# Cloud variables misunderstood **URL:** \ **Category:** Questions about Thunkable X\ **Created:** [November 17, 2021, 10:17pm UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107 "2021-11-17T22:17:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bibbi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/db5fbb/32.png) [@bibbi](https://community.thunkable.com/u/bibbi)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 10:17pm UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/1 "2021-11-17T22:17:21Z")
hi I would like to understand why these 2 series of blocks return null ![Capture d’écran 2021-11-17 à 22.19.36](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/thunkable/original/3X/8/1/815d496e017989e498ceec977db33b1c0803aec2.png) ![Capture d’écran 2021-11-17 à 23.10.13](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/thunkable/original/3X/d/6/d6201554143542a86ccb44d6110c359e7781f40a.png) i got the cloud value in a label this way ![Capture d’écran 2021-11-17 à 23.16.21](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/thunkable/original/3X/f/7/f7555c554c84072639022873af9c13ff4ae2c778.png) ---
**Author:** ![tatiang](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.thunkable.com/tatiang/32/55482_2.png) [@tatiang](https://community.thunkable.com/u/tatiang)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 10:31pm UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/2 "2021-11-17T22:31:30Z")
My guess is that it has something to do with the data type represented by the value at `/tasts/task[app variable tp]` in your Firebase console. Can you post a screenshot of your Firebase data structure? How did you initialize `app variable tp`? What value does it have when you run this code? Are there any spaces or special characters in that value? What value did you get for `Label11's Text`? Have you tried this without the app variable? That is, instead of joining `app variable tp`, just typing the exact name of the Firebase node (e.g. “taskONE”)? What happens when you try to set the cloud variable that way? ---
**Author:** ![bibbi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/db5fbb/32.png) [@bibbi](https://community.thunkable.com/u/bibbi)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 3:26am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/3 "2021-11-18T03:26:06Z")
hi here is the db structure ![Capture d’écran 2021-11-18 à 04.16.35](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/thunkable/original/3X/c/c/cc019fa609b5ed3045621cf764e407dca99f82cd.png) the variable app variable tp is a kind of index which allows me to differentiate the tasks with a input text ---
**Author:** ![tatiang](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.thunkable.com/tatiang/32/55482_2.png) [@tatiang](https://community.thunkable.com/u/tatiang)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 3:40am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/4 "2021-11-18T03:40:00Z")
Okay, you posted a screenshot of the Firebase data and answered a couple of my questions. Once I know the other answers, I can help you more. ---
**Author:** ![bibbi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/db5fbb/32.png) [@bibbi](https://community.thunkable.com/u/bibbi)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 11:14am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/5 "2021-11-18T11:14:27Z")
The app variable tp get the good value i set in the input text The exact name of the node IS task44, task220 and so on ---
**Author:** ![tatiang](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.thunkable.com/tatiang/32/55482_2.png) [@tatiang](https://community.thunkable.com/u/tatiang)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/6 "2021-11-18T15:53:17Z")
What happens if you set the cloud variable “/tasks/task44” to something else like 50? Does that work? Without any variables at all. Just a text block that says “/tasks/task44”. Does it change the value in the database? Please post a screenshot of that if you try it. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before but… if you cannot change Firebase data, you may have a rule issue with your database. What are your Firebase rules? Are you authenticating/signing in to Firebase in this project? ---
**Author:** ![bibbi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/db5fbb/32.png) [@bibbi](https://community.thunkable.com/u/bibbi)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 4:17pm UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/7 "2021-11-18T16:17:31Z")
Hi thank you for paying me attention in fact the only difficulty I encounter is that I do not understand why the returned value is null whatever the node or the value given to the cloud variable ---
**Author:** ![muneer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.thunkable.com/muneer/32/75210_2.png) [@muneer](https://community.thunkable.com/u/muneer)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 6:41pm UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/8 "2021-11-18T18:41:33Z")
I have this data ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/thunkable/original/3X/2/1/21912937d8f73bd50e44b02712308a5a4457b0f1.png) So I did this codes ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/thunkable/original/3X/a/9/a95f81260f4861acb75153b4dca6f3fe93fdb0e4.png) This is the screen before clicking the button ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/thunkable/original/3X/0/6/064de07db8e3d9a403f8663d42fd5b6afb7d0b74.png) And after clicking the button ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/thunkable/original/3X/8/5/853b6ca6af257fc306e8a12d04c040867314b0bc.png) Can you do the same? I mean like this ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/thunkable/original/3X/e/2/e26373b5b890bbf2e32f9c6882f1c56b55117d47.png) And let us know what you get. Of course this is only after you provide the Firebase **API Key** and **Database URL** in the project settings. ---
**Author:** ![bibbi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/db5fbb/32.png) [@bibbi](https://community.thunkable.com/u/bibbi)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 2:01am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/9 "2021-11-19T02:01:55Z")
hi I will admit the result without going any further I do not really create an object it has no property ---
**Author:** ![muneer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.thunkable.com/muneer/32/75210_2.png) [@muneer](https://community.thunkable.com/u/muneer)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 9:27am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/10 "2021-11-19T09:27:44Z")
> [@bibbi](#): > > here is the db structure > > ![Capture d’écran 2021-11-18 à 04.16.35](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/thunkable/original/3X/c/c/cc019fa609b5ed3045621cf764e407dca99f82cd.png) This is correct and the blocks should retrieve the value. By the way, you do not need the first **/**. You can do this ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/thunkable/original/3X/8/d/8d51cefce48b3a70b179c9d29b265d72586979d1.png) The important thing is that **tasks** has to be a top level key (also called main bucket) ---
**Author:** ![tatiang](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.thunkable.com/tatiang/32/55482_2.png) [@tatiang](https://community.thunkable.com/u/tatiang)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 3:39pm UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/11 "2021-11-19T15:39:06Z")
What happens when you use @muneer’s blocks? ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/thunkable/original/3X/8/4/847e9316fc04f9b2847fc5e7469652fe98f050ab.png) We keep asking you and you do not answer. It’s very hard to help you! ---
**Author:** ![bibbi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/db5fbb/32.png) [@bibbi](https://community.thunkable.com/u/bibbi)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 5:45pm UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/12 "2021-11-19T17:45:11Z")
hi I felt like I had answered. clouds variable are powerful but some aspects are not easy to understand I understand the structure proposed by muneer. the draft database that I had proposed I dropped it because I just have to test the existence of a cloud variable and as the node does not exist it returns me the value null and that I understand Thank you for your support ---
**Author:** ![jared](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.thunkable.com/jared/32/138473_2.png) [@jared](https://community.thunkable.com/u/jared)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 1:00am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/13 "2021-11-20T01:00:12Z")
Hey @bibbi! 👋 You said it right! the cloud variables are 💪! Do you still have any remaining questions related to their use? Are you still experiencing issues returning values to the app when using the cloud variables? ---
**Author:** ![bibbi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/db5fbb/32.png) [@bibbi](https://community.thunkable.com/u/bibbi)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 1:33am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/14 "2021-11-20T01:33:01Z")
hi for now it seems to be fine on the other hand, I would like to create a table of 20 rows by 3 columns and it gets stuck thank you ---
**Author:** ![tatiang](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.thunkable.com/tatiang/32/55482_2.png) [@tatiang](https://community.thunkable.com/u/tatiang)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 2:12am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/15 "2021-11-20T02:12:07Z")
Cloud variables are used with Firebase. Firebase uses JSON and objects but not tables. What data source are you wanting to use for the table? Google Sheets? AirTable? A Local data source? ---
**Author:** ![bibbi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/db5fbb/32.png) [@bibbi](https://community.thunkable.com/u/bibbi)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 5:09am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/17 "2021-11-20T05:09:36Z")
Hi I said table i thought board (data aligned in rows and columns) I need to align data in a listviewer this way Xxxxxxx 00:00. 00:00 Each line has a title on the left and 2 series of Times I used space and a loop which takes into account the length of title afortunatly times are not aligned ---
**Author:** ![muneer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.thunkable.com/muneer/32/75210_2.png) [@muneer](https://community.thunkable.com/u/muneer)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 10:21am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/18 "2021-11-20T10:21:44Z")
If you start with the two times and make the title in the last it will be aligned. 00:00, 00:00 Xxxxxxxx ---
**Author:** ![bibbi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/db5fbb/32.png) [@bibbi](https://community.thunkable.com/u/bibbi)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 11:17am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/19 "2021-11-20T11:17:19Z")
Hi It’s less easy to read but it’s aligned there is no way to scroll two listview at the same time? ---
**Author:** ![muneer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.thunkable.com/muneer/32/75210_2.png) [@muneer](https://community.thunkable.com/u/muneer)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 11:22am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/20 "2021-11-20T11:22:44Z")
> [@bibbi](#): > > there is no way to scroll two listview at the same time? No. But in the StP UI, you can make something like a `Data Viewer List` using `cloning` which is not yet available in DnD UI. ---
**Author:** ![bibbi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/db5fbb/32.png) [@bibbi](https://community.thunkable.com/u/bibbi)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 11:34am UTC](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107/21 "2021-11-20T11:34:46Z")
does that mean rewrite my tiny application? [Next page](https://community.thunkable.com/t/cloud-variables-misunderstood/1622107.md?page=2)