New App, need to get info from another app
I am in the process of essentially starting over with our project management database and need a little help. A consultant basically built the two applications that we use, Grants (which is all the fi...
Forum Discussion
Hi Bethany,
Is it going to be a one time move of data from your existing app into the new app or is it about connecting data going forward between the two apps?
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Evan Martinez
Community Marketing Manager
Quick Base
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Is it going to be a one time move of data from your existing app into the new app or is it about connecting data going forward between the two apps?
------------------------------
Evan Martinez
Community Marketing Manager
Quick Base
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Hopefully just a one time move. A big issue is that the consultant created soooooo many fields with relationships that we don't want so we don't want to delete them and end up deleting any data.
-- ------Original Message------
Hi Bethany,
Is it going to be a one time move of data from your existing app into the new app or is it about connecting data going forward between the two apps?
------------------------------
Evan Martinez
Community Marketing Manager
Quick Base
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- I always start these kinds of projects with a data design on paper of the to-be data model, which you can use and compare with the as-is design. That will make it easier to visualize how the data will map from old to new.
It will be important to understand why those existing data fields and relationships were built in the old model. You may not want or need them for any apparent business reason, but often these kinds of fields need to be added to support or enable the data you do want to see, in the way that you want to see it (especially in QuickBase).
If you have new, eliminated or changed business processes, those should be clearly identified and documented, along with new, eliminated or changed reporting requirements or interfaces with other applications or systems.
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Rob Talbert
------------------------------ - Hi Bethany,
One option then as you are planning, is to create a report on a table that has all the fields you do want to copy over and then use the save as spreadsheet option under the more dropdown. This allows you to pull a CSV with all the records and fields of data you want to capture if you are trying to move data over. The one catch would be if there are fields that should be getting auto populated through a relationship you would only get their current value. I often make a report of all the fields I want to move over and then start looking through the fields to see which are manual entries and which are pulled from another table. Then I ask myself if that table they come from should continue to be the source of truth or if I need to figure out a new source for that value (whether manual or another table).
When it comes to the question of new app versus new table it usually has a lot to do with how your data works together. For example if you have a Projects that have Tasks that have Sub Tasks and you want them all to be able to pass information back and forth so you can see from your Projects table how many Sub Tasks you have or know the Project Managers name on every Sub Task then you most likely want to keep that data all in one app so you can use relationships to talk. However if you have an app for your HR team to track Employees benefits, hours, and training but you have another app to track your office supplies you probably are good with using two different apps because that data probably doesn't need to interact with each other very often. If you are taking this one have you tried taking some of the University lessons available on app planning? They can be a good resource for learning a lot of the methods Rob recommended for helping to get more familiar with app planning and building.
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Evan Martinez
Community Marketing Manager
Quick Base
------------------------------- Great advice! I'm working on a few things for now. Thank you.--Bethany DickeyProgram AdministratorMobile Bay National Estuary Program118 N. Royal St., Suite 601Mobile, AL 36602251-459-8870
------Original Message------
Hi Bethany,
One option then as you are planning, is to create a report on a table that has all the fields you do want to copy over and then use the save as spreadsheet option under the more dropdown. This allows you to pull a CSV with all the records and fields of data you want to capture if you are trying to move data over. The one catch would be if there are fields that should be getting auto populated through a relationship you would only get their current value. I often make a report of all the fields I want to move over and then start looking through the fields to see which are manual entries and which are pulled from another table. Then I ask myself if that table they come from should continue to be the source of truth or if I need to figure out a new source for that value (whether manual or another table).
When it comes to the question of new app versus new table it usually has a lot to do with how your data works together. For example if you have a Projects that have Tasks that have Sub Tasks and you want them all to be able to pass information back and forth so you can see from your Projects table how many Sub Tasks you have or know the Project Managers name on every Sub Task then you most likely want to keep that data all in one app so you can use relationships to talk. However if you have an app for your HR team to track Employees benefits, hours, and training but you have another app to track your office supplies you probably are good with using two different apps because that data probably doesn't need to interact with each other very often. If you are taking this one have you tried taking some of the University lessons available on app planning? They can be a good resource for learning a lot of the methods Rob recommended for helping to get more familiar with app planning and building.
------------------------------
Evan Martinez
Community Marketing Manager
Quick Base
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