Data Viewing & Navigation

Once your data is uploaded, DB Table provides a powerful, interactive interface for exploring and navigating your dataset. This guide covers all the viewing features and navigation options available.

Table Interface Overview

Main Components

The data table interface consists of several key areas:

• Toolbar - Contains controls for editing, AI analysis, export, and formatting
• Column Headers - Show column names, types, and sorting controls
• Data Grid - Displays your data with interactive cells
• Sheet Tabs - Navigate between multiple sheets (Excel files)
• Pagination - Navigate through large datasets
• Status Bar - Shows row counts and current view information

Visual Indicators

Column Type Indicators

• 🔤 Blue: Text/String data
• 🔢 Green: Numbers
• 📅 Purple: Dates
• ✅ Orange: Boolean (Yes/No)
• 📊 Teal: Percentages
• 💰 Yellow: Currency

Cell States

• Normal: Standard data display
• Yellow background: Unsaved changes (edit mode)
• Red border: Validation errors
• Blue border: Currently selected cell

Sorting Data

Column Sorting

Basic Sorting

1. Click any column header to sort by that column
2. First click: Ascending order (A-Z, 0-9, oldest-newest)
3. Second click: Descending order (Z-A, 9-0, newest-oldest)
4. Third click: Remove sorting (return to original order)

Visual Indicators

• ↑ Arrow: Ascending sort
• ↓ Arrow: Descending sort
• No arrow: No sorting applied

Type-Specific Sorting

Text Columns

• Alphabetical order (A-Z)
• Case-insensitive sorting
• Numbers in text sorted as strings

Number Columns

• Numerical order (smallest to largest)
• Handles negative numbers correctly
• Scientific notation supported

Date Columns

• Chronological order (oldest to newest)
• Invalid dates appear at the end
• Time components considered when present

Boolean Columns

• False/No values first
• True/Yes values second

Currency & Percentage

• Sorted by numeric value
• Currency symbols ignored
• Percentage signs ignored

Filtering Data

Search Filter

Global Search

1. Use the search box in the toolbar
2. Type your search term - searches across all visible columns
3. Results update instantly as you type
4. Clear the box to show all data

Search Behavior

• Case-insensitive - finds "john" and "John"
• Partial matches - "smith" finds "John Smith"
• Multiple words - searches for any word match
• Special characters - searches exact text including symbols

Advanced Filtering (Coming Soon)

Future filtering features will include:

• Column-specific filters
• Date range filtering
• Numeric range filtering
• Boolean value filtering
• Custom filter expressions

Pagination Controls

Navigation Options

Page Controls

• First Page - Jump to beginning
• Previous Page - Go back one page
• Next Page - Go forward one page
• Last Page - Jump to end
• Page Input - Type specific page number

Rows Per Page

• 10 rows - Quick overview
• 25 rows - Balanced view (default)
• 50 rows - More data visible
• 100 rows - Maximum per page

Performance Considerations

Large Datasets

• Pagination improves performance
• Only visible rows are rendered
• Smooth scrolling within pages
• Quick page switching

Memory Management

• Efficient data loading
• Background page caching
• Automatic cleanup of unused pages

Column Management

Show/Hide Columns

Column Visibility

1. Click "Columns" dropdown in the toolbar
2. Check/uncheck columns to show/hide
3. Changes apply immediately
4. Hidden columns preserved in data and exports

Use Cases

• Focus on relevant data
• Reduce visual clutter
• Improve performance with many columns
• Create custom views for different tasks

Column Resizing

Manual Resizing

• Hover over column borders until cursor changes
• Drag left or right to resize
• Double-click border to auto-fit content
• Minimum width prevents columns from disappearing

Auto-Sizing

• Automatically fits content width
• Considers header text length
• Accounts for data type formatting
• Balances readability and space usage

Column Reordering (Coming Soon)

Future features will include:

• Drag and drop column reordering
• Save custom column arrangements
• Reset to original order
• Column grouping options

Data Formatting Views

Formatted vs Raw View

Formatted View (Default)

• Dates: Displayed in readable format (Jan 15, 2024)
• Currency: Shows symbols and proper formatting ($1,234.56)
• Percentages: Displays with % symbol (75%)
• Numbers: Includes thousand separators (1,234,567)
• Booleans: Shows as Yes/No

Raw View

• Dates: Original text or ISO format (2024-01-15)
• Currency: Numbers without symbols (1234.56)
• Percentages: Decimal values (0.75)
• Numbers: Plain numeric values (1234567)
• Booleans: Original values (true/false, 1/0)

Switching Views

Toggle Control

1. Find "Show Formatted" switch in the toolbar
2. Toggle on for formatted view (recommended)
3. Toggle off for raw data view
4. Changes apply instantly to entire table

When to Use Each View

Use Formatted View For:

• General data exploration
• Presentations and reports
• Better readability
• Understanding data context

Use Raw View For:

• Data validation
• Debugging import issues
• Seeing original values
• Technical analysis

Multi-Sheet Navigation

Sheet Tabs

For Excel Files with Multiple Sheets:

• Sheet tabs appear above the data table
• Click any tab to switch sheets
• Active sheet highlighted with different color
• Sheet names preserved from original file

Sheet-Specific Features

Independent Settings

• Each sheet maintains its own:
  • Column type overrides
  • Sort order
  • Filter settings
  • Edit state
  • Formatting view preference

Performance Optimization

• Lazy loading - Sheets load when accessed
• Memory management - Inactive sheets cached efficiently
• Quick switching - Minimal delay between sheets

Keyboard Navigation

Table Navigation

Sorting & Filtering

Performance Tips

Large Dataset Handling

Optimization Strategies

1. Use pagination - Don't try to view all data at once
2. Filter data - Reduce visible rows for better performance
3. Hide unused columns - Improve rendering speed
4. Close other browser tabs - Free up memory
5. Use formatted view - More efficient than raw view

Browser Considerations

Recommended Browsers

• Chrome - Best performance and compatibility
• Firefox - Good performance, full feature support
• Safari - Works well on macOS
• Edge - Good performance on Windows

Memory Management

• Large files may use significant browser memory
• Close other applications if experiencing slowdowns
• Refresh page if performance degrades over time

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"Table not loading"

• Cause: File processing still in progress
• Solution: Wait for upload to complete

"Sorting not working"

• Cause: Column may have mixed data types
• Solution: Use AI profiler to fix column types

"Search not finding data"

• Cause: Data may be in hidden columns
• Solution: Check column visibility settings

"Performance is slow"

• Cause: Large dataset or many columns
• Solution: Use pagination and hide unused columns

Best Practices

1. Start with formatted view - Better for initial exploration
2. Use search to find specific data - More efficient than scrolling
3. Sort by relevant columns - Organize data for your analysis
4. Hide irrelevant columns - Focus on what matters
5. Use pagination - Don't try to view everything at once

---

Next steps: Now that you can navigate your data effectively, learn about column types to understand data formatting, or try the AI profiler for better type detection.