🛑 Deprecated in V2: This article covers functionality from Frontly’s previous builder (V1). Some features, workflows, or blocks may no longer exist in the current version. Screenshots and instructions may also differ from what you see in the latest builder
The new Row Column function found in the Form or InfoList block is way to pull in a specific row of data without referring to a static row value or Frontly ID. For example, instead of finding the row where frontly_id = 6, you can find the first row where Customer = Ethan Moore
Why is this a big deal? This opens up other options for flows where you don't have the frontly_id available easily in the current context but you have some other value.
Possible use cases:
If a user dynamic variable has been entered to retrieve row details from a contact page, a user can easily have their row details retrieved to modify those contact fields. See notes below.
As part of an internal ticket management system, using an Edit Form block with a static "Status" value in its Row ID can be used to fetch the oldest ticket matching that value.
A button click that's mapped onto a Local State value can retrieve the first row data matching that column value.
Some notes regarding this feature:
The value must be an EXACT match, no partial matches here. The first matching row will be returned, so this method isn't ideal if you have multiple rows with the same data, unless it doesn't matter which one is returned.
Using the frontly_id is still highly recommended since it guarantees the correct row since each value should be unique. Using another field that a unique identifier can still be useful in some cases though.
If you incorporate this in an Edit Form and allow the user to modify the value in the field that was designated as the Row Column, those changes may disrupt the form due to the altered value. Therefore, if you are using this for the Form, we advise to deactivating or hiding this field to avoid potential issues.