Built for the most demanding workflows, Big Tables are enterprise-grade databases hosted directly in Glide. While a normal Glide Table has a limit of 25,000 rows, Big Tables can support up to 10 million rows. With Big Tables, your app can scale as your data grows.
Big Tables are a native Glide data source, and so they do not use updates when adding, editing, deleting, or syncing data. Data changes made with Glide API, however, still consume updates.
Big Tables are only available on Business and Enterprise plans. Need to upgrade? Read more about our plans and pricing here.
You can also use an API to add rows, set columns, or delete rows from a Big Table.
Creating a Big Table
You can only create Big Tables once you've created the app.
Select the Data Editor icon.
On the left side of the Data Editor, select the plus (+) icon.
Select New big table.
The Data Editor will create an empty table with a single cell. From here, you can add more rows and columns and configure them as you need.
Import/Export Big Table data
Import to a new Big Table
To import data into a new Big Table:
In the Data Editor, right-click the Big Table you'd like to import data into.
Select Import.
Choose which file to upload for import.
Glide data imports support .xlsx, .csv, or .ods files.
Import to an existing Big Table
To import data into an existing Big Table:
First, make sure the column names on the spreadsheet you want to import data from match the column names on the Big Table you want to import to. This helps Glide know where to put your imported data!
In the Data Editor, right-click the Big Table you'd like to import data into.
Select Import.
Choose which file to upload for import.
When you import data into an existing Big Table, Glide will add your rows to the existing table. It will not modify or delete the data that's already there.
Exporting from a Big Table
To export data from a Big Table:
In the Data Editor, right-click the Big Table you'd like to export data from.
Select Export.
Choose which columns to export, or export all.
You will receive an email with your Big Table export as a .csv file.
Big Tables API
To use an API to add rows, set columns, get all rows, or delete rows from a Big Table:
In the Data Editor, right-click on the Big Table you want to connect with.
Select Show API.
The API usage provides examples for JavaScript, Python, and curl. Select one, then choose from either Get rows, Add rows, Edit rows or Delete rows, then click the Copy Code button to copy the API instructions to your clipboard.
Limitations of Big Tables
There are some features in Glide that aren't compatible with a Big Table. These unavailable features are:
Some Single Value columns that target Big Table columns. Only Single Value --> First is supported.
Multi Lookups into Big Tables (eg. Lookups via Multiple Relations or Lookups that target an entire Big Table column)
Rollups that target computed columns in Big Tables.
Rollups against Math and Template columns are an exception and are supported.
Rollups can also be performed on IfThenElse columns
The Delete Rows action cannot be applied through a multi-relation in Big Tables.
Big Tables do not update between devices in real time—a refresh is necessary to update. For example, if one user makes a change, that change will not be visible to other users until they have refreshed the app.
A Big Table cannot be the User Profile data source.
Additional Big Tables Features in Preview Mode
Additional features for Big Tables are currently in Preview. To enable these features and remove some of the limitations above, open your team settings and enable the More computed columns in Glide Big Tables feature.