Configure a data table

Configure a table to capture the necessary data for your application.

Before you begin

Role required: admin, sn_app_eng_studio.user, or delegated developer

About this task

The second phase in building the data model for the employee travel request application is to configure the table so that it collects the necessary data for employee travel requests, such as location, dates of travel, and estimated airfare.

Phase 1		Create a data table
Phase 2		Configure a data table
Phase 3		Share data between tables

This procedure covers the second part of the task demonstrated in the tutorial video. The first part of the procedure is outlined in the previous topic Create a data table.

Follow along to configure a table to store the necessary data for the employee travel request application.

Table 1. Video sections

Timestamp	Section
0:48	Begin editing your table.
0:54	Add and configure fields in your table.
2:32	Change the data form layout.
2:39	Save your changes.

Procedure

1. Ensure that the employee travel request table is open.
   • To open a table from your instance home page, navigate to All > App Engine > App Engine Studio. Then select your application and select the table that you want to configure.
   • To open a table that you have just created, select Edit table.
   When your table is open, it appears in the canvas space.

   

2. Select Forms in the top ribbon to change your view to Forms view.
   

   Forms view enables you to create your table as a form. You can choose other views depending on the type of data that your table stores.

3. Remove any unnecessary fields from your table by hovering over the field, then selecting the delete field icon ().
   Note:

   When you create a table from an extended table, the table comes with preconfigured fields. You can choose to keep or remove any preconfigured fields in your own table.
   In our tutorial, we remove the following fields:

   • Priority
   • Configuration item
   • Parent
   • Assigned to
4. Select Save.
5. Create new fields for your table.
   We must create several fields to collect details about employees' travel requests.
   1. Select + Add a field in the table in the Add form elements panel.
   2. In the Column label field, enter Departure Date.
      Tip:

      The Column name field auto-populates based on the column label that you enter.
   3. In the Type field, select Date.
   4. Optional: To set additional properties for the field, select Advanced settings.
      We don’t set additional properties for the fields in our tutorial. For more information about field types and advanced settings, see Field configuration in Table Builder.
   5. Select Add.
   6. Optional: Select Add another one to create additional fields.
   7. Repeat the process in steps a-f to add as many fields as you need.
      We add more fields to collect additional information about employees' travel requests. The following table outlines the additional fields that we add to our table:

      Column label	Type
      Return Date	Date
      Estimated Airfare	Decimal
      Reason for Travel	String

   8. When you have added all of the new fields that you need, select Done.
      The fields that you have added will appear in the Add form elements panel.
   9. To add the fields to your form, select the fields, then drag them into the Default view panel with your existing fields.
      Tip:

      To add multiple fields to your table at once, hover over the field, select the check mark in each field, then drag the fields into the Default view panel.

      
6. Select Save.
7. Add pre-existing fields to your table.
   1. Search for the fields that you want to add by entering the names of the fields in the search bar.
      
      In our tutorial, we add the following fields to our table:

      • Approval
      • Opened by
   2. Select the field in the Add form elements panel, then drag the field into the Default view panel.
8. Optional: Change the layout of the form.
   1. Select your table in the Default view panel.
      When selected, your table appears with a blue border.

      

   2. In the Section customization panel, select One column, then select Two columns to arrange the form fields evenly into a two-column layout.
      Tip:

      For more information about the customization options available in the Section panel, see Customize your form layout in Table Builder.
9. Optional: Arrange the table fields into the order that you want them to appear by moving the fields.
   In our tutorial, we arrange the fields into the following order:

   1. Number
   2. Opened by
   3. Departure Date
   4. Return Date
   5. Reason for Travel
   6. Estimated Airfare
   7. Approval
   8. Status
10. Select Save.
11. Optional: Select Preview to review how your form appears.

Result

Your table is configured to capture the necessary data for employee travel requests.

What to do next

To complete the data model for the employee travel request application, we must connect the travel request table to a separate table that stores airport data. Proceed to the next step: Share data between tables.