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Advice on Airtable, DataNitro, and xlwings
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AirtableAirtable
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SheetsuSheetsu

I'm trying to set up an ideally "no- code" way to have a backend of 3 different tables and be able to find a value in table #3 (contains businesses & cities) by first finding a record in table #1 (7,000+ zip codes) that corresponds to a city (table #2 has the unique cities), and then finding which businesses are located in these cities ( in this specific, original zipcode lookup). And return the business and a description via an API to a front-end results page, which happens to be a WordPress page - but doesn't need to be. I've tried Airtable's API, AirPress (a finicky WordPress plugin for Airtable's API), and I've looked at Sheetsu and a similar spreadsheet as backend and a simple API. I run into the issue where they work fine when you just need to query 1 table, but when you need to use the result from that query in another query to a different table. I'm back in SQL land - where sure it could be done with SQLite - needing to probably create an intersection table or a JOIN and build an API off of that. Is there a way to accomplish what I want without going back to SQL queries and some API?

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Replies (2)
Max Musing
Founder & CEO at BaseDash · | 5 upvotes · 54.8K views
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BaseDashBaseDash

You're right that there isn't a great way to join tables with Airtable's API. The closest you can get is to use a linked record field, which acts as a pointer to another record. You still end up with the problem you mentioned of having to run another query on the second table separately.

Your best bet is to stick with an actual SQL database. Using an ORM should make your life significantly easier so you don't actually have to write raw SQL. If you still want a graphical interface to your data, BaseDash lets you view and edit SQL databases just like Airtable. A full API with join support is coming soon, so that could be your perfect solution to this problem.

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vikas vimal
Recommends
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IntegromatIntegromat

Let me introduce you to integromat. It connects these services without you having to work any code. And it even has a decent database built inside it.

It makes is an easy process to develop multistep workflows with multiple services and it’s free tier is surprisingly functional.

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Pros of Airtable
Pros of DataNitro
Pros of xlwings
  • 19
    Powerful and easy to use
  • 8
    Robust and dynamic
  • 6
    Quick UI Layer
  • 4
    Practical built in views
  • 3
    Robust API documentation
  • 0
    Great flexibility
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      Cons of Airtable
      Cons of DataNitro
      Cons of xlwings
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        • 3
          DataNitro is no longer for sale or being developed
        • 3
          Very slow and still needs VBA for UDFs

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        What is Airtable?

        Working with Airtable is as fast and easy as editing a spreadsheet. But only Airtable is backed by the power of a full database, giving you rich features far beyond what a spreadsheet can offer.

        What is DataNitro?

        Build live streaming dashboards and complex mathematical models, all in Excel. You can use DataNitro to turn a spreadsheet into a database GUI - or a web server backend.

        What is xlwings?

        Replace your VBA code with Python, a powerful yet easy-to-use programming language that is highly suited for numerical analysis. Supports Windows & Mac!

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              Sep 29 2020 at 7:36PM

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