How to make an Airtable view showing entries not linked in a related records field?

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1

I’m trying to set up a special view in my Airtable. Here’s what I want to do:

I have a table with people’s names and their partners. Some people have partners, some don’t. I want to make a view that shows:

  1. People who don’t have any partners listed
  2. People who aren’t listed as someone else’s partner

Is this possible? I’ve been messing around with filters but can’t figure it out. Here’s a simple example of what I mean:

Name    | Partner
--------------------
Alice   | Bob
Bob     |
Charlie | Diana
Diana   |
Eve     |

I want the view to show:
Bob (no partner listed)
Diana (not anyone's partner)
Eve (no partner and not anyone's partner)

Can anyone help me set this up? Thanks!

2

I’ve faced this exact scenario in my work with Airtable. Here’s a trick that worked for me:

Create a formula field called ‘Partner Status’. Set it up like this:
IF(AND(ISBLANK({Partner}), NOT(SEARCH({Name}, Partner))), ‘Unpartnered’, IF(ISBLANK({Partner}), ‘No Partner Listed’, IF(NOT(SEARCH({Name}, Partner)), ‘Not Listed as Partner’, ‘Partnered’)))

Then, make a new view and filter it to show only records where ‘Partner Status’ is ‘Unpartnered’, ‘No Partner Listed’, or ‘Not Listed as Partner’.

This approach gives you flexibility to see different categories and adjust as needed. It’s been a lifesaver for me in similar projects. Let me know if you need any clarification on setting it up!

3

I’ve actually tackled a similar challenge in Airtable before. What you’re looking for is a combination of filters and a self-referencing linked record field. Here’s how I’d approach it:

First, create a new view and set up two filters: one where the ‘Partner’ field is empty, and another where ‘Name’ is not found in the ‘Partner’ field. This configuration should yield the desired result.

Ensure that your ‘Partner’ field is properly configured as a linked record referencing the same table. This setup allows Airtable to verify that a name does not appear in someone else’s ‘Partner’ field. Note that this method presumes each person has at most one partner; if you anticipate managing multiple partners, you might need to consider restructuring your data, possibly by incorporating a separate ‘Partnerships’ table.

4

hey alex, i’ve got a trick for u. try this:

make a rollup field that counts how many times each name appears in the Partner column. then filter ur view to show only:

  1. Partner is empty
    OR
  2. rollup count is 0

that should catch both cases u want. lemme know if it works!