X-Sheets

Data Editor (Grid View)

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4. Data Editor (Grid View)

The Data Editor is the full spreadsheet interface. It is accessible to Admins and Owners via Manage Data in the spreadsheet context menu.

4.1 Grid Layout

The grid displays your data as rows and columns, similar to a traditional spreadsheet:

  • Column headers — Show column names at the top.
  • Row numbers — Displayed on the left.
  • Cells — Editable content at each row/column intersection.
  • Sheet tabs — Tabs at the bottom for switching between sheets.

4.2 Toolbar

Button Action
Undo Reverts the last change. Disabled when there is no undo history.
Redo Re-applies the last undone change. Disabled when there is no redo history.

4.3 Editing Cells

To edit a cell, double-click (or double-tap on mobile) to enter edit mode. The behavior depends on the column type:

Column Type Edit Behavior Display
Text (String) Inline text input appears in the cell. Left-aligned text
Number Inline numeric input with decimal support. Right-aligned, formatted
Date Date picker dialog opens. Formatted date string
Paragraph Multi-line text editor dialog opens. Single-line preview with ellipsis
Picture Image upload dialog with file picker. Image icon in cell
Document File upload dialog with file picker. Document icon in cell
Reference Selection dialog with searchable list from the linked sheet. Link icon + display label

Read-only cells (primary keys and virtual columns) have a gray background and italic text. They cannot be edited directly.

4.4 Cell Selection

  • Click a cell to select it (highlighted with a colored border).
  • Click a row number to select the entire row.
  • Click a column header to select the entire column.

4.5 Column Management

Right-click a column header to open the column context menu:

  • Add Column Before — Insert a new column to the left.
  • Add Column After — Insert a new column to the right.
  • Edit Column — Open column settings dialog.
  • Move Column Left / Right — Reorder columns.
  • Delete Column — Remove the column (with confirmation).

Column Settings Dialog

When adding or editing a column, you configure:

  • Column Label (required) — The display name.
  • Column Type — One of: Text, Number, Date, Picture, Document, Reference, Paragraph.
  • Mandatory — Checkbox to require a value in this column.

Additional settings by type:

Type Extra Settings
Number Number Format (e.g., #,##0.00)
Date Include time — also captures hours and minutes (format becomes HH:mm-aware). Hide date (virtual columns only, shown when Include time is checked) — displays only HH:mm, useful for derived columns like an end-of-visit time.
Paragraph Lines Count (default: 3)
Reference Reference Sheet (which sheet to link to) and an on-delete policy — what happens to rows that reference a target when that target is deleted. Choose one:

  • Keep the reference — leave it pointing at the deleted row.
  • Cascade Delete — delete this row too.
  • Prevent removal if referenced — block the deletion with an error while rows still reference it.
  • Clear reference on delete — empty the reference on those rows and keep them.

For a Required reference, Clear still keeps the row but leaves it needing a new value.
Picture / Document Synchronized Offline checkbox (cache files locally)

4.6 Row Operations

  • Add a row — Simply start typing in the empty row at the bottom of the grid. A new row is created automatically.
  • Delete a row — Right-click a row number and select Remove Row (shown in red). A confirmation dialog appears before deletion.

Note: The reference on-delete policy decides what happens to linked rows. With Cascade Delete, deleting a row also removes the records that reference it. With Prevent removal if referenced, the deletion is blocked and an error identifies the sheet that still references it. With Clear reference on delete, those rows are kept and their reference is emptied (for a Required reference the row is kept but must be given a new value the next time it is edited).

4.7 Sheet Management

At the bottom of the grid, sheet tabs let you work with multiple sheets:

Adding a Sheet

  1. Tap the + button in the tab bar.
  2. Choose:
    • Create Empty Sheet — Enter a label for the new sheet.
    • Create Sheet from CSV — Opens the CSV import wizard (see Import & Export).

Sheet Tab Context Menu

Right-click a sheet tab to access:

  • Edit Sheet — Open the Edit Sheet dialog (see below) to change the sheet label, reference labels, Done date column, and actions.
  • Move Sheet Left / Right — Reorder sheets.
  • Clear All Data — Remove all rows while keeping columns intact (with confirmation).
  • Delete Sheet — Permanently remove the sheet (with confirmation showing which views will also be deleted).

Edit Sheet Dialog

The Edit Sheet entry opens a dialog with sheet-wide options:

  • Sheet Label — The display name of the sheet.
  • Reference labels — Which columns are combined to label this sheet’s rows when they are referenced from another sheet.
  • Done date column — A date column that is filled with the current date when a record is marked done from its form. Leave it unset to hide the Done marker for this sheet. See Forms.
  • Actions — Quick shortcuts shown in the form toolbar, each launching an external app from a column value (see below).

Scrolling further down, the dialog also exposes optional data-integrity panels — reference constraints, unique constraints, and linkable references — when they apply to the sheet. These are covered in Advanced Concepts.

Actions

Actions turn a column value into a one-tap shortcut. You can define up to five actions per sheet. For each one you choose an action type and a source column (any regular or virtual column except the primary key) whose value is passed to the action. Drag the handle on each action card to reorder them — this is the order the icons appear in the form.

Action Type What It Launches
Phone Call Dials the column value (a phone number) in the device dialer.
Email Opens a new message to the column value (an email address) in the mail app.
SMS Starts a text message to the column value (a phone number).
Map (Address) Searches the column value (an address) on Google Maps.

Actions and the Done date column are defined once at the sheet level and then appear on every form for that sheet. Their runtime behavior is described in Forms & Data Entry.

4.8 Virtual Columns

Virtual columns are calculated fields that derive their values from expressions. They appear in the grid as read-only columns with gray italic text.

To add a virtual column, click on the last column header or another virtual column header and select Add a virtual column from menu:

  1. Open the virtual column settings dialog.
  2. Enter a Column Label.
  3. Use the Expression Builder to create a formula (see Expressions & Formulas).
  4. Choose a Display Type (Text, Number, Date, etc.) to control formatting.

Virtual columns recalculate automatically when the underlying data changes.

4.9 Undo & Redo

The undo/redo system tracks all data changes made in the editor:

  • Cell value changes
  • Row additions and deletions
  • Column additions, deletions, edits, and reordering
  • Virtual column operations
  • Sheet operations (add, delete, reorder, clear)

Use the Undo and Redo buttons in the toolbar to navigate the history.

Next: Forms & Data Entry →