outliers When Importing Spreadsheet Data
Sync
Syncing an Airtable View
Multisource Sync
Security When Syncing
Form View
Setting Up a Form
Managing Form Access
Conditional Form Fields
Chapter 6. View Types
Visually Organizing with Cards: Gallery and Kanban Views
Gallery View
Kanban View
Visually Organizing Using Dates: Calendar, Timeline, and Gantt Views
Calendar View
Timeline View
Gantt View
List View
Chapter 7. Creating the Fall Tour Tracker Base
Creating Relationships Between Tables
Connecting Cities to Lodging
Connecting Cities to Venues
Creating the Shows Table
Creating the Regions Table
Chapter 8. Formulas
Basics of the Formula Field
Formula Components
Fields
Operators
Functions
Numbers
Text/String Data
The Formula Editor
Introduction to Operators and Functions
Formula Examples
Text Functions
SUBSTITUTE()
Shortening Venue Names Using SUBSTITUTE(), LEFT(), and FIND()
Using FIND() to Find the First Word
Date and Time Functions
Calculating Weeks of the Tour
Numeric Functions
Calculating Ticket Revenue Estimates
Logical Functions
Determining Whether to Buy an Insurance Policy
Using SWITCH() to Calculate How Many Days Off Between Shows
Using Nested IF() Statements for Data Validation
Chapter 9. The Rollup Field
What Does It Mean to “Roll Up” a Field?
Rolling Up Grocery Store Orders
Setting Conditions for Rollup Field
Choosing a Rollup Function
Rolling Up Costs from the Fall Tour Tracker
Rollup Functions
Arithmetic Rollup Functions
Logic Functions
CONCATENATE Text Function
Array Functions
Chapter 10. Extensions
Three Major Categories of Airtable Extensions
Extensions That Work with Data in Your Base
Extensions That Connect to Third-Party Services
Scripting Extension
Top Airtable Extensions
Chart Extension
Web Clipper Extension
Page Designer
Translate Extension
Keeping Track of Extensions
The “Manage Extensions” Dashboard
Chapter 11. Airtable Automations
Airtable Automations Versus Other Connector Software
Advantages to Connecting Airtable via Airtable Automations
Disadvantages to Connecting Airtable via Airtable Automations
The Basics of Airtable Automations
The If/Then Logic of Automations
Simple Automation: When a Record Is Updated
Simple Automation: When a Record Matches Conditions
Advanced Automations
Triggers
Airtable Triggers
Third-Party Triggers
Actions
Airtable’s Actions
Third-Party Actions
Chapter 12. Interface Designer
Interfaces as a Frontend
Why Use Interfaces?
How Do Interfaces Work?
What Makes an Interface?
Creating Interfaces
Creating Full-Page Layouts
Creating a Dashboard Interface
Creating an Interface with Multiple Tables and Buttons
Interface Layouts
Interface Elements
View Elements
Discrete Elements
Interface Designer Permissions
Chapter 13. Platforms That Extend Airtable
Connectors
Zapier
Make
App Builders
Softr
Stacker
Summary
Appendix A. The Web API and Blocks SDK for Nondevelopers
The Airtable Web API
What’s a REST API?
How Does the Airtable REST API Work?
What Can You Do with the Airtable REST API?
Developing Custom Airtable Extensions with the Airtable Blocks SDK
What Are Extensions?
The Power of the Blocks SDK
How Does the Blocks SDK Work?
Appendix B. Formula Functions and Operators
Text Operators
&
'\n’
Text Functions
CONCATENATE()
RIGHT()
LEFT()
LEN()
LOWER()
TRIM()
SEARCH()
ENCODE_URL_COMPONENT()
SUBSTITUTE()
FIND()
LOWER()
UPPER()
REPT()
MID()
T()
REPLACE()
LEN()
Date and Time Functions
DATESTR()
DATETIME_DIFF()
DATETIME_FORMAT()
DATEADD()
DATETIME_PARSE()
HOUR()
IS_BEFORE()
IS_AFTER()
IS_SAME()
DAY()
MONTH()
SET_LOCALE()
MINUTE()
SECOND()
SET_TIMEZONE()
NOW()
WEEKDAY()
TIMESTR()
WORKDAY()
WEEKNUM()
WORKDAY_DIFF()
YEAR()
TODAY()
TONOW()
FROMNOW()
Numeric Operators
Numeric Functions
AVERAGE()
COUNT()
MAX()
MIN()
SUM()
ABS()
COUNTA()
CEILING()
EVEN()
COUNTALL()
FLOOR()
EXP()
LOG()
INT()
MOD()
POWER()
ODD()
MAX()
ROUND()
ROUNDUP()
ROUNDDOWN()
SQRT()
VALUE()
Logic Functions
AND()
BLANK()
FALSE()
IF()
NOT()
OR()
SWITCH()
XOR()
TRUE()
Logic Operators
!=
<
<=
=
>
>=
Regex Functions
REGEX_EXTRACT()
REGEX_REPLACE()
REGEX_MATCH()
Array Functions
ARRAYJOIN()
ARRAYCOMPACT()
ARRAYFLATTEN()
ARRAYUNIQUE()
Record Functions
LAST_MODIFIED_TIME()
CREATED_TIME()
RECORD_ID()
Error Functions
ERROR()
ISERROR()
Index
About the Author
Colophon

✦ Subjects

Cloud Computing; Databases; Web Applications; Relational Databases; Automation; Spreadsheets; Business Logic; No-Code