First column type

[vaavdeev]

In some of my old tables the first column now has a “Single Select” type, but for new tables it could only be text, number or date.
Did this functionality was removed? And if yes, what is the reason?
The “Text” type is prone to human mistakes and with the “Number” type all rows now have two numbers on the left, which looks rather strange.

[Karlheinz]

You must be one of the very first SeaTable users, as this was changed a long time ago!

And I can feel your anger - yes, SeaTable has changed a lot since the very beginning.

@vaavdeev

with the “Number” type all rows now have two numbers on the left, which looks rather strange

Have you ever used Excel?

It also has numbers to the left. Does it also look strange to you?

SeaTable is a new toy! with new toys, there’s new game rules.

I recommend you not taking the first column as your identification column, but rather another column as single select or number. Then, use the SeaTable’s grouping feature to group your entries. If an entry is wrongly labeled, you’ll immediately see it in a grouped view. The grouping feature is unique in SeaTable - Excel doesn’t have it.

[vaavdeev]

Hi @Karlheinz! Thank you for the answer!

Yes, this picture also looks strange to me, probably because I’m used to database tables. There is a Primary Key field in SQL, but it must contain unique values, and in SeaTable there is no such constraint for the first column. I know that in Airtable there is also no way to make a “Single select” type for the first column (and that’s quite inconvenient in my opinion), but at least you could make it a “Formula”.

So, as far as I understand, there is no plans to return “Single select” to the first column back? And what about “Formula” type then?

[Karlheinz]

You are welcome!

The first column in SeaTable is constrained to four types: text, date, number and auto number. There is currently no plan to extend these types for the first column.

Like I said: use another column for single select and group your view, and you’ll get what you want.

@vaavdeev

There is a Primary Key field in SQL, but it must contain unique values, and in SeaTable there is no such constraint for the first column

This is only partly correct. In SeaTable each row has a unique row_id. There has already been discussion over this topic on the Forum:

Random Unique Value

Hi, I am wondering if there is a possibility to automatically create an unique random value in an field? The unique value should have e.g. 12 digits, characters and should look like e.g. T58NKLOLUK9J This should be for external puproses a unique value to identify an record. Thx

[rdb]

@vaavdeev

So, as far as I understand, there is no plans to return “Single select” to the first column back?

We are planning on making single select available in the first column. But it’s a bit out. Currently planned for 2.3 - but no promises.

[rdb]

Good news for you: SeaTable 2.3 adds the single select column type to the list of types available in the first column.