The related items, on the form, without the round trip.
The order lines belong to another list. The support cases belong to another list. Normally that means sending someone away from the form they are filling in, to a view, to find the rows, and back again. A vLookup queries that list and puts the matching rows on the form — open them, edit them in place, add new ones, and never leave the page.
Key capabilities
- Query any list — in this site, another site, or another site collection. You write the filter, so the table shows exactly the rows that belong to the item on screen.
- Edit a row in place — fix a quantity without opening anything. Complex fields still open the full form when they need to.
- Add a new row from the form — with the link back to the parent already filled in.
- Columns that are not columns — show a field from the item a lookup points at, or calculate one from the rest of the row, without adding anything to either list.
- Totals, grouping and conditional colour — a Sum, Average or Count in the footer, up to two levels of grouping, and styling driven by the values.
- Rules can lock it down — make the whole table read-only, or hide just the delete icon, depending on who is looking and what state the item is in.
Fix a row where it is
A wrong quantity should cost a click, not a detour. Inline editing turns the row itself into inputs — change it, tick, done. The totals row catches up as soon as the row is saved.
Add the missing one without losing your place
The Add new item button opens the other list’s form in a panel over the one you are on, with the link back to the parent already prefilled. Save, and the new row appears in the table behind it.
Show more than the list stores
A table of order lines can say which product each line refers to, because that is a column on the list. Everything interesting about the product is somewhere else.
+ Show another field pulls a field from the item a lookup column points at — the product’s unit price beside the product, a customer’s phone number, a supplier’s status. Add calculated column works one out from the rest of the row, with a formula, a totals row and conditional colour. Neither adds a column to either list, and neither costs an extra request.
Worked example
A purchase request needs its order lines on the form. The lines live in their own list, one row per product, holding only a product reference and a quantity. A vLookup filtered on the request’s id brings back that request’s lines; Show another field adds the product’s SKU and unit price from the Products list; a calculated column multiplies quantity by price; and the footer sums it. The requester adds a line, corrects a quantity inline, and watches the total settle — without opening a single other page.
Which one do I want?
Three elements show a table of other items. They are not interchangeable.
vLookup
Query a list — any list, your filter — and show what comes back. The query is the point.
Repeating sections
Let the user build child rows as part of filling in this form, saved with the parent. Repeating Sections →
Related items
Typed links between items that already exist — Blocks, Duplicates — in both directions. Related Items →