Hi, I’m seeking advice regarding synchronized tables.
Basically, I have:
- Table A with 4 columns, e.g., invoice date, invoice no., customer, and amount
- Table B with the columns invoice no., amount, and category
Both tables are saved in the same document, on different pages.
I want:
- The data entered in the “invoice no.” and “amount” columns in Table A to be synchronized one way with the respective columns in Table B
- The data entered in the “category” column in Table B NOT to be synchronized with Table A
Currently, I am aware of the following methods:
- View, but it synchronizes data bidirectionally, so if I add data and/or columns in Table B, these will also be present in Table A
- Cross-doc, but it seems to be usable only between different documents
- Setting columns in Table A as “relation” and then creating the table with the entries from column A, but here the problem is that all identical entries are “grouped,” whereas I need all the rows present in Table A to be equally present in Table B
- Formulas, I have tried several but without success
In Google Sheets, it is possible to link the cells of two different files so that if I add a value in the source file, it will also appear in the destination file.
Is there a way to do something similar in Coda.io?
NB: I’ve just started, please be patient 
Thanks, ciao!
HI Alessandro,
If I understand you correctly, what I would recommend is a single table, and then you create two views of the data. In that way, the info will always be “synchronised”, because it is the same information, just with different layouts.
P
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Hi @Alessandro_Pretz ,
In this cases it often helps to take a step back before discussing a technical implementation.
What is the reason you want to create 2 tables? What do you expect to achieve with that? Is your data only about invoices or invoices + invoice items?
Sharing the doc you are working on without sensitve data would help us understand, of course.
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Thank you for the responses!
In my post, I only shared an example to explain my situation.
What I need to manage is a table that currently has 17 columns plus 5 columns containing the costs divided by cost center (cost center A, B, etc.) .
Now I need to allocate these costs across the 12 months of the year. Therefore, using a single table, I would have a total of 77 columns (17 + 5x12).
I could create views for each cost center to reduce the number of visible columns, but I am looking for a solution to avoid having such a large source table with 77 columns.
I cannot share the original table because it contains privacy-sensitive data, but I have made a copy here.
Thank you for your help! Ciao
Thanks for the extra information, Alessandro.
I would recommend that you do not build out your columns in a cost centre allocated table, but build out your rows. E.g. columns for cost centre and month. Maybe cost element/ category if needed. (Raw materials, salaries, etc).
In the invoice table, you then record the Invoice, the amount and the number of periods to allocate to, and the start period. Write a formula that will then allocate the cost from the invoice table to the cost centre table.
Now you have a very flexible table, from which you can generate reports. You can sub-total the rows by cost center by month, ot vice versa. Or you can create a new table, and write formulas in monthly columns to summarise. Or cost center columns, if you want side by side views. The thing is, you have options, and it is much easier to change your mind.
P
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Thank you very much, Piet!
“In the invoice table, you then record the Invoice, the amount and the number of periods to allocate to, and the start period. Write a formula that will then allocate the cost from the invoice table to the cost centre table.”
To better understand this step, could you perhaps point me to an example, a public Coda document, or a tutorial where I can see this solution in action?
I will do something over the weekend if nobody else can build something.
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WOW Piet, I didn’t ask for so much!
Thank you so much if you do it, you have a paid beer if you come around my area (Italy, near Venice).
I think my ‘problem’ is that I still need to learn to ‘think in Coda’, which is proving to be more complex than I expected.
Thank you so much for your help!
Absolutely! Even two or three, too bad they’re only virtual 
Thank you, @Pablo_DV!
Hi Alessandro,
Thanks for the Kofi’s!
I have done an example for you of doing the allocation, and explain it here:
Below is a link to the doc:
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Hi Piet, thank you so much for your help, this seems like a great solution!
In the next few days, I’ll thoroughly go through the videos and pages with the explanations, and then I’ll get back to you.
Have a good evening, ciao!
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Hi Piet, thank you very much! I finally managed to watch your video and the app you developed, take notes, and study your solution.
All this to conclude that at the moment it is beyond my reach I wanted to develop this and other apps, also to get hands-on with Coda, but I understand that the skills required to develop the app in the direction you indicated, which I find correct and useful in my case, would take too much time, trials, and errors. However, it needs to be put into production asap.
This means I will develop simpler apps and look for an expert to whom I can entrust the development of this app. Is anyone available?
Thank you very much and have a good day!
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