Convert list data into a related table

[kgodey]

Once we support lists as a data type in tables, a useful feature to add would be the ability to convert a list column into a table and vice versa.

---

If you'd like us to build this feature, please comment below with more details about how you plan to use this functionality.

[jeromeperez]

Hi Feature ++ to create directly table by converting list and export data of table in a usable list for user a bit like an export to spreadsheet format

[seancolsen]

Thanks for the feedback, @jeromeperez. I'm interested to better understand what you're describing.

For comparison's sake, I think what @kgodey is describing is a feature that would work like this:

1. You have a contacts table with an emails column that is a PostgreSQL array of TEXT values.

   • contacts

     id	name	emails
     1	Daffy Duck	daffy@example.com d.duck@example.net
     2	Donald Duck	don@ducks.example.org

     (It's worth noting that Mathesar currently has rudimentary support for arrays. Basically we can display them, but not edit them. Eventually we'll improve this support.)

2. Then you use this feature to transform that data into two tables that look like this:

   • contacts

     id	name
     1	Daffy Duck
     2	Donald Duck

   • emails

     id	contact	email
     1	Daffy Duck	daffy@example.com
     2	Daffy Duck	d.duck@example.net
     3	Donald Duck	don@ducks.example.org

The idea here is to help users normalize their data properly.

Is this also what you are talking about? If not, could you provide an example?

[jeromeperez]

Exactly