Request adding a numerical index field to order tables by number instead of alphabetically in Editor

[Gustavo_Eduardo]

Dear AppSheet Team,

While AppSheet was created to democratize application development, the reality is that the community is learning and striving for professionalization. Due to the editor's characteristics, we've developed our own naming conventions. I personally inquired about a "standard naming protocol" and, receiving "everyone writes as they wish" as a response (which I accepted at the time), I decided to create a naming protocol for AppSheet.

Unintentionally, I've become responsible for many people, as any change to the protocol affects numerous users (developers and app users alike).

Given this, I researched how systems engineers name database tables for international teams and found these basic rules:

✅ 1. Table names should be descriptive and unambiguous.

✅ 2. Use plural names consistently.

✅ 3. Avoid unnecessary prefixes.

✅ 4. Do not include relationship types in table names.

✅ 5. Use underscores (_) instead of spaces.

✅ 6. Avoid cryptic abbreviations.

✅ 7. Foreign keys should reflect relationships but avoid changing table names.

This protocol change aims to improve productivity for many developers by reducing "downstream" impact.

However, a native editor feature to order tables by index, rather than alphabetically, would be extremely helpful.

To elaborate:

Tables are currently ordered alphabetically. Adding a field for a unique natural number index would allow ordering tables based on this number. This index would visually order the editor and be flexible, changeable at any time, without affecting table naming.

For consecutive elements, they could be numbered sequentially with an index, avoiding naming limitations. Consider the difficulty of adding a new table and renumbering existing ones.

Therefore, I strongly request adding a numerical field to order tables by number instead of alphabetically.

Thank you very much for considering this request.