---
title: "Walkthrough: Build your first table"
slug: "walkthrough-build-your-first-table"
tags: ["Priority 1"]
updated: 2025-05-09T22:10:55Z
published: 2025-05-09T22:10:55Z
canonical: "support.tulip.co/walkthrough-build-your-first-table"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.tulip.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Walkthrough: Build your first table

**In this walkthrough, you will:**

- **Create a simple Work Orders table**
- **Import data into a table from a CSV file**

A table is like a spreadsheet of data stored directly in Tulip. You can read from and write to a table directly from an app.

![](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/Building%20Your%20First%20Table%20%28Walkthrough%29_110617495.png)

In this walkthrough, you’ll learn the basics of tables by creating one and adding data to it.

At the end of both exercises, you will have a Work Orders table that looks like this: ![ex first table final version](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/ex%20first%20table%20final%20version.png)

## Exercise 1: Create a work orders table

In this exercise, you’ll create a simple Work Orders table.

1. In the **Apps** tab, click **Tables**. ![Tables tab](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/Tables%20tab.png)
2. Click **+ Create Table** in the top right corner.
3. Name the table “Work Orders”. Optionally, you can add a description so other users know what this table is for.
4. Click **Create**. ![ex Create table](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/ex%20Create%20table.png)

Every new table is empty besides a single field, **ID**.

The **ID** field is a necessary text field. It ensures that each record has a unique text value to identify real world artifacts.

![ex ID field](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/ex%20ID%20field.png)

Next, let’s add new fields to this table.

1. Click the **+** button next to the ID field.
2. For the Field type, select **Text** from the dropdown. Label this field “Product”.
3. Click **Save**.  

![ex Create Field - Product](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/ex%20Create%20Field%20-%20Product.png)

The field you just created will appear to the right of the existing **ID** field.

1. Add the following fields to your table with their indicated field types:

- Status (text)
- Color (color)
- Quantity (integer)
- Material (text)
- Date completed (datetime)
- Time to complete (interval)
- Defect (boolean)

Now, let’s create a record with data in each field.

1. Click **+ Create Record** in the top right corner.
2. Enter in the following for each field:

- ID - “abc1234”
- Product - “bicycle frame”
- Status - “complete”
- Color - Red
- Quantity - 3
- Material - “steel”
- Date completed - 10/05/24
- Time to complete - 1234
- Defect - No

Now, you have the first record in your Work Orders table. Your fields should look like the following: ![ex first Table Record](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/ex%20first%20Table%20Record.gif)

## Exercise 2: Import records from a CSV file

In this exercise, you’ll add records to the Work Orders table by importing data from a CSV file.

1. Download the work orders table CSV file [here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/13QLsd8eHPSFbMqfj1GNn_MoJVtU1WkB1/view?usp=sharing).
2. From the Work Orders table, click the **three dot menu** and select **Import data from CSV file**. ![Import data from CSV file to table](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/Import%20data%20from%20CSV%20file%20to%20table.png)
3. Read through the preparation rules, then click **Next**.
4. Click **Upload data from file** and select the CSV file you downloaded in step 1.
5. In the **Match** panel, ensure each column matches with the appropriate corresponding table field.

**Example** ‘Product’ → ‘Product’

![ex first table CSV upload map fields](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/ex%20first%20table%20CSV%20upload%20map%20fields.gif)

For each field mapping, click **Confirm mapping**.

1. In the **Review** panel, click **Continue** to verify the dataset.
2. Click **Yes** to import the CSV file.
3. Review any changes to the table, and click **Next**.

![ex first table CSV import review changes](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/ex%20first%20table%20CSV%20import%20review%20changes.png)

Now your Work Orders table contains records from the existing data file. The table will look like this: ![ex first table exercise 2 complete](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/ex%20first%20table%20exercise%202%20complete.gif)

## Next Steps

Now that you've created a table for data, learn what you can do with that data:

- [Walkthrough: Build a data entry form](/r230/docs/walkthrough-build-a-data-entry-form)
- [Walkthrough: Create your first analysis](/r230/docs/walkthrough-create-your-first-analysis)

---

Did you find what you were looking for?

You can also head to [community.tulip.co](https://community.tulip.co/?utm_source=intercom&utm_medium=article-link&utm_campaign=all) to post your question or see if others have faced a similar question!