Working with Tables
Three kinds of table serve three different purposes, and NxAgent can create and manage all of them by request. The distinction matters, because workflows depend on the type once it exists.
These are chat-panel operations: you ask for a table rather than using an AI control inside the table screens themselves.
| Table | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Decision table | Business rules that decide an outcome |
| Lookup table | Looking a value up by a key, such as country code to country name |
| Data table | Storing data your workflows produce, such as processed orders |
Decision tables
Decision tables hold rules that decide real business outcomes, so a version cannot change without review. Every version moves through defined states.
The approval lifecycle
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draft | Editable, not yet submitted |
| Pending approval | Submitted, waiting on approvers |
| Published | Approved and live |
| Rejected | Turned down, and cannot be resubmitted as-is |
How versions move between states:
| From | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | Update | Stays a draft |
| Draft | Submit | Goes to pending approval |
| Pending approval | Approve, once all approvers agree | Published |
| Pending approval | Reject | Rejected |
| Pending approval | Retract | Back to draft |
| Rejected | Retract | Back to draft |
| Published | Roll back | Copies that version into a new draft |
Rolling back does not overwrite anything. It copies an older version's content into a fresh draft, which then goes through approval like any other change, so your history stays intact.
Ask for a decision table
List the decision tables.
Create a decision table for shipping charges based on weight and destination.
See Managing Data and Decision Tables for the full reference.
Lookup tables and data tables
Both are tables your workflows read from and write to. They are managed the same way but exist for different reasons.
| Lookup table | Data table | |
|---|---|---|
| For | Looking a value up by a key | Storing data your workflows produce |
| Typical use | Country code to country name | Recording processed orders |
| Structure | Key columns plus value columns | Usually all value columns |
| In Studio | Lookup Table | Data Table |
| From workflows | Look up, add, and remove entries | Query, insert, update, delete, and clear |
The simplest way to decide: if you are looking something up, it is a lookup table. If you are keeping a record of something, it is a data table.
You are always asked which type
If you do not say "lookup table" or "data table" in those words, NxAgent asks before creating anything, every time.
This is deliberate. Key columns exist in both types, so the column structure is not a reliable clue, and the two behave differently once workflows depend on them. Answering one question now is less disruptive than discovering the wrong choice later.
Use them
List the tables.
Create a lookup table called CountryCodes with code as the key.
Results are grouped into lookup tables and data tables, so you can see which is which.
How you know it worked
New tables appear as pending changes and exist only once you accept them. Decision tables additionally show their state, so you can see whether a version is a draft, awaiting approval, or published.
Next steps
- Configuring Alerts — get notified when a workflow using these tables fails.
- Managing Data and Decision Tables — the full decision table reference.