# How to show an error if a dynamic / tab list is empty?

**URL:** <https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-show-an-error-if-a-dynamic-tab-list-is-empty/59269>\
**Category:** Ask for Help\
**Created:** [March 16, 2023, 4:16pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-show-an-error-if-a-dynamic-tab-list-is-empty/59269 "2023-03-16T16:16:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jkirkwood001](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/jkirkwood001/32/54952_2.png) [@jkirkwood001](https://community.glideapps.com/u/jkirkwood001)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 4:16pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-show-an-error-if-a-dynamic-tab-list-is-empty/59269/1 "2023-03-16T16:16:16Z")

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I’ve seen lots of posts about the count of static data relationships, i.e. the count of related table items. I can’t find one about counting the items in a tab list. I want to show an error if the user filters out all the valid items in the list.

Empty form:

 ![2023-03-16 12_14_27-OREC Projects · Glide](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/glideapps/original/3X/7/a/7af9468d8fa51192031d66d3c120e73240d6f351.png)

Form that should show an error, like, “Sorry, OREC does not currently have projects within that postal code area.”:

 ![error needed](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/glideapps/original/3X/e/f/ef844c9c5fd8a930cf0581b4571bc814d2c0cc33.png)

Thanks!

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**Author:** ![Uzo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/uzo/32/22639_2.png) [@Uzo](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Uzo)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 7:45pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-show-an-error-if-a-dynamic-tab-list-is-empty/59269/2 "2023-03-16T19:45:28Z")

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Create an IF-ELSE column to check if the entered value matches your list. Then if yes 1 if no 0… sum results… if sum is 0 then show error message

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**Author:** ![Jesus\_Valenzuela\_Dia](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/jesus_valenzuela_dia/32/22582_2.png) [@Jesus\_Valenzuela\_Dia](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Jesus_Valenzuela_Dia)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 7:48pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-show-an-error-if-a-dynamic-tab-list-is-empty/59269/3 "2023-03-16T19:48:01Z")

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Hi @jkirkwood001 , welcome to Glide,  
You can use eiter a text component or a image component to display the message you want and set the visibility of the component based on the amount of coincidences of the list.  
I did something similar, I use a text to display the amount of coincidences.

I am not using the native search tool  
I have a IF colum that is true is the text searched is conained in some columns  
The inline list is filtering only the TRUE values of the IF column  
There is another Rollup column that count the TRUEs of the IF column  
The visibility of any component can be managed based on the Rollup columm

I hope this information is clear and useful for your application.

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/glideapps/original/3X/d/5/d523aa7be2b4aff039e15b53bb7dc8a65a8022a5.png)

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/glideapps/original/3X/f/a/fa9d6085d0850c3e8ef5f4330a0f5098e191fb39.png)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ThinhDinh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/thinhdinh/32/49_2.png) [@ThinhDinh](https://community.glideapps.com/u/ThinhDinh)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 1:19am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-show-an-error-if-a-dynamic-tab-list-is-empty/59269/4 "2023-03-17T01:19:15Z")

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The key here, as @Jesus_Valenzuela_Dia pointed out, is that you can not access the native search bar value to pre-calculate the number of items that would show on the screen.

It has to be a text entry pointing to a user-specific column, and beware of the amount of updates it will cost you.