Blueprinting Your QuickBase Apps
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The document outlines the importance of diagramming Quickbase apps before building them, emphasizing its benefits in planning necessary tables, relationships, and fields. It provides definitions for key terms such as tables, records, fields, and relationships, and suggests different methods for diagramming, both software-based and by hand. Additionally, the document encourages users to diagram existing apps for reference and offers resources for assistance during the process.
Blueprinting Your QuickBase Apps
- 2. Diagramming Your QuickBase Apps How to create blueprints for your app before you build Benjamin Buday Sales Engineer, Intuit QuickBase
- 3. #EMPOWER2015 Benjamin Buday Sales Engineer, Intuit QuickBase From Boston, Massachusetts Two years with Intuit QuickBase Trains users, builds proof-of-concept apps May have seen/heard him on QuickBase webinars!
- 4. #EMPOWER2015 Diagramming a QuickBase App Agenda • What is diagramming? • Why should you diagram your app idea? • What are some ways I can diagram? • Defining Basic QuickBase Terms • Diagramming Examples
- 5. #EMPOWER2015 What is Diagramming? Diagramming is creating a visual display of your new app idea, showing how data will flow through the app. TasksProjects
- 6. #EMPOWER2015 Why Diagram an Idea First? • Helps you decide what tables you’ll need • Helps you decide how to relate them • Helps you avoid unnecessary relationships, tables and fields • Helps you decide in what tables fields should go • Provides blueprints to any future owners/builders • Can be used as reference to help new builders start their own apps
- 7. #EMPOWER2015 What are some ways I can diagram? • Software – Microsoft Visio – Gliffy • By hand – Paper – Whiteboard
- 8. #EMPOWER2015 Defining Terms • Tables • Records • Fields • Relationships - Special Fields • Lookup Fields • Summary Fields
- 9. #EMPOWER2015 Defining Terms - Tables • Tables – containers that collect similar records - A Projects table to capture projects - A Tasks table to capture Tasks - A Customers table to track your clients
- 10. #EMPOWER2015 Defining Terms - Records • Records – like a document – captures specific information by way of fields. Tables are comprised of similar records. - Projects - Orders - Activities - Calls - Customers
- 11. #EMPOWER2015 Defining Terms - Fields • Fields – pieces of data hold a specific value and are part of a record. Many field types exist and can be used for a number of purposes. - Text fields • Project name • Description • Status (multiple-choice) - Numeric fields • Financial values • Quantities - Date fields - User Fields
- 12. #EMPOWER2015 Defining Terms - Relationships • Relationships – relating tables to one another. Relationships allow you to tie records of differing tables together, such as Projects and Tasks, or Customers and Activities. - Relationships are chiefly one-to-many, meaning one record in a table can have many records from another table, such as one Project having many Tasks. TasksProjects ActivitiesCustomers Invoices
- 13. #EMPOWER2015 Defining Terms – Lookup and Summary Fields • Relationships allow you to make two special fields that interact with data between two related tables: - Lookup fields – allows the details/child table to look up to the master/parent table and pull information down - Summary fields – allows the master/parent table to summarize numeric and date values from the details/child table
- 14. #EMPOWER2015 Defining Terms – Lookup and Summary Fields • Relationships allow you to make two special fields that interact with data between two related tables: - Lookup fields – allows the details/child table to look up to the master/parent table and pull information down - Summary fields – allows the master/parent table to summarize numeric and date values from the details/child table TasksProjects Fields • Project Name • Project Manager • Priority Fields • Task Name • Assigned to • Status • Hours Allocated • Project Name Fields • Project Name Lookup Field
- 15. #EMPOWER2015 Defining Terms – Lookup and Summary Fields • Relationships allow you to make two special fields that interact with data between two related tables: - Lookup fields – allows the details/child table to look up to the master/parent table and pull information down - Summary fields – allows the master/parent table to summarize numeric and date values from the details/child table TasksProjects Fields • Project Name • Project Manager • Priority • Hours Allocated for All Tasks Fields • Task Name • Assigned to • Status • Hours Allocated Summary Field Fields • Task Name • Assigned to • Status • Hours Allocated
- 16. #EMPOWER2015 Apply Your Knowledge • Thinking of building a new app? Try diagramming it first and see what your preferred diagramming style is – your methods will evolve the more you diagram • Have an existing app? Try diagramming it. Since app diagrams can be good blueprints for future app managers, try taking an existing app you built or inherited diagramming it out. • Get some more ideas from QuickBase experts. QuickBase Sales Engineers will be on-hand during Empower and would be happy to help you get started with diagramming. Also, our QuickBase Service Providers would be happy to help.
- 17. THANK YOU