Build Schema — defining fields in the app
Create or edit a SmartTable's fields directly in a grid, with no spreadsheet to maintain.
Define the fields directly in the app, in a spreadsheet-like grid: one row per field. Nothing external to maintain, no sync step, no waiting on someone else's workbook. Add a row, name the field, pick its type, save.
What the grid gives you
One row per field. The columns fall into four jobs:
| Column | What it does |
|---|---|
| The field itself | |
| Field Name | The label shown on the entry form. |
| Field Type | text, textarea, number, date, month, time, dropdown, multi_select_dropdown, radio_button, button_group, checkbox, attachment. |
| Optional / Hidden / Locked | Whether it must be filled · whether it appears on the form · whether it can be edited. |
| Show in List View | Whether it becomes a column on the entries table. Ticked by default. |
| Where it sits on the form | |
| Accordion Section Section Heading | Grouping. Fields sharing an accordion collapse together; a section heading sits above a group of accordions. |
| Same Row As # | Put several fields side by side instead of stacked. |
| Step # / Step Name | Split the form into numbered steps — see SmartTable Steps. Blank means a single-step form. |
| Table Column / Table # | Turn a set of fields into a multi-row grid inside the form. Fields sharing a Table # become columns of the same grid. |
| What may be entered | |
| Min / Max Value | Numeric bounds, or pa_TODAY on a date field. |
| Hint Text | A short note beside the field. Not a validation rule. |
| Dropdown/Choice Options | The options for a dropdown, multi-select, radio or button group — comma separated. |
| Filled in for you | |
| Auto Number | The server writes the next number in sequence when this field is left blank — see Column Reference. |
| Advanced Options | A small per-field form rather than raw JSON — see below. |
Advanced Options
The Advanced Options button on each row opens a form showing only the settings that field's type actually uses — a number field offers thousands separator, scale and decimal places; a date field offers a display format; a checkbox offers the label to print when ticked. Tick Auto Number and it also offers the number format and which field gives each its own sequence. If a type has nothing to configure, it says so rather than showing an empty form.
ℹ️ Field ids are assigned for you
There is no id column. Ids come from row order when you save, which removes a whole class of mistake the spreadsheet routes are exposed to — duplicated ids, skipped ids, an id that no longer matches what the display sheet references. Reordering rows renumbers them, so if a display sheet already points at specific ids, change fields by editing rows rather than reshuffling them.
What it cannot do
- No display sheet, so no print/PDF layout. A table built here is used through the entries table and the entry form; it has no Display/Print button until a workbook with a display sheet is synced to it later.
- No formulas. A formula field is a literal Excel formula in the entry sheet's cell, so it needs a spreadsheet — see Formulas & Computed Fields.
- Linking and autofill are not set here. Those are configured after creation in SmartTable Settings, whichever route created the table.
💡 A good default for new tables
If you do not need a printed layout, Build Schema is usually the fastest correct choice: it is immediate, it cannot produce a broken id, and you can always add a display sheet later by syncing a workbook to the same SmartTable.
💡 Editing an existing SmartTable's fields
The same grid doubles as an editor: Edit Schema loads a SmartTable's current fields, whatever route originally created it — a table built from a SharePoint workbook can be edited here and vice versa. Saving creates a new version, exactly like re-syncing a workbook, so existing entries are never rewritten, and settings configured elsewhere (linking, autofill, approval) are untouched.
ℹ️ The field rules are the same whichever route you use
What a field can be — its type, whether it is optional, its validation, its
properties — does not depend on how the SmartTable was created. See Column Reference and Field Types & Properties; every column there has an equivalent in this grid.