What is ApptiveGrid

ApptiveGrid is a platform that lets you work without writing code. You manage structured data, capture it through forms, automate workflows, and deliver the result as a portal or embedded application.

This page explains the terms that recur throughout the documentation and the interface. If you're new, read it first — every other page assumes you know these terms.

The basic model in four steps

ApptiveGrid follows one continuous flow:

1. Data lives in a Grid — a table.
2. Capture happens through Forms, which write to a Grid.
3. Automation is handled by Flows, which react to events.
4. Delivery happens through Pages, which you publish as a Portal.

All of this lives inside a Space.

The terms in detail

Space

A Space is the top-level organizational unit. It contains Grids, Pages, and Flows.

The Space is also the unit that access rights, plan, and seats are tied to. When you invite someone, you invite them into a Space — not into a single Grid. When you subscribe to a plan, you subscribe for a Space.

Typical breakdown: one Space per team, per project, or per client.

Grid

A Grid is a table of structured data. It's what you know from a spreadsheet — except that every column has a fixed type.

A Space can contain any number of Grids, and Grids can be linked to one another.

Entry

An Entry is a row in a Grid. In the German interface it's called Eintrag.

Terms that mean the same thing

In a few places in the interface, Entity or Record shows up instead of "Entry" — for example in the field type Link record. It always means the same thing: a row in a Grid.

Field

A Field is a column of a Grid. Every Field has a Column type, which determines which values are allowed and how they're displayed, filtered, and sorted.

There are column types for text, numbers, dates, select lists, files, addresses, signatures, links to other Grids, and calculated values. You'll find the full list in the Column types reference.

Column means the same thing as Field. The interface uses both.

View

A View is a specific representation of a Grid. It determines:

• which Entries are visible (filter),
• what order they appear in (sorting),
• how they're bundled (grouping),
• which columns are visible and in what order.

Crucially: a View doesn't change the data. It's a lens on the same Grid. Multiple Views on one Grid show the same Entries in different ways.

There are seven View types: Grid View (table), Kanban, Calendar, Map, Gallery, List, and Timeline. Details under What is a View.

Don't confuse Grid and View

This is the most common point of confusion in ApptiveGrid.

• The Grid holds the data. Delete it, and the data is gone.
• A View holds only display rules. Delete it, and the data remains.

But be careful: forms and shared links are attached to a View. Delete a View, and the forms built from it stop working. The interface warns you when deleting, noting that any forms you've created will no longer work afterward.

Form

A Form is an input mask for a Grid. You choose which fields to ask for, design its appearance, and share the Form as a link, QR code, or embedded on your website.

Forms can create new Entries or edit existing ones.

People who fill out a Form need no ApptiveGrid account — unless you've explicitly restricted access.

Page and Block

A Page is a freely composed interface. You build it from Blocks: headings, text paragraphs, images, input fields, embedded views, reports, layout containers.

Publish a Page, and you get a Portal — a standalone web page you can share or embed in your website.

"Page" has three meanings

Watch for this as you read the interface:

1. Page (Portal) — an interface built from Blocks. This is what the chapter Pages and Portals covers.
2. Form page — a section within a multi-page Form.
3. Flow page — a page that a Flow shows to a person for input.

This documentation always names them explicitly.

Flow

A Flow is an automated workflow. It's made up of Steps that run one after another.

Every Flow starts with exactly one Trigger — the triggering event. For example: a new Entry was created, a Form was submitted, or an external system made a call.

Actions follow: send an email, update an Entry, generate a file, call another system. Helper steps such as Router, Parallel, and Wait control the flow.

A single execution of a Flow is called a Run (labeled Previous runs in the interface).

Link

A Link is an externally shareable address. ApptiveGrid generates Links for Forms, Views, Pages (Portals), Flow starts, and invitations.

All Links of a Space are visible in one place — see External links at a glance. This is the most important page when you want to check what's reachable from outside.

How the pieces fit together

A typical setup looks like this:

Space "Events"
│
├── Grid "Registrations"
│   ├── View "All registrations"       (Table)
│   ├── View "Open"                    (Table, filtered)
│   ├── View "By date"                 (Calendar)
│   └── Form "Registration"            → writes new entries
│
├── Grid "Events"
│   └── linked with "Registrations"
│
├── Flow "Send confirmation"
│   ├── Trigger: New entry via form
│   └── Action:  Email to the registering person
│
└── Page "Attendee portal"             → published as a portal
    └── Block: embedded "Open" view

The registration comes in through the Form, lands as an Entry in the Grid, triggers the Flow, and shows up in the Portal. All within the same Space.

What to do next

• The interface at a glance — where to find what
• Your first app in 15 minutes — a full walkthrough example
• Your first Grid — if you'd rather dive straight into data

All the terms again in one place: Glossary.