---
title: "Copying information from one table to another in Arena OF (Select distinct)"
url: "https://openforis.support/questions/4302/copying-information-from-one-table-to-another-in-arena-of-select-distinct"
tags: ["arena-mobile"]
status: "answered"
score: 0
answer_count: 1
asked: "2025-08-07T00:19:06"
last_activity: "2025-08-08T10:47:09"
source: "Open Foris Support - Q&A Forum"
license: "Copyright Open Foris, 2026. Some rights reserved under creative commons license."
---

# Copying information from one table to another in Arena OF (Select distinct)

Asked by osgarcia on 2025-08-07

Hello everyone,

I have a need in Arena OF, which I don't think is currently possible, but I'd like to ask if anyone has a good idea.

We want to use Arena OF to collect data from a shrubland inventory in California for carbon estimation.

The field methodology we are considering is line intercept transects. For each one-meter section, we will collect cover and height (in four classes) by species. So, we will have a table with Transect_ID, Section_ID, Species, Cover, and HeightClass.

At the end of the transect, we want to individually measure a "typical" individual of each species and height class in each transect.

Ideally, using the transect table, I would do a SELECT DISTINCT and create new records in a new table of individuals.

Any ideas?

Thank you so much as always!!

Oscar


## Answer (score 1, by Stefano (OF) on 2025-08-08)

Link: https://openforis.support/questions/4302/copying-information-from-one-table-to-another-in-arena-of-select-distinct/4305

Dear Oscar,  
At the moment we don't have such a feature in Arena.  
What you could do is just create a new entity with an attribute "species" as key, and a validation rule that checks if that species has been inserted in the items of the previous entity (called "section" for example), with an expression like this:  
`count(section[section_species == this]) > 0`  
Please let us know if you need further assistance from our side.  
Many thanks,  
Open Foris Team