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Table Builder Action

Julius Hernandez
Updated
The Table Builder action uses conditions to filter rows from tables and produce another table. This article discusses the Table Builder action in more detail.

Table of Contents

Understanding the Table Builder Action

The Table Builder action works with both data tables and temporary tables, the two types of tables used for storing data in AUTTO (for more information, see Understanding Data Tables).

A Table Builder action allows data transformation in AUTTO. Using this action, you specify an input table that serves as a base version of an output table.

The following actions can be performed on the input table and saved into the output table:

  • Filter out table rows using conditions
  • Add columns using Square Brackets (for more information, see Working with Square Brackets)
  • Remove columns
  • Rearrange columns

The output table can then be called using its square bracket name later on in a workflow.

The formatting of tables created in the Table Builder action is managed during their insertion into emails, pages, and documents.

This Action works with both persistent data tables created under the Main Menu and temporary tables created earlier in a workflow.

If you are using a data table as an input table in Table Builder (see Using Data Tables), the data table's original specifications remain unchanged.

Setting Up a Table Builder Action

A Table Builder action is used anytime you want to process information from an existing table into another table.

To Set Up a Table Builder Action

To set up a Table Builder action:

  1. Drag a Table Builder action to the canvas of the Workflow Editor, and connect it to the prior action in the workflow.
  2. Position your cursor over the action, then click the Edit icon when it appears.
  3. On the Action Editor, enter the input table's square bracket name. The input table serves as the base version of the output table, meaning that the output table will be based on the input table.

NOTE: You will know the types of tables you can work with based on their names - data tables are marked with an exclamation point, !, at the beginning while temporary tables are shown without this mark.

  1. Enter the square bracket name you want to give to the output table. You are now ready to build the output table (see To Build the Output Table).

    Selection_362.png

To Build the Output Table

  1. Click Edit Table to display the Table Builder window, where all column names in the input table are displayed (see Step 3 in To Set Up a Table Builder Action).
  2. To add a square bracket as a column in the output table, enter the square bracket name (with the closing and ending square brackets) under the Add Column box. If you have not removed a column from the input table yet, only square brackets that have been created earlier in the workflow will appear in the list. Otherwise, removed columns will also appear on the list.

    Selection_363.png

  3. To remove a column so that it will not be displayed in the output table, click the Delete icon to the right of the column under the Columns section.

    Selection_364.png

  4. For tables with many columns, it might be easier to remove all columns, then include only the columns you need in the output table. To do this, click the Remove all columns button to the right of the Add Column box. You can then go back to Step 2 and add only the columns you need.

    Peek_2020-05-31_18-57.gif

NOTE: If you change your mind after removing all columns, click the Add all columns button to the right of the Add Column box.

  1. To rearrange columns, drag a column to the desired place in the output table.

    Peek_2020-05-31_17-11.gif

  2. Under the Row Conditions section, the Keep Row condition is selected by default, meaning that the IF-ELSE statement will keep the row covered by the original IF statement and remove the row covered by the ELSE statement. To reverse the condition, set the switch to Remove Row, meaning that the IF statement will remove the row and the ELSE statement will keep the row. The screenshot below shows the switch set to Remove Row.

    mceclip2.png

NOTE: For more information on setting up Row conditions, see Condition Action.

  1. To add another IF statement to the condition, click Add. Otherwise, click Done.

How a Table Builder Action Appears in the User Application

The Table Builder action does data transformation on the designated input table behind the scenes. The output table that it generates can be shown later on in a workflow using a Page action. It can also be saved into an AuttoDoc that can then be downloaded via an Email or another Page action.

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