RQL: a view written as a sentence

RQL — the RowFold Query Language — writes a view's filters and sort as one sentence you can read, edit, copy and paste back. It is never the only way to do anything: the filter bar and sort menu stay exactly as they are. This article covers opening it, typing it into search, the grammar, and what it will not do. What it is Every saved view is already a query: which table, which records, what order. RQL writes that query down: Invoices where Status is not Paid and Due in last 30 days sort by Due asc Same view, same rows, same engine — this is the view you already built, printed as words. Most people will never need it. It earns its place when you want to see exactly what a view does, send a colleague the precise set you mean, or make an edit that is quicker to type than to click. Open it from the toolbar Press { } on the view toolbar, beside Filter and Sort. The panel, This view, as RQL, shows the view's current filters and sort written out. Change it and press Apply: the view's filters and sort become what the statement says, exactly as if you had set them in the filter bar. Tab or Enter accepts a suggestion, and Esc closes the panel. Or type it into search The grid's search box is the other way in. Type a clause instead of a word — where Stage is Won — and the magnifier turns into braces; press Enter and it lands as ordinary filter chips. It only switches when what you typed starts with a clause word and reads as a complete statement, so a customer called Where & Sons Ltd is still just a search. Writing one • Start with the table's name, then where and your conditions, then optionally sort by a field followed by asc or desc. • Join conditions with and (every one must hold) or or (any may) — one or the other in a statement, like the filter bar's own AND/OR switch. • A field whose name has a space in it, and a field on a linked table, go in braces: {Unit Price} > 10, {Company.Region} is "North West". • Quote a value that has a space in it: Stage is "Closed Won". • A list goes in square brackets: Stage in [Won, Lost]. What can follow a field depends on its type: • Text — is, is not, contains, does not contain, starts with, ends with • Numbers — >, <, >=, <=, between 10 and 50 • Dates — before 2026-10-01, after, in last 30 days, in next 7 days, between • A single choice — is, is not, in [ … ], not in [ … ] • Checkboxes — is true, is false • People and multiple choices — has, does not have • Any field — is empty, is not empty It helps as you type Completion only ever offers what can come next: a field's own operators, a choice field's actual options, and only the fields you can see. Names are written as text but held as the fields underneath, so renaming a field re-prints every statement that mentions it rather than breaking it. Under the box it tells you what will happen when the statement runs — how many of its conditions the database will apply, and anything that will be sampled rather than counted exactly — before you press Apply, rather than after. Apply is all or nothing If any part of a statement can't be applied, nothing changes: the view stays exactly as it was and the message says which part, and why. The language also has parts that belong to reports rather than views — a period with during, group by, show totals, having, limit. A view has nowhere to keep those, so the message lists them as not applied rather than quietly dropping them. What it will not do • It never changes records. There are no words for creating, editing or deleting; it only decides which records a view shows, and the bulk bar acts on them. • It never shows you anything you couldn't already see. Completion and Apply both work from your own permissions, and a field hidden from you is refused with the same message as one that doesn't exist. • It is never required. Everything it does, the filter bar and the sort menu still do. Tips • Build a view with the filter bar, then press <strong>{ }</strong> to see it written out — the quickest way to learn the grammar. • Copy a statement into a message to show a colleague exactly which records you mean. Good to know • A statement uses <code>and</code> or <code>or</code> throughout, never both — the same rule as the filter bar's AND/OR switch. • The panel edits a view's filters and sort only. Report parts of the language are listed as not applied rather than saved. Who can do what • The <strong>{ }</strong> button, and typing a clause into search, appear wherever you can change the view: admins on a shared view, and anyone on a personal view of their own. • Applying a statement to a shared view changes it for everyone, the same as saving filters from the filter bar.