# Listing items in nested categories

**URL:** <https://community.glideapps.com/t/listing-items-in-nested-categories/75466>\
**Category:** Ask for Help\
**Created:** [August 6, 2024, 7:33pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/listing-items-in-nested-categories/75466 "2024-08-06T19:33:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Annie1](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/annie1/32/61089_2.png) [@Annie1](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Annie1)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 7:33pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/listing-items-in-nested-categories/75466/1 "2024-08-06T19:33:42Z")

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Hi there! I am new to Glide and having some (many…!? 😉 issues. I want to create a simple inventory app, where you can have a list of items that you can view based on a few attributes (eg category, date, location, sub-location, status, etc.).  
Problem: My locations are nested (eg level 1: building, level 2: floor, level 3: room), and given many buildings will have level 2 for e.g., just using the level is not unique. Here are the tables I have with their columns to try to manage this:

1. ITEMS TABLE: Row ID, Item name, quantity, building, level, room, exact level (make array column pulling building + level fields automatically), and exact room (another make array column pulling building + level + room fields)
2. BUILDING TABLE: Row ID, Building, items in building (relations column to show all items in this building)
3. LEVEL TABLE: Row ID, Building, Level, exact level (make array pulling building + level), and items in exact level (relations column pulling from exact level in this table to exact level in ITEMS table \*\*\*That does not work!
4. ROOM TABLE: Row ID, Building, Level, room, exact room (make array pulling building + level + room), and items in exact room (relations column pulling from exact room in this table to exact room in ITEMS table \*\*\*That does not work!

Few questions:  
A) is this the right way to structure the data?  
B) On my levels table, how can I get the items in a given level within a building to show up? Eg all the items in building A on level 2, when buildings B and C also have level 2.  
C) I read that using RowID is more robust. How do I use it on my ITEMS table? For e.g., when selecting a location for a given item, should I use the RowID instead of typing in the info?

Thank you!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [August 6, 2024, 7:56pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/listing-items-in-nested-categories/75466/2 "2024-08-06T19:56:25Z")

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Make Array is the wrong approach. Arrays are collections of multiple individual items instead of one cohesive value. For what you are attempting to do, a template would serve you better…but…I would consider using a Query instead of a Make Array and Relation because a Query can create matches based on multiple values instead of just one value.

Storing RowID in each of the child tables is more robust because it allows you to change a building name for example without having to update every row in every other child table that refers to that name. It all depends on how you add child rows, but I would consider it. You can still use relation/lookups or query/single value combinations in the child table to the parent table to retrieve the actual names.