Configure column properties

Be careful when changing the data schema generated by AppSheet, as described in this section.

When you create and add tables to your app, AppSheet generates the column structure based on the data. If you need to change the column structure, AppSheet recommends that you change the structure in the data source and then regenerate the table. But if that isn't possible, you may decide to change the data schema directly in the AppSheet app editor. 

To configure the column properties described in the following sections, View and edit columns.

• Column properties
• Type detail properties

Column properties

The following table summarizes the column properties. 

Property	Description
Column name	Name the app uses to refer to the column.  Note: There should rarely be a reason to change the column name. The column name should match the column's name in the underlying data source (that is, the column header in the spreadsheet). See also Column basics: Name and data type and Display name setting (below).
Show?	Toggle or Show_If expression that specifies whether a field is displayed or hidden.
Type	Type of data contained in the values of the column. The choice of data type affects the behavior of this field in the app. For example, you might want a particular text column to be a LongText, or a particular image column to be a Thumbnail. See also Column basics: Name and data type.
Type Details	Properties that are specific to the data type selected in the Type field. See Type Details properties.
Valid if	Expression that does one of the following: Defines whether there is valid data in the column, as described in Check form input validity (Valid_If). Displays a drop-down if the Valid_If constraint yields a list of values, as described in Drop-down from Valid_If.
Invalid value error	Expression that defines the error message that is displayed if the value is invalid.
Require?	Toggle or Required_If expression that specifies whether the field is required.
App formula	Expression used to compute the value for the column instead of accepting user input. See App formulas and initial values. Note: If a column has an app formula, the user of the app cannot provide a value to override the formula.
Initial value	Expression used as the default starting value for the column. The expression must match the column type. If an expression, it is recomputed until the user provides a value. See App formulas and initial values.
Suggested values	Expression that defines a list of suggested values for the column.
Spreadsheet formula	Formula on the backend spreadsheet that is calculated (and the result shown in the app) once the user clicks Save (or Sync if the app is set to Delayed Sync).
Key	Key column value that uniquely identifies the row within the table, and should be chosen with care. Only one column of a table can be the table's key column. See also Keys. Note: You'll find composite columns at the bottom of the column list, and one of them may also be chosen as a key.
Editable?	Toggle or Editable_If expression that specifies whether a field is editable.
Reset on edit?	Toggle that specifies whether this column should be reset to its initial value when the row is edited.
Label	Toggle that specifies whether this column represents rows from this table in lists and refs
Display name	Expression that specifies the user-visible name for the column if different than the Column name.
Description	Expression that specifies the description of the column.
Searchable	Turn on or off the search and filtering capabilities for a column in the app. By default, this field is turned on for most text columns, but disabled for non-text values.  Search is text-based. It is both case-insensitive and diacritic-insensitive. Search is performed against the entire table, including column data values that aren't currently displayed on screen.
Scannable	Enable the field to be filled by scanning a barcode or QRCode. See Use a barcode scanner.
NFC Scannable	Enable NFC scanning on the field. See Use NFC scanning.
Sensitive data (PII)	Mark the field as containing personally identifiable information. See Sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (PII) data policy.

Type detail properties

The following table summarizes the Type Details properties that display based on column type selected. 

Column type	Property	Description
Address, LatLong, XY See also: Mappable types	Optional Url for KML File	Specify a URL to a Keyhole Markup Language {KML) file used to display geographic data, most commonly on platforms like Google Earth or Google Maps, that allows for embedding and displaying location points, borders and shapes with different styles. See Use KML layers to display geographic data.
	Geocoding enabled?	Turn on to allow geocoding of Address column types. See Geocode addresses. Note: Applies to Address column types only.
	Background image for the XY coordinates	Specify a URL for the image to use as the background image of the XY coordinates. See Mappable types. Note: Applies to XY column types only.
ChangeCounter, ChangeLocation, ChangeTimestamp   See also: Track changes using Change column types	Columns	Add columns to be tracked for changes.
	Values	Add the column values that trigger the change tracker.
	Update mode	Control how the counter increments when data changes occur.  Accumulate (default): In this mode, the counter increments by one based on the number of times a tracked change occurred in a row. An individual row update might occur through a single save of a form, a single Quick Edit in a detail view, or a single action. Reset: In this mode, the counter resets to its initial value at the beginning of each update and counts the total number of changed columns that triggered the counter within that update. This mode makes it easy to detect that a particular change occurred during a given update, which is useful for setting up automations that only fire when a specific change occurs. Note: Applies to ChangeCounter column types only.
Color, Enum, EnumList, Progress See also: Enumerated types	Values	Add values that are presented as options.
	Allow other values	Turn on to permit values that are not explicitly defined by the Values property. Must be enabled if Valid If or Suggested values are used to specify values that are not defined by Values. If on, Valid If may be used to limit what values are allowed beyond those defined by Values (if any).
	Auto-complete other values	Turn on to allow AppSheet to auto-complete previously entered values to foster consistency and minimize typos. Note: Allow other values must be enabled for this property to have any effect. The values suggested when this property is on are in addition to those defined by Values and those provided by Valid If and Suggested values.
	Base type	Select the base type for the values in the list.
	Input mode	Select how you want to display the values. Valid settings include: Auto - Allow AppSheet to choose. Buttons - Horizontally stacked buttons. Stack - Vertically stacked buttons. Dropdown - Drop-down list.
	Item separator	Enter one or more characters to use as the separator between each item. Note: Applies to EnumList column types only.
Date	Use long date format	Turn on to allow use of long date formats.
DateTime	Ignore seconds	Turn on to ignore the seconds if specified in the date and time value.
	Minimum date	Specify the minimum date allowed.
	Maximum date	Specify the maximum date allowed.
	Use long date format	Turn on to allow use of long date formats.
Decimal, Number, Percent, Price	Numeric digits	Set the number of numeric digits allowed.
	Show thousands separator	Turn on to show the separator for values in the thousands. For example: 1,000
	Display mode	Select a display mode. Valid settings include: Auto - Allow AppSheet to choose. Standard - Use +/- icons to increase or decrease value. Range - Use a range slider to select value. Label - Use a text box to enter value.
	Maximum value	Set the maximum value allowed.
	Minimum value	Set the minimum value allowed.
	Increase/decrease step	Number by which to increase or decrease the current value when using the Standard display mode. For example, if you set this to 5, and the current value is 10, clicking + or - changes the value to 5 or 15, respectively.
	Decimal digits	Set the number of decimal digits allowed.  Note: Applies to Decimal column types only.
	Currency symbol	Select the currency symbol in the drop-down. Note: Applies to Price column types only.
Drawing, File, Image Signature, Thumbnail	Image/File folder path	Enter the folder path where images and files are saved using the Expression Assistant. Leave blank to use the default behavior. Note: This value is only respected by some data sources.
	Save externally	Not used. Note: Shown for Signature column types only.
Duration	Ignore seconds	Turn on to ignore the seconds if specified in the duration value.
LongText, Name, Text	Maximum length	Set the maximum length.
	Minimum length	Set the minimum length.
Phone	Callable	Turn on to allow calls to the number.
	Textable	Turn on to allow texts to the number.
Ref See also: References between tables	Source table	Select the table referenced by the column from the drop-down.
	Is a part of?	Turn on to indicate that rows are considered to be part of the referenced source table. They can be added as line items in the form view of the referenced table and will be deleted if the referenced row is deleted. The deletes will not trigger automation rules.
	External relationship name	Enter the name to use when referencing externally.
	Input mode	Select how you want to display the values. Valid settings include: Auto - Allow AppSheet to choose. Buttons - Horizontally stacked buttons. Dropdown - Drop-down list.
Show See also: Improve the presentation of detail and form views using Show types	Category	Select one of the categories from the drop-down based on the information you want to display.
	Content	Enter the content to display for the Show type using the Expression Assistant. To just create a page break, leave this field blank. For example: "Update Information"
Time	Ignore seconds	Turn on to ignore the seconds if specified in the time value.
Url, Video	Launch externally	Turn on to open in your mobile device's browser.
	Is hyperlink	Turn on to write values to a spreadsheet as clickable links rather than URL values. Note: Applies to Url column types only.
Yes/No	Yes/No display values	Enter an expression that defines the custom display values for Yes or No. Defaults to Y and N.