The Combine tables step allows you to join together two tables based on one or more unique identifiers. This step is Parabola’s equivalent of Excel’s “VLOOKUP” and “INDEX MATCH” — without the tricky syntax. 

How to use the step

1. Drag a Combine tables step onto the canvas. 
2. Specify rules for keeping rows from inputs 1 and 2. 
   • The most common approach is to keep all rows from one table, and find only matching rows from another table.
   • Check out the visual below for an overview of the four different types of join options. 
3. Tell Parabola which column(s) to use for the join. 
   • This will often be something like a unique ID, email address, SKU, etc. 
4. If you are joining on multiple columns (like SKU and Warehouse), click the + add a match button and specify the criteria for your additional join(s). 
   • Make sure to specify whether this is an Any match or an All match.

Pro tip

• The input step that you connect first will always be Input 1.
• Keep an eye on the number of rows in your input datasets and Results view. If you have more rows than expected in your Results view, you likely need to edit the settings in the step. 
• Understanding the concepts behind joining data is the hardest part. Remember: There’s no mistake that you can make in Parabola that you can’t just undo. 

To learn more, check out our support docs.