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Working with Tables

Comprehensive technical guide to structuring multi-sheet tables, configuring rich column schemas, writing cross-sheet formulas, managing relational lookups, and setting up automation triggers.

Table & Sheet Architecture

Diaflow Tables employs a Container Model: a table acts as a container that holds one or more tabbed Sheets (similar to workbook tabs in Excel or Google Sheets).

Managing Sheets

  • Add & Rename: Create new sheets within any table and customize their tab names.

  • Reorder Tabs: Drag and drop tabs to adjust their display order in the table header.

  • Duplicate Sheet: Create an exact clone of any sheet with two options:

    • Structure Only: Copies column schemas, select options, validations, and formula configurations without copying existing row records.

    • Structure + Data: Copies the entire sheet including all rows, attachments, and cell values.

  • Minimum Sheet Rule: Every table must have at least one sheet. Deleting the last remaining sheet in a table is strictly blocked.

Sheet Deletion is Immediately Permanent While deleting an entire table moves it to the Trash (allowing recovery), deleting a single sheet inside a table is permanently destructive immediately. Please ensure you have backups or duplicate the sheet before deleting.

Organization: Folders & Lifecycle

Table Folders

Workspaces with dozens of tables can organize them into dedicated folders:

  • Folder Management: Create, rename, delete folders, and move tables between folders with drag-and-drop or menu actions.

  • Default Folder: Every workspace includes an automatically generated Default Folder that houses unassigned tables. The Default Folder cannot be renamed or deleted.

  • Live Counter: The folder sidebar displays a real-time count of active tables inside each folder.

Trash & Restore Lifecycle

Diaflow protects your workspace against accidental data loss with a safe Trash lifecycle:

  • Soft Deletion: Deleting a table moves it to Trash rather than permanently destroying it. All sheets, columns, and row data remain fully preserved.

  • Locked State: A trashed table is locked in a read-only state. No edits, imports, or action triggers can occur while it resides in Trash.

  • Restoring a Table:

    • Tables can be restored individually or all at once.

    • Restoring returns the table to its original folder. If the original folder was deleted in the interim, the table is automatically moved to the Default Folder.

  • Permanent Purge: Users can permanently delete (purge) tables from Trash. Once purged, data cannot be recovered.

  • Deleting a Folder: Deleting a folder automatically moves all of its tables to Trash. It does not delete them permanently.

Automation Behavior with Trashed Tables When a table is moved to Trash, any active row triggers or automations linked to that table are automatically paused. Upon restoration, automations will resume only if the underlying Flow remains active and published.

Supported Column Types

Diaflow Tables supports a broad set of field types tailored for business operations:

Column Type
Description
Key Features & Behavior

Text

Single-line or multi-line plain text

Searchable, supports quick-filter and sorting.

Number

Integer or decimal numeric values

Configurable precision; compatible with footer math aggregations.

Date / Time

Calendar dates and timestamps

Date picker, timezone-aware formatting.

Select

Single-select and Multi-select dropdown chips

Customizable chip colors for visual categorization (status, priority).

Assignee

Team member assignment

Selects active workspace members; ideal for task dispatching.

Attachment

File uploads per cell

Upload documents, images, and receipts directly to a row.

Created Time

Automatic creation timestamp

Read-only; auto-populated when the row is first created.

Last Modified Time

Automatic update timestamp

Read-only; auto-refreshed whenever any cell in the row changes.

Formula

Excel/Airtable-style computed fields

Dynamic calculations across columns and sheets.

Link to Sheet

Relational link to another sheet

Connects records across different sheets in your workspace.

Lookup

Synced value from a linked record

Automatically pulls data from a linked sheet based on the relation.

Action

Interactive button inside cells

Triggers a Diaflow Flow or third-party app with row data as payload.

Formulas & Cross-Sheet References

Diaflow Tables includes an Excel/Airtable style Formula Engine that computes values dynamically:

  • Comprehensive Function Library:

    • Math: SUM, AVERAGE, ROUND, ABS, POWER, MOD, etc.

    • Text: CONCAT, LOWER, UPPER, TRIM, SPLIT, SUBSTITUTE, etc.

    • Regex: Extract patterns or validate formatted strings (e.g., emails, phone numbers).

    • Date/Time: TODAY(), NOW(), DATEADD(), DATEDIFF(), FORMAT_DATE(), etc.

    • Logic: IF(), AND(), OR(), NOT(), SWITCH().

    • Array: Functions for operating on lists and lookup sets.

  • Cross-Sheet References: Formulas can reference columns residing on other sheets within the same table container.

  • Smart Error Handling:

    • Column Renaming: Renaming a column automatically rewrites all dependent formula expressions without breaking calculations.

    • Column Deletion (#REF!): If a referenced column is deleted, dependent cells display a clear #REF! error instead of silently failing or wiping existing values.

Relational Data: Link, Lookup & Reverse Link

Turn disparate sheets into an interconnected relational database:

  1. Link to Sheet: Associate a record in Sheet A with one or more records in Sheet B (e.g., linking an Order row to a specific Customer record).

  2. Lookup: Automatically retrieve and display specific attributes from the linked record (e.g., pulling a Customer's email or phone number into the Order row). When the source record updates, the lookup cell syncs instantly.

  3. Reverse Link: Diaflow automatically establishes a reciprocal reverse link on the target sheet, allowing you to see all associated records from both directions without manual configuration.

  4. Integrity Protection: Deleting a linked record or column cascades a clear #REF! indicator to dependent lookups, making broken dependencies immediately visible.

Table Footer Summaries

Located directly beneath the grid, the Footer Summary Row provides live metric calculations:

  • 20 Aggregate Functions: Calculate Sum, Average, Count, Count Unique, Min, Max, Median, Standard Deviation, and more.

  • Broad Type Support: Available across 15 standard column types.

  • Filter-Aware Computations: Aggregates are dynamically calculated over the entire filtered and searched dataset, not just the rows currently visible on the page.

  • Persistent Preferences: Each column's selected aggregation method (or "None") is saved automatically per sheet.

Footer Summaries are not supported on Option Breakdown, Assignee, Formula, or Lookup columns, and do not currently support multi-level group subtotals

Automated Workflows with Row Triggers

Diaflow Tables natively connects with the Diaflow Flow Builder:

  • Trigger Events:

    • Row Created

    • Row Updated

    • Row Deleted

    • Row Created or Updated

    • Specific Column Changed to Value (e.g., when Status changes to "Approved")

  • Scoped Monitoring: Row triggers are scoped to an individual sheet and can be configured to watch only specific columns, avoiding unnecessary Flow runs.

  • Live Event Preview: In the Flow Builder, clicking Run Node displays a preview using real, recent table events rather than placeholder mock data.

Guardrails & System Limitations

To ensure stability, high throughput, and reliable automation runs, Diaflow Tables enforces the following specifications:

Resource / Parameter
Limit / Policy

Max Columns per Sheet

250 columns

Table Name Length

Max 50 characters

Quick-Search Scope

Searches across up to 50 columns simultaneously

Reserved Naming Pattern

Sheet or table names starting with dfsheet_* are strictly reserved by the system

Automation Chaining

Table-trigger-to-Flow automation chains cap at a maximum of 5 hops to prevent recursive loops

Bulk Import Triggers

A single batch operation (e.g., large CSV import) triggers at most 50 row-level automation executions

Rapid Edit De-duplication

Rapid successive updates to the same row are de-duplicated within a 10-second window

Action Run Timeout

In-flight action cell runs that encounter worker timeouts or crashes are automatically failed after ~10 minutes

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