Adding Values to a Drop down list from a separate table

[Jeff_Gordon]

I’m a brand new user to AppSheet and I’m trying to figure out how to approach a problem I have. My app is a To Do list and to simplify it:

Table: Items
Columns: Item, Project

Table: Lookups
Columns: Project Name

When a user (me) is editing or adding a record to the Items table, I want to have them select from a list of Projects in the Lookups table. Pretty straight forward. However, if the Project isn’t in the Lookups table, I want them to be able to add another Project and have it added into the Lookups table. I know I could use Enum with “AllowOtherValues” and “AutoCompleteOtherValues”. However, then the new projects don’t get added back into my Lookups table.

Thoughts on how best to accomplish this? I’m wondering if I need to use a Reference instead of a Lookup.

[tony1 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Jeff_Gordon. Welcome to AppSheet. What you’re looking for is references between tables. You would make the Project column in your Items table a Ref column that points to your Lookups table. In the mobile UI, this will show up as a dropdown menu with an option to add a new row to the Lookups table.

Take a look at these sample apps, too:
basic demo of references
order capture app that extensively uses references