# FRQ: Database Inheritance **URL:** \ **Category:** Ideas & Features\ **Created:** [June 1, 2023, 4:44am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/frq-database-inheritance/4528 "2023-06-01T04:44:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![njyo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/njyo/32/923_2.png) [@njyo](https://community.fibery.io/u/njyo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 4:44am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/frq-database-inheritance/4528/1 "2023-06-01T04:44:43Z")
Hi, For certain types of databases (i.e. Tasks, People, Organisations, Tools) I would like to have the ability to inherit/extend databases. For example: 1. I want a base database called `Person` which has a few basic fields: given name, surname, email, phone, etc. 2. I’ll have database called `Staff` that extends `Person`, which in addition has fields like: join date, role, salary, etc. 3. I’ll have a database called `Contact` that extends `Person`, which adds fields like: company, meetings, etc. 4. I’ll have a database called `Recruit` that extends `Person`, which adds fields like: source, CV, website, etc. Currently we have to choose between: 2. One massive database with lots of irrelevant fields, which also confuses 1. Multiple databases with same fields, which requires us to convert entities at times and/or duplicate results, which confuses folks 2. Multiple extension databases: One `Person` database and then `Person-Staff`, `Person-Contact`, etc. that maybe automatically connects some entries. As you can imagine, none of these approaches are ideal for users as they are confusing and certain fields do not map, etc. I love that I can have multipole entity types on a board (we use this for our task kanban), but of course I’d rather have a board that just lists all tasks irrespective if they are dev tasks, business tasks or support tasks (tickets)… Thanks! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Polina\_Zenevich](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/polina_zenevich/32/480_2.png) [@Polina\_Zenevich](https://community.fibery.io/u/Polina_Zenevich)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 9:12am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/frq-database-inheritance/4528/2 "2023-06-01T09:12:00Z")
Hi! Maybe I didn’t fully get the case, but 1. I have fields on the Person database 2. On Staff database I have new fields & lookup data from Person What am I missing? 👀 ---
**Author:** ![njyo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/njyo/32/923_2.png) [@njyo](https://community.fibery.io/u/njyo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 9:54am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/frq-database-inheritance/4528/3 "2023-06-01T09:54:00Z")
Hi @Polina_Zenevich! Interesting, for some reason I didn’t think of it that way, and might actually solve this, if a few gaps are closed: 1. The lookup does not allow me to fill data. So any view only shows the lookup 2. Forms do not allow me to set the lookups either 3. Bonus: If I then can hide the `Person` database ([as outlined here](https://community.fibery.io/t/ability-to-hide-some-databases-from-search-entity-link-by-default/4442/8)) That’s at least based on a first quick test, but I overall like the approach and might see if I rewire a number of things based on your suggestion. 🙏 ---
**Author:** ![Matt\_Blais](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/matt_blais/32/1464_2.png) [@Matt\_Blais](https://community.fibery.io/u/Matt_Blais)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 3:30pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/frq-database-inheritance/4528/4 "2023-06-01T15:30:21Z")
> [@njyo](#): > > The lookup does not allow me to fill data. This is the shortcoming of Lookups: they are read-only, and it is not necessarily easy to see how to open the Lookup’s source entity where the value can be edited. Related: - ["Joins" - include related entity's fields in Views - #3 by Matt\_Blais](https://community.fibery.io/t/joins-include-related-entitys-fields-in-views/1966/3) - [Open the source entity of a Lookup field with ALT+click - #3 by Matt\_Blais](https://community.fibery.io/t/open-the-source-entity-of-a-lookup-field-with-alt-click/2957/3) ---
**Author:** ![Oshyan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/oshyan/32/11431_2.png) [@Oshyan](https://community.fibery.io/u/Oshyan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 6:04pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/frq-database-inheritance/4528/5 "2023-06-03T18:04:34Z")
I still think the Lookup-based approach is potentially non-ideal and quite limited (even if editing in looked-up entity is added) vs. some kind of “inheritance” system or at least [Individual Layouts for a node, hide fields etc](https://community.fibery.io/t/individual-layouts-for-a-node-hide-fields-etc/995) and/or [Tab Views in Entity Pages](https://community.fibery.io/t/tab-views-in-entity-pages/2931). The newer ability to Hide and Collapse Fields and Relations is helpful to deal with field proliferation but doesn’t address the need for different views of same/related data based on context. ---
**Author:** ![YvetteLans](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/yvettelans/32/6101_2.png) [@YvetteLans](https://community.fibery.io/u/YvetteLans)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 5:44pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/frq-database-inheritance/4528/6 "2023-06-06T17:44:56Z")
> [@njyo](#): > > For certain types of databases (i.e. Tasks, People, Organisations, Tools) I would like to have the ability to inherit/extend databases. Yes, we need this too. > [@njyo](#): > > One massive database with lots of irrelevant fields, which also confuses That’s our current set-up for contact. Which is really confusing. We have really huge databases (example: our contact database) with a lot of hidden fields (which we only use in automations/formulas). But if a user wants to create a form or want to add a value in a table, they will see all fields. The list is quite insane 😅 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/fibery/original/2X/6/67d468a486ea4c13d48acd03b0a81b56dd76fe3b.png) > [@njyo](#): > > Multiple extension databases: One `Person` database and then `Person-Staff`, `Person-Contact`, etc. that maybe automatically connects some entries. This is our setup in a lot of other databases. Also quite confusing since we need a lot of workarounds to create the overall database/views. And it’s really limiting the table views since you can only choose 1 database in a table. So I can’t say “Column 1-3 are Database A and column 4-6 are Database B” > [@njyo](#): > > The lookup does not allow me to fill data. So any view only shows the lookup Exactly, this is also why we can’t use lookups. > [@njyo](#): > > Forms do not allow me to set the lookups either And automations/buttons + formulas also not.