# Good table naming conventions **URL:** \ **Category:** Ask for Help\ **Created:** [April 26, 2022, 7:23pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/good-table-naming-conventions/41259 "2022-04-26T19:23:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dragonjamesx](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/dragonjamesx/32/41398_2.png) [@Dragonjamesx](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Dragonjamesx)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 7:23pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/good-table-naming-conventions/41259/1 "2022-04-26T19:23:57Z")
Hi all, Does anyone use a good data table title name convention? Is there like a list of these? What categories do you use? Example: I do Booleans / Item / Item A / Item B Issue is I am not sure that is good data category title / management. Just wanted to see what else people do to manage large datasets with ptoentially 100s of columns. Thanks! 🙂 James ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Hager](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/jeff_hager/32/43_2.png) [@Jeff\_Hager](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Jeff_Hager)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 8:03pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/good-table-naming-conventions/41259/2 "2022-04-26T20:03:03Z")
There’s a few posts regarding this floating around, but here is one with a few follow-up posts. [https://community.glideapps.com/t/what-kinds-of-columns-are-missing-in-glide/33473/100?u=jeff\_hager](https://community.glideapps.com/t/what-kinds-of-columns-are-missing-in-glide/33473/100) I wouldn’t say that I have a strict naming convention, but I like to prefix computed columns with their type. As for column grouping, I’ve seen a couple of different ways that people group their columns with the ‘/’ character. Some will group by column type (all booleans, all relations, all IF columns, etc.). I personally tend to group by function. A lot of times I’ll have several columns that work together to perform a function or or columns that are related to each other, so I’ll end up grouping them together that way. That way it’s easier to collapse a group of columns that are related to each other or part of one function. Also, it’s much easier to find the column you need in the app…much like folder/file system. I explain a little more here. > [@How do I create a custom form?](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-do-i-create-a-custom-form/25014/71): > > Yeah I think @Darren_Murphy tends to group by column type. I have been grouping my columns by function instead. For example, I have a table that lists students. I have a Name group that contains last name, first name, combined name, and other various ways that I format name. Then I have a Contact group for info, such as address, phone, email, etc. I have an Info Group that contain other miscellaneous info about the students. And, I have a GroupEmail group which handles all of the logic tha… ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Hager](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/jeff_hager/32/43_2.png) [@Jeff\_Hager](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Jeff_Hager)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 8:04pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/good-table-naming-conventions/41259/3 "2022-04-26T20:04:42Z")
I guess the first link is private, so I’ll post an excerpt below. > [@On another topic](https://community.glideapps.com/t/33473/100): > > A lot of people have different naming conventions. I’m not 100% strict on how I name things myself, but generally I use these standards for my stuff: > . > tmp-xxxx - Template column > if-xxxx - IF column > mth-xxxx - Math column > sv-xxxx - Single Value column > rel-xxxx - Relation column > lkup-xxxx - Lookup column > rlup-xxxx - Rollup column > jl-xxxx - Joined List column > splt-xxxx - Split Text column > > That usually helps me tell the difference between basic and computed columns, but color coding would be useful. > [@On another topic](https://community.glideapps.com/t/33473/101): > > Mine are quite similar, except I take advantage of grouping. I find it makes things so much easier when configuring components and other columns - no messing around with that twitchy fly out menu. > > - `basic/...` - anything non-computed > - `usc/...` - user specific columns > - `mth/...` - math columns > - `lk/...` - lookups > - `sv/...` - single values > - `tp/...` - templates > - `css/...` - also templates, but CSS related > - `rel/...` - relations > - `yc/...` - experimental code > - `rup/...` rollups > - `st/...` - split text > - `url/...` - URL columns > - `ite/...` - if-then-else > - `jl/...` - joined lists > - `crud/...` - (create/read/update/delete) - usually lookups through relations, that resolve to boolean, used for managing role based permissions. > > When I first started using column grouping, I was tossing up between this and a different naming scheme that would be more aligned to function (as opposed to column type). I settled on this, and it’s worked well so far:slight\_smile: > > I also tend to use extremely verbose column names, so when I come back later I don’t have to waste time trying to figure out what the columns are for. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Hager](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/jeff_hager/32/43_2.png) [@Jeff\_Hager](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Jeff_Hager)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 8:10pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/good-table-naming-conventions/41259/4 "2022-04-26T20:10:11Z")
Personally I think a good combination of Grouping by function and prefixing by column type makes the most sense to me. Depends on what makes sense for you. ---
**Author:** ![V88](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/v88/32/90054_2.png) [@V88](https://community.glideapps.com/u/V88)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 7:15am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/good-table-naming-conventions/41259/5 "2022-04-27T07:15:02Z")
Hi @Dragonjamesx - It’s a good question, particularly if you are relatively new to Glide. I come from a software dev background and so naming conventions are ingrained in my soul. My personal approach is to use grouping to denote context. However, I don’t actually use prefixes to denote data type since the GDE makes it quite simple to see this, particularly more recently with its differential display. Instead I aim for absolutely readability (in my eyes). As an example, a row for a user might include columns like this: - Account / Email - Account / Name - Account / Phone - Tasks / Relation - Tasks / Count The group gives context and the column name makes it as clear as possible to anybody viewing the app what the data represents. This also applies to me when I look back at an app after a few months absence. As @Jeff_Hager and @Darren_Murphy both say, however, this is a personal decision BUT that doesn’t mean it’s something you should take lightly. I can guarantee you that a well-defined naming convention will be invaluable as the size and complexity of your app grows. As an aside, your naming convention can also help as you think through the data structure for your app, helping to clarify entities and linkages. In the example above, group naming by context helps me think about what information from a user’s tasks I might want to surface within the user row. In summary, it’s up to you, but definitely do it! ---
**Author:** ![Dragonjamesx](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/dragonjamesx/32/41398_2.png) [@Dragonjamesx](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Dragonjamesx)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 7:37am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/good-table-naming-conventions/41259/6 "2022-04-27T07:37:44Z")
Thanks Jeff, this is great stuff. I think I may try some of these when I start building out my app - I am doing a football (soccer for the other side of the pond) app 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dragonjamesx](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/dragonjamesx/32/41398_2.png) [@Dragonjamesx](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Dragonjamesx)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 7:38am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/good-table-naming-conventions/41259/7 "2022-04-27T07:38:24Z")
Perfect, thanks @V88 I think I will start something like that and see how that expands, thanks for the input. ---
**Author:** ![christoph](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/christoph/32/22794_2.png) [@christoph](https://community.glideapps.com/u/christoph)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 7:45am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/good-table-naming-conventions/41259/8 "2022-04-27T07:45:32Z")
All my relations are named as rel\_tableFrom\_tableTo\_Context. So in what ever element I use the relation I immediately know what data are in there. For column type I use prefixes, for the context I’m starting to use grouping. But overall I try to have a table for each screen, hence most computed columns in that table have a clear context anyway. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/system/32/53398_2.png) [@system](https://community.glideapps.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 7:45am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/good-table-naming-conventions/41259/9 "2022-04-28T07:45:55Z")
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