🔦 Feature: Allow to set global default for interpreting LongText columns as Markdown ("rich text")

[salim-b]

Please confirm if feature request does NOT exist already ?

• I confirm there is no existing issue for this

Describe the usecase for the feature

I really like NocoDB allowing to interpret LongText columns as Markdown aka "rich text". But it's tedious to enable it for every single text column in a database when you want to use the feature by default.

Suggested Solution

It would be great if users could set a default for the Enable Rich Text column toggle globally per base.

[dstala]

@salim-b are you creating schema from the scratch? if so, it's a quite easily accessible option on the menu when creating a long text field. Are you connecting to existing DB and converting long text to rich text something?

[salim-b]

@dstala I'm connecting to an existing PostgreSQL DB with multiple tables. The columns I'd like NocoDB to interpret as Markdown are of type text (variable unlimited length). Currently, I have to switch the Enable Rich Text toggle for every single one of these columns (because the toggle is disabled by default). Instead, I would like to change the toggle's default globally per base.

[dstala]

Discussed with the team - we do not have any plans as of now to make it as a configurable aspect;
One thing that we can try out is, prepare a script that - given a base, converts all long text fields to rich text.

[salim-b]

Discussed with the team - we do not have any plans as of now to make it as a configurable aspect;

Ok, I understand. Thanks für the update.

One thing that we can try out is, prepare a script that - given a base, converts all long text fields to rich text.

How would that work exactly? Such a script would need to change NocoDB's internal metadata DB, right?

[dstala]

You can refer to our API documentation at https://meta-apis-v2.nocodb.com/
Below script, give a table ID - should help you convert all long text fields into rich text

let axios = require("axios").default;
let baseUrl = 'http://localhost:9000'
let authToken = 'eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJlbWFpbCI6InVzZXJAbm9jb2RiLmNvbSIsImlkIjoidXNtM3IwbDI1OXh1cWpyZiIsInJvbGVzIjoib3JnLWxldmVsLWNyZWF0b3Isc3VwZXIiLCJ0b2tlbl92ZXJzaW9uIjoiZTU0OThjYWY3YzkzYjk2ZTc1MjhiZWNmODhkNTA2YzNiMjY1N2M0NjFjMTE1NzI0MzMzMTIzZjMzMzk0MmQ2NTI5NzU1ZWQ2MTIzMTdkNDMiLCJpYXQiOjE3MTA0MTEzMDAsImV4cCI6MTcxMDQ0NzMwMH0.akMkQm5Y3RzZYDfKcdy7X89Eygr5grRvcsBVC9EDoqY';

// table id can be retrieved from the URL when viewing the table in the browser
// example: http://localhost:9000/dashboard/#/nc/pekjheec4mwp7g5/mk61da5vmtj3qi3
let tableId = 'mk61da5vmtj3qi3'

async function nc_axios(options, token, data, cookie) {
    if(token) {
        options.headers = {'xc-auth': token}
    }

    if(data) {
        options.data = data;
    }

    if(cookie) {
        options.headers = {'xc-auth': token, 'withCredentials': true}
    }

    try {
        let response = await axios.request(options);
        return response.data;
    } catch (error) {
        console.error(error);
        return error;
    }
}

(async () => {
    // retrieve table fields
    let tableRead = {
        method: 'GET',
        url: `${baseUrl}/api/v2/meta/tables/${tableId}`,
        headers: {
            'xc-auth': authToken
        }
    }
    let table = await nc_axios(tableRead, authToken);
    
    // filter for fields that are long text
    let fields = table.columns.filter(c => c.uidt === 'LongText');

    // for each long text field, trigger update to convert to rich text field
    for(let i = 0; i < fields.length; i++) {
        let field = fields[i];

        let updateField = {
            method: 'PATCH',
            url: `${baseUrl}/api/v2/meta/columns/${field.id}`,
            headers: {
                'xc-auth': authToken
            },
            data: {
                ...field,
                meta: { richMode: true }
            }
        }

        await nc_axios(updateField, authToken);
    }
})().catch(err => {
    console.log(err);
});

[salim-b]

You can refer to our API documentation at https://meta-apis-v2.nocodb.com/
Below script, give a table ID - should help you convert all long text fields into rich text

Hey @dstala, I tried to enable rich-text mode via the API as you suggested. (I'm using R, not JS, but it shouldn't matter).

The Update Column API endpoint is quite peculiar. Although it's a PATCH endpoint, the two fields column_name and title are mandatory in the request body. I only want to alter the meta field:

• When I only supply {"meta":{"richMode":true}} in the request body, the API returns with HTTP 400 Bad Request and

  {"msg":"Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'replace')"}

• When I supply {"column_name":"MY_COLUMN_NAME","meta":{"richMode":true}} in the request body, the API returns with HTTP 400 Bad Request and

  {"msg":"Undefined binding(s) detected when compiling FIRST. Undefined column(s): [title] query: select * from `nc_columns_v2` where not `id` = ? and `title` = ? and `fk_model_id` = ? limit ?"}

• When I supply {"column_name":"MY_COLUMN_NAME","title":"MY_TITLE","meta":{"richMode":true}}¹, the API returns with HTTP 400 Bad Request and

  {"msg":"\nALTER TABLE \"referendums\" ALTER COLUMN \"level\" TYPE character varying USING \"level\"::character varying;\n\nALTER TABLE \"referendums\" ALTER COLUMN \"level\"  DROP NOT NULL;\n; - must be owner of table referendums"}

  indicating that NocoDB is trying to alter the column in the actual DB table (external Postgres) and not just its internal metadata. This is kinda scary.

When I change the table owner in Postgres to the user I connect NocoDB with, the last request above runs fine but actually alters my DB table, changing its data type and dropping the NOT NULL constraint, which I obviously don't want.

Is there a way to set "richMode":true via NocoDB's API without altering the external data source?

Footnotes

1. Whereas MY_COLUMN_NAME and MY_TITLE are the original/unaltered column name and title as returned by a GET request. ↩