# Fields and records

Sydekyks user and operator guide. Check feature availability and release-specific installation requirements.

A table is a set of fields, and each row of data is a record.

## ​Field types

 | Type | Use it for | Why not just text

 | Text | Names, notes, IDs, anything freeform | 

 | Number | Amounts, counts, scores | So you can sort and compare properly

 | Date | Birthdays, due dates, calendar days | So “before” and “after” mean something

 | Date & Time | Timestamps, appointments | So the time of day survives

 | Dropdown | A fixed set of options | So values stay consistent and typos can’t creep in

Reach for Dropdown whenever a field has a known set of values, such as status or priority. It’s the difference between a table you can filter and one full of “In Progress”, “in progress” and “InProgress”.

## ​Adding records

Three ways in:

- By hand, typing straight into the table

- From a mission, using the Tables gadget to create or update records

- From a CSV, see Import and export (https://docs.sydekyks.com/tables/import-export)

## ​Editing the table itself

You can rename a table, add and delete fields, delete records, or clear a table entirely.

Deleting a field removes its data from every record in the table. There’s no undo.

## ​Create and edit a sample

Open Missions, choose Create New → New Table, and double-click the table name to rename it. Use the plus control beside the field headers to create a field. Double-click a record cell to enter a value, then leave the cell to save it. The five field types above were checked in the current field chooser.

![Synthetic Guide QA bills table with text BILL-DEMO-001 and numeric Amount 125](https://docs.sydekyks.com/resources/screenshots/table-created.jpg)