Copy app module to be used in another app

[Ami]

Hi

I have created several app in the past few years and i find myself rebuilding modules over and over. Is there any way to copy a table with the entire column structure/formulas to another app or even a set of tables?

Thanks

[1minManager]

Nope. You can only copy the entire app

[Rafael_ANEIC-PY]

Hello @1111, this has been a topic of recurrent debate in our forum, from what I remember there isn’t a direct solution for that, besides copying the entire app and then hammering it down to the base components you need to copy.

[1minManager]

Also, sometimes it takes longer to copy an app and strip out what you don’t need. Than it takes to just start from scratch.

[Ami]

That is what i am doing now, and there is some advantage as i somtimes improve a feature. But could be nice just copying a part and pasting

[Rafael_ANEIC-PY]

There is one method tho, but I’m not even sure how it works, I’ve seen it at @MultiTech_Visions patreon, he calls it a “template table”

[Ami]

Thanks

[MultiTech]

I’ve been begging Praveen about implementing something like this…

Note Parameters (the code-bits that makes In-App Guides and Template Tables work) can be like magic… but there’s some significant drawbacks

• which is why I haven’t pushed using them as a primary way of building your apps very hard

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There really needs to be a way where I can select multiple elements inside an app, and sorta “group” those together

• Columns involved (VC or physical), slices, views, UserSettings, Actions, Automation, etc.

If we could create these module groups, then maybe it would be easier to migrate that collection from one app to another. But I never seem to make any progress on this - hasn’t been a priority, or at least we haven’t made it a big enough priority for them to make it happen.

[SkrOYC]

MultiTech_Visions:

If we could create these module groups, then maybe it would be easier to migrate that collection from one app to another. But I never seem to make any progress on this - hasn’t been a priority, or at least we haven’t made it a big enough priority for them to make it happen.

I feel like this solution could make AppSheet a more suitable platform for ERP-like systems on small and medium businesses.
It would be awesome to make one big app and hide or filter some modules based on the user for example, that could reduce a lot of UX performance issues also since all of this stuff:

MultiTech_Visions:

• Columns involved (VC or physical), slices, views, UserSettings, Actions, Automation, etc.

could be left out.
Today we improve speed based on security filters to leave rows out of the app but sometimes, noticeably on bigger apps it’s not enough

[MultiTech]

SkrOYC:

It would be awesome to make one big app and hide or filter some modules based on the user

Why not do things this way in the first place?

[SkrOYC]

Bcz “modules” is not a thing yet. I mean this hipotetycal group of slices, views, actions, format rules, etc, that could be left out completely instead of lying in the background hidden for certain users.

[MultiTech]

But a “Module” is just a collection of columns, actions, views, etc.

• Why can’t you simply hide the actions, columns, views, etc. based on INDEX(Current_User[User_Role], 1)?

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I’ve never really advised people to follow the route pushed by the official channels - that being “build a bunch of smaller apps that work together”

- I’ve been there, got the T-shirt, and vowed never to do that again.

• It was a nightmare upon nightmares… never again.

[SkrOYC]

MultiTech_Visions:

Why can’t you simply hide

That’s what I do, but hiding is not the same as leave them completely out for a modules-made app.
If “modules” is a thing in the future, we could have a better approach at the multiuser and multiapps scenario where a whole part of our app is managed under just one umbrella.
You know how complex expression can get and to add a userrole to each of the expressions of each format rule, slice, view, columns is a lot for a no-code platform.
I really don’t care that much doing the things the way I do now, but life could be really easier

[Ami]

Something i thought about is building mini apps that conduct a certain function. I would then pass somehow data from my current app to the function app via an action. If the two apps can share a google sheet, well perhaps it could work

[MultiTech]

@1111 You can connect any number of apps you wish to the same sheet

• You just have to make sure the column structure is the same in all the apps
  • The settings don’t have to be the same - just the structure, which can make for some really interesting mixes.