Table storage basics in Azure - Step-by-Step Execution

Process Flow - Table storage basics

Create Storage Account

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Create Table in Storage

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Insert Entity (Row) into Table

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Query Entities by PartitionKey and RowKey

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Update or Delete Entity

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Access Data via SDK or REST API

This flow shows how you create a storage account, add a table, insert data rows called entities, query them, and update or delete as needed.

Execution Sample

Azure

Create table 'Customers'
Insert entity PartitionKey='USA', RowKey='001', Name='Alice'
Query entity PartitionKey='USA', RowKey='001'
Update entity PartitionKey='USA', RowKey='001', Name='Alice Smith'
Delete entity PartitionKey='USA', RowKey='001'

This sequence creates a table, adds a customer record, retrieves it, updates the name, then deletes the record.

Process Table

Step	Action	PartitionKey	RowKey	Name	Result
1	Create Table	-	-	-	Table 'Customers' created
2	Insert Entity	USA	001	Alice	Entity inserted
3	Query Entity	USA	001	-	Found entity with Name='Alice'
4	Update Entity	USA	001	Alice Smith	Entity updated
5	Query Entity	USA	001	-	Found entity with Name='Alice Smith'
6	Delete Entity	USA	001	-	Entity deleted
7	Query Entity	USA	001	-	No entity found

💡 Entity deleted at step 6, so query at step 7 finds no entity.

Status Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 2	After Step 4	After Step 6
Table 'Customers'	Empty	Contains 1 entity	Contains 1 updated entity	Empty

Key Moments - 2 Insights

Why do we need both PartitionKey and RowKey to identify an entity?

PartitionKey groups entities for fast queries and scalability; RowKey uniquely identifies an entity within that partition. Together they form a unique key as shown in execution_table steps 3 and 4.

What happens if we query an entity after deleting it?

As shown in step 7, the query returns no entity because it was deleted at step 6.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution table, what is the Name of the entity after step 4?

A Alice Smith

B Alice

C No entity

D USA

💡 Hint

Check the 'Name' column in row for step 4 in execution_table.

At which step does the table become empty again?

A Step 2

B Step 4

C Step 6

D Step 7

💡 Hint

Look at variable_tracker after step 6 and execution_table step 6.

If we insert another entity with the same PartitionKey and RowKey as step 2, what happens?

A A new entity is added alongside the old one

B The old entity is overwritten

C An error occurs

D The table is deleted

💡 Hint

Table storage uses PartitionKey and RowKey as unique keys, so inserting same keys updates the entity.

Concept Snapshot

Azure Table Storage stores data as entities in tables.
Each entity has a PartitionKey and RowKey to uniquely identify it.
PartitionKey groups entities for fast queries and scalability.
RowKey uniquely identifies an entity within a partition.
You can insert, query, update, and delete entities.
Access is via SDKs or REST API.

Full Transcript

This lesson shows how Azure Table Storage works step-by-step. First, you create a storage account and then a table named 'Customers'. You insert an entity with PartitionKey 'USA' and RowKey '001' and name 'Alice'. When you query this entity, you find it by these keys. You can update the entity's name to 'Alice Smith' and confirm the update by querying again. Finally, you delete the entity and see that querying it returns no result. PartitionKey and RowKey together uniquely identify each entity, enabling fast and scalable access. This simple flow helps beginners understand how to store and manage data in Azure Table Storage.