Linking Table Records

Updated on 30 Sep 2022
4 Minutes to read
Contributors

Article summary

Did you find this summary helpful?

Thank you for your feedback

Purpose

Establish relationships between table records through Linked Records

In this guide, you will learn...

What Linked Table Records are
How to link Table Records

Before reading this article, you should first read "An Overview of Tables to get a full understanding of the capabilities of Tulip Tables.

Overview

Tulip Tables are used to manage a wide variety of data including Work Orders, Skills matrix, Bill of Materials and many more. Regardless of what the data within your Tulip Table is, there will likely be a definable relationship between it and another Tulip Table. A popular example for this may include assembly and sub-assembly data, or shift schedule and operator information data.

By utilizing Linked Records, you can define, manage and visualize these relationships between different tables.

Linking Table Records

To link two table records together, you must add a new column, to establish and define the relationship. It's important to note that you can not link existing columns in a Tulip Table.

Table Records are linked through the record's ID.

When you add a Linked Record column to a table, you will be prompted to define the relationship between the two tables. Upon creation, a new column in the linked table will also be automatically created, leaving you with one column in each of your linked tables. These columns will be populated with the ID of each table record.

To add link a table record, add a new column in one of the tables you wish to link, and select Field Type: Linked Record.

A modal will pop-up with the following options:

Label: Define the column label within the Table you are currently working in
Link to > Table: Select table you'd like to link your record to
Link to > Field Label: Define the label of the column that will be populated in your linked table
Link Type: Define the type of relationship between the table records. If you're unsure of what relationship type is best suited for your data, check out this article.

Note: Once you save your column, the Link Type can not be edited.

Linked Records Example

In the following example, there are two Tables: Assembly Table, and Parts Table. Each assembly is made of multiple parts.

In the Assembly Table, I've added a new column to establish the relationship between the two tables. Here the relationship type is Many To Many. This is because multiple parts can be used in multiple different assemblies, and vice versa.

After saving the column, the following columns are generated in each table:

At this point, only the structure of the relationship has been defined between the tables. Now, it's time to point each table record to its specific linked record.

To do this, click on a table record. The following modal will pop-up:

Within the search bar, you will be able to select the ID(s) of the table record(s) you wish to link. As mentioned above, the relationship between linked table records are defined by the ID(s) of the table record(s).

Below you can see what the tables look like after linking each Table Record: