Public app and user specific column

Hello !

I create an app to let parents neighbours schedule kids go-to-school walk buses. I would like that this app should be very extra simple for users, so I didn’t want them to have to login or signin.

Here’s how it works :

  • 2 tab in gsheet : one for the journey and one the building identification (name and building id)
  • an input on the home, which is user specific (user code on the journeys sheet tab)
  • always on home, a button to go to the building journey tab, with an inline list of journeys filtered by building code
  • on this building journey listing tab, a button with action! 1/ add a new row to journey tab, populating the building id input with User code (preset on home by user) 2/ open a link to screen in detail mode with input to add a new journey to this building (name of parent, date of journey, way school to building or building to school)

I don’t want people to add a journey if the building doesn’t exist in the building gsheet tab. To not allow this, my trick was to set a single value column in the building tab sheet, populated by the User code from Journey tab, and an if/then/eslse column displaying “yes” if the single value column equals the building code id


When it doesn’t shows a “yes” in this column, I don’t show the “add journey” button

For filtering the building journey inline list, I have an If/the/else column that display “yes” if User code equals building code on the Gsheet Journey tab :


My problem is that if there’s more than one people with the same User Code in the app at the same time, just one can see the button nor the listing in the building Journeys tabs. Here are screenshots for the building journeys tab showing different for 2 users with same User Code at the same time :


I think it is because there’s a conflict with User code that are the same for users and that is User specific, but I don’t really understand what’s happening.

If someone could help :slight_smile:

Thanks a lot!

@ThinhDinh or @Robert_Petitto maybe you can help me ?

What if you point your IFTHEN directly to the user-specific column?

Thanks for your question. You mean the IF/Then from the building gsheet tab ? I can’t because the user code is in another gsheet tab (journey gsheet tab)

If you meant from the journey tab, it is the same, because my building codes are in the building tab. I can’t check with if/then condition within another tab of db.
Or maybe I didn’t understand well

I just mean eliminate the Single Value column all together. Check if user-specific is code residence. I don’t know if it will help or hurt, just an idea.

My experience with user-specific columns in public apps has been hit or miss. Is there any chance you can make this a public with email login?

I’m afraid that it will brake users to use app. Maybe if I can concatenate the user code with some random caracters, it will work, because I will check with “is included in” and this way there will not have multiple same usercode

Can you make your codes a choice component?

oh it’s a good idea

Yeah, just thinking about something that happened for me. I had a similar setup and people would press enter or add a space after typing in their entry and it prevented it from matching with the corresponding list.

it is ok to force people to choose an existing building.

But not for filtering journeys.

I think you’re, email is the only way

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