Set a display column to customize how a row is displayed

Every foreign key in Plato is displayed as a link to its target row. By default, the link shows the row’s primary key. But the primary key doesn’t always provide the information you need. A row in a user table, for instance, may have a numeric primary keys such as “4”, but it’s much more helpful to see the user’s name, such as “John Smith”.

To customize how a row is presented inside of links, set the display column of the target table. The value of the display column will then be used to render the row not only inside of links but also anywhere the row must be presented as text in Plato, such as in dropdowns or error messages.

To set a display column:

Right click on the column
Select “Set as Display Field”

Define virtual columns to extend table data

Virtual columns are one of Plato’s most valuable features. In the course of your work you may often need to track new data, but waiting on your engineers to add this column to the table may take too much time or in fact be impossible. Virtual columns let you track new data without disrupting the database.

To create a virtual column:

In the top-right hand corner of Plato, click “Add Column”.
Enter a name for your column.
Select the column type.
Click “Create Column”.

Once defined, virtual columns can be written to and queried just like native columns, except they’re stored in Plato, not your database.

Track new data with custom tables

In addition to creating new columns, you may also sometimes wish to extend your data with entirely new tables.

To create a custom table:

In the nav bar on the left side of the screen, click “Add New”
Select “Custom Table”