Tables and scheduled readings

A quick example

You keep chickens. You make a table called Monthly chicken records on your Barn Thing, with three columns: Month (a date), Chickens (a number) and Feed bought (a cost). Each month a new row appears, with the month already filled in. You add the figures and save the row, and you have a running record you can sort, export or ask ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini about.

Open Tables

• On Android: open the Site, Area or Thing, then choose Tables · Pro. You will find it after Notes.
• On the web: open the record and choose the Tables tab, after Notes. For Sites and Areas the tabs are under the title.

For help while you are working, use the usual Help button at the top of the app.

Create your first table

1. Choose Add table. The designer opens with one column and one empty row.
2. Type a Table name, such as Monthly chicken records.
3. Select the Column 1 ▾ heading. In Column settings, give the column a name and choose its type. Number columns offer an optional unit and a choice of what the number means. A Choice column asks for its list of choices. Choose Save to go back to the grid.
4. Use the Insert column button beside the column headings to add another column, and the Insert row button beneath the grid to add another row.
5. If you like, type your first readings straight into the grid.
6. Choose the main Save when the table is ready. Until you do, your columns, schedule and draft rows stay in the designer and are not saved.

Column settings also have buttons to move a column left or right, or Delete it. A table must keep at least one column. Removing a column asks you to confirm, and takes effect when you save the layout.

To change a table later, choose Table Layout to change columns. Within the layout editor, select a column heading to change that column. Saved readings show as a preview while you edit the layout. To change the readings themselves, save the layout first, then edit the rows.

Choose the right column type

What does your number mean?

For a number column, say what the figures represent. This helps reports read them correctly.

• Current count records how many you have right now; earlier entries stay in your history. This is a snapshot, such as the number of chickens today.
• Amount to add up is something you add up over a period, such as feed bought or money spent.
• Meter reading is a running total, such as tractor hours.

A blank cell means nothing has been entered. That is different from zero.

Start from another table

If another Thing, Site or Area already has the layout you want, you can copy it.

1. When adding a table, choose Based on another table….
2. Search for the record that has the layout, select it, then select its table. On the web, choose Save in that window to load it into the designer.
3. Check the copied grid, then choose the main Save to create your new table.

This copies the columns into a new table of its own. It does not copy any readings or reminders, and its schedule starts as Manual. If you have already entered an unsaved layout or readings, you are asked before they are replaced.

Have dated rows added for you

For a record you keep regularly, ThingzSafe can add a new row on each due date and remind you to fill it in.

1. Add a column and choose Date as its type.
2. Select the Auto Schedule button above the grid to open Recording schedule.
3. Choose how often, and which date column to fill. Enter or choose the first date, and check the time zone.
4. Choose Save to go back to the designer, then the main Save to apply your layout and schedule.

The first date must fit the schedule you chose. Only one date column can drive a table’s schedule. Any other date columns stay manual.

How the rows appear

• Our cloud service creates each row as its date becomes due, normally on its next background check. Your phone must sync before the new row shows there.
• If dates were missed, it catches up in batches of up to 31 dates per table. It sets one grouped reminder per table, not one for every missed reading.
• Changing a schedule keeps your earlier rows. Choosing Manual stops new automatic rows, but any readings already waiting still need completing.
• If you delete a scheduled row, it is not created again.

Fill in a scheduled row

1. Open the reminder. It takes you to Tables.
2. Choose the table, then Edit row on the row that is due.
3. Enter a value and choose Save. There is no separate completion checkbox.

Once your devices sync, a completed row no longer counts as pending. The reminder closes when every scheduled reading is complete. Saving any value clears that row’s notification. Zero and an explicitly selected No count as values; the automatically filled schedule date does not. Blank rows stay pending.

Read and edit a table

• Sort: select a column heading to sort. Select it again to reverse the order. To edit columns, choose Table Layout (Pro).
• See more: scroll sideways for more columns. On the web the grid scrolls on its own and keeps the headings in view. Use Next rows for more pages. Android also has Previous rows.
• Add: the Insert row button beneath the grid adds a row. To insert a column, first choose Table Layout.
• Change a reading: choose Edit row.
• Delete: Delete row removes one reading. Delete table removes the whole table and all its readings on every device. Delete a table before you delete the Site, Area or Thing that owns it.

Each row syncs separately. If another device has changed a row or its columns before you save, use the usual conflict and reopen steps instead of overwriting their work. If a save fails, your draft stays open so you can try again.

If you leave the designer without saving, the web asks whether to discard your draft. On Android, Cancel asks you to confirm only if there are changes to discard, and the normal Back action leaves without saving. Neither keeps a draft to resume later.

You can only change a column’s type if its existing values still fit. Removing a column that has data asks you to confirm, so export first if you want a copy.

Ask an AI assistant about your readings

Once ChatGPT, Claude or Google Gemini is connected to ThingzSafe, you can ask things like:

• “Compare chicken numbers with feed purchased each month.”
• “Add one to this month’s chick count.”
• “Add a row for tomorrow with the lamb count at seven.”

Say which Thing and table you mean if more than one could match. Your assistant shows the change it plans to make and asks for your approval first. “Add one” is different from “set the count to one”, and an empty number must be filled in before it can be increased. Tables do not add any new Alexa voice commands.

Export and reporting

Choose Export CSV to save or share the table for a spreadsheet. The column headings include the units you entered. An authorised reporting API also provides table definitions and rows, a page at a time. A ready-made Power BI connector is not included.

Plans and your data

• Creating tables, editing them and scheduled rows all need Pro.
• If you move down to an active Household plan, your existing tables can still be read and exported.
• If all paid cloud access ends, the normal cloud-access rules apply. Data already downloaded to Android stays on the device.
• For now, a household can have up to 50 columns in a table, 100 tables and 19,000 rows in total. The usual record-size and sync limits also apply.

If something looks wrong

A scheduled row has not appeared

Rows are created by our cloud service on its next background check, and your phone has to sync before it shows them. Check your connection and choose to sync, then look again.

My changes were not kept

Changes to columns, the schedule and draft rows are only saved when you choose the main Save. If the save failed, the draft stays open so you can try again.

I cannot create or edit a table

Creating and editing need a Pro plan. On a Household plan you can still read and export existing tables.

A column will not change type or be removed

The new type must suit the values already in the column. Removing a column that holds data needs confirming. Export first if you want to keep a copy.

Related help

Calendar and repeating reminders · Connect and use ChatGPT · Plans, purchases and cancellation · What Data tables can do

Layout and sorting

Choose Table Layout to change columns, or Auto Schedule to set when new dated rows appear. Insert-column and insert-row buttons use a small table with a right or down arrow. Insert column is available only in the layout editor. When viewing your data, select a column heading to sort; select it again to reverse the order. Saving an edited row keeps its table open.

Unit (optional) tells you what a number measures, such as kg, litres, hours or miles. Leave it blank if the column name makes that clear.

Find a table quickly

Search for a table’s name in the app. For example, search for goats to find your Goats table. Search for table or tables to see all tables you can access. Choose a result to open it on the Thing, Site or Area it belongs to.

The first table opens when you choose the Tables tab. Select another table by name. Click a column heading to sort; an arrow appears only on the column currently used for sorting.