Is it possible to generate unique IDs directly in AppSheet databases?

[maretec]

I have a table of car brands in an AppSheet database. This table has the columns "ID" and "Make." AppSheet automatically populates the first 10 rows with a unique ID and the car brand. I have a list of 40 car brands. I copy and paste this list into the "Make" column of the AppSheet database. Now I need to generate the unique IDs for these rows (see screenshot below).

Is it possible to generate the unique IDs directly in the AppSheet database table, or do I need to do it separately?

[Gustavo_Eduardo · Accepted solution]

AppSheet database creates a field called Row ID that contains a UniqueID(“PACKEDUUID”) expression. You can omit creating an ID column and use Row ID as the row identifier And even if it doesn't look like by default, it's there.

[maretec]

In fact, I can see that AppSheet is using the "Row ID" column as the "Key Column".

When I submitted my first post, I discovered how to generate a unique ID ("UUID") in Google Sheets using Apps Script.

function UUID() {
  return Utilities.getUuid();
}

From your answer, I understand that it doesn't matter whether the ID column is populated with these unique IDs. Is that correct?

[Gustavo_Eduardo]

Let’s see. The AppSheet database comes pre-configured so that your app generates an ID for each row created. Rows are not created without an ID. You decide whether to use the default ID or create a new one. If you use the default, when a row is created, it will already have an implicit unique ID, which makes creating a new column with a row ID unnecessary. Now, if you indicate in the editor that your row ID is another column, it will be created every time you save a form, not when you manually add rows to the database.
In particular, I would use 'Row ID' as the row ID, and it wouldn't be necessary for you to think about the row ID from now on, since the AppSheet database already creates a row ID in each row created. It would seem redundant to me.

[maretec]

I was trying Gemini to create the app. Gemini uses the Appsheet databases as the source and creates the ID column in each table.

I agree with you. This column is redundant. 

[Gustavo_Eduardo]

Yes, and Gemini is in its infancy. Don't rely 100% on its answers. We still have a lot of work to do as developers.

[maretec]

I'm aware I can't completely rely on Gemini.

My question arose because I used to use Google Sheets as a data source, but now I'm exploring the AppSheet database.

Thanks for your help @Gustavo_Eduardo.

[Gustavo_Eduardo]

Afterward, if you can, tell me about your experience using the AppSheet database. I stopped using it due to some inconsistencies I noticed, which may have been resolved now.

For example, at the time I couldn't export data directly (only with bots and actions), nor could I use Ref columns as labels; they had to be text columns.

I hope you have a good experience and tell me more about the general nature of the environment now.

[maretec]

At first, using Google Sheets was better than using AppSheet databases. Now I'm trying AppSheet databases because, according to the documentation, there are improvements.

I'll keep you posted.

[Gustavo_Eduardo]

Thanks!!!