Tables and Fields

Tables turn database rows into usable business screens: searchable grids, record forms, related records, and field-specific validation.

Table configuration

Add a table

From the workspace overview, open the workspace menu and choose Add Table. Select an existing database table or create a new one.

Admins can configure the table from the table menu. The Configure screen has three tabs:

  • General — table name and a Hide from Overview flag.
  • Fields — the field designer (see below).
  • Web Forms — manage public submission forms (see Web Forms).

Save commits General + Fields together. Press Ctrl+S (or Cmd+S) at any time to save and stay on the page.

Configure fields

Click a field in the form designer to edit its settings.

Common settings:

Setting Purpose
Field Label User-facing name
SQL Column Database column
Required Blocks save when empty
Hide on Create Shows only after the record exists
Hide if Empty Hides the field in the record form while it has no value. Reveal via Show Hidden Fields in the record's ellipsis menu.
Always Hidden Never visible by default — hidden in the record form, grid columns, and summary layouts (calendar, kanban, gallery). Reveal in the record form via Show Hidden Fields. Webforms and the API are unaffected.
Admin Only Editable only by workspace admins

Required + Always Hidden together: save is allowed while the field stays hidden; the requirement only enforces once the user reveals the field with Show Hidden Fields.

Field types

Use field types to make data entry cleaner: text, long text, number, date, select, checkbox, lookup, file, and read-only fields. For live derived values — totals, statuses, days until due, related counts — use a Calculation field.

Select fields support per-option colors. In the option editor, click the color swatch next to an option to pick a light background. The color renders behind the option in grid cells, on the record detail page, and inside the dropdown or checkbox control. Colors are restricted to a fixed light palette so contrast stays readable.

Lookup fields connect records across tables. If another table looks up this table, related records can appear in tabs at the bottom of the record form.

A lookup can target a table in the same workspace or any other workspace that shares the same database. The picker shows the current workspace's tables by default; start typing to also see matches from other workspaces, which appear as Table (Workspace). Cross-workspace lookups work for direct record selection. Flows that read through a cross-workspace lookup must still list the foreign workspace under the flow's Additional Workspace Access setting.

Moving a table to another workspace

In the table configuration screen, the ellipsis (…) menu has a Move Table option. You can move a table to any other workspace in the same database where you are an admin. Records, comments, views, webforms, and flows attached to the table move with it. Lookups from other tables to this one continue to work after the move. If a flow in another workspace references the source workspace via Additional Workspace Access, you may need to update that flow's setting to keep it pointing at the new location.

Removing a field from an external (BYO) database removes it from the InfoLobby form only by default — it does not drop the underlying MySQL column. When you save a field removal in a BYO workspace, InfoLobby asks whether you also want to drop the column. If you keep the column, the Add Field menu shows **Existing** so an admin can add that column back later with its field type inferred from the column definition. In managed workspaces (InfoLobby-provided database), removing a field always drops the column — there's no orphan-column state to recover from.

Deleting a table or workspace

Deleting a table or workspace in a managed workspace permanently drops the underlying database tables and queues the attached files for deletion (30-day grace period before they're removed from storage). For workspaces, the delete shows a progress modal as each table is dropped.

For external (BYO) databases and storage, the default is to "remove" only InfoLobby's mapping — your database tables and files in storage stay untouched. The delete dialog offers two opt-in checkboxes:

  • Also drop the underlying database table(s) — issues DROP TABLE against your external MySQL.
  • Also delete files in attached storage — deletes every file for the table or workspace from your external S3 / FTP storage. There is no grace period for external storage — the deletion is immediate.

If you check either box, the delete runs through a progress modal so you can watch it work. If the database or storage credentials are dead, the operation aborts before InfoLobby removes its own metadata, so you can fix the connection and retry.