alphaPlan · Future of Mobile Development · Cheat-sheet 02

Building the app

Show a collection as a list, decide what appears and in what order, collect data with forms, and show components only when a rule is true.

Ideas to remember

01A list takes a whole collection from the database and shows it on the screen, one row per record, and updates on its own when records change.
02A filter decides which records appear; sorting decides the order they appear in; get the filter right first, then sort what is left.
03A Custom List lets you build the row yourself from simple components, which is how a list can sit inside another list.
04A create form starts empty and makes a new record; an edit form is tied to an existing record and pre-fills every field.
05Every component is Always Visible by default; switch it to Sometimes Visible and build the rule that decides when it appears.
06A filter narrows a group of records; a condition decides whether one single thing happens, and it is what a visibility rule uses.

What is this a list of?: The first question Adalo asks about a list; you answer with a collection from your database.
Add another filter: Adds a rule to a list: pick a property, pick a condition, add it; each new rule narrows the list further.
Make List: Turns the components you selected together into one repeating row of an outer list.
Set Automatically: The form area where values are fixed instead of typed, such as the creator set to the Logged In User.
Change Visibility: In the More menu of a component; switches it from Always Visible to Sometimes Visible.
contains: The looser text operator, often better for search than is equal to, which is strict and case sensitive.

Start with the pre-made list style closest to what you want; you can always switch later.
Set each element of a custom row to dynamic so it reads from the collection instead of showing fixed text.
Build a list of lists from the inside out: inner list, heading, button, then Make List and filter the outer list to the current record.
Remove form fields people should not fill in with the trash icon, and add an action on Submit that sends them back to the screen they came from.
Preview the app as different users and check that a Sometimes Visible button appears for exactly the right people.

A list shows the whole collection by default, which is rarely what you want.
Text is equal to is strict and case sensitive, so Day is not equal to day.
Relationships can only be compared when they are one-to-many, never many-to-many.

Found something unclear, outdated or improvable? Suggest an improvement