WPS Parent Record on macOS: Introduction

Parent Record in WPS Office for Mac is a multidimensional table field that shows the related parent item inside a child record; this guide covers 4 core tasks, with 4 available without membership and 0 membership-related items.

At a Glance

Metric	Value	Notes
Core tasks	4	Matches the number of rows in the How-to Index
Available without membership	4	Matches the number of Free rows in the index
Membership-related items	0	Matches the number of membership-related rows in the index

About This Feature

Overview

Parent Record is a field type in WPS Office for Mac multidimensional tables. It helps you show the related parent record directly inside a child record so you can confirm hierarchy and context without switching between rows.

Core capabilities include:

Create a Parent Record field to display parent-child hierarchy information in a table.
View the related parent content directly from a child record row.
Keep unselected child records after deleting a parent record, with those child records promoted to the same level.
Use the feature within permission-based visibility rules, with basic viewing and child-record actions also available on mobile.

System Requirements

Item	Requirement
Operating system	A Mac device that can run WPS Office normally
App version	It is recommended to use the latest version of WPS Office for Mac
Network	No mandatory network connection is required for local viewing; keep a network connection for collaboration and sync scenarios
Other	You need access to a multidimensional table and the required view or edit permission for that table

Download & Installation

Item	Details
Official download	WPS Office Free Download
Installation	Download WPS Office for Mac, complete installation, and sign in to your account
Post-install check	Open a multidimensional table and confirm that the Parent Record field type is available in the field list

Source: WPS download page

Compare with Alternatives

Dimension	WPS	Microsoft	Google	Notion	Adobe
Capability Summary	WPS multidimensional tables provide a Parent Record field that shows the related parent record inside a child record and works with parent-child hierarchy display.	Microsoft Lists does not provide a built-in sub-item field in the cited official answer, and Microsoft support documents grouping as a display workaround in list views.	Google Sheets supports row or column groups that can be expanded, collapsed, and nested by depth, but this is not a record-level parent field shown inside child records.	Notion databases support sub-items that can be shown in nested or flattened views across multiple database views.	Adobe Acrobat focuses on PDF table structure and accessibility tagging rather than a database-style parent record field.
WPS Advantages	Advantage: WPS shows parent information at the field level inside the same multidimensional table, which is convenient when you need to identify the parent of each child row quickly.	Compared with WPS: hierarchy display is mainly handled through grouped views or other workarounds instead of a dedicated parent-record field.	Compared with WPS: grouping organizes rows and columns visually, but it does not directly display a parent record value inside a child record field.	Compared with WPS: sub-items support nested task structures, but deleting an item with sub-items also deletes those sub-items.	Compared with WPS: Acrobat is designed for PDF workflows and table tagging, not record hierarchy management in a collaborative table.
Official Source	—	MS Lists Sub Items Use grouping to modify a list or library view	Class Group	Sub-items & dependencies	Complex tables

Overall Conclusion: If you need to see parent information directly inside child records in the same table, WPS provides a more direct field-based workflow. Notion is better aligned with task sub-items, Google Sheets is better suited to row and column grouping, and Adobe Acrobat is mainly for PDF table handling.

Use Cases

No.	Scenario	Suitable for	Main challenge	How Parent Record helps
1	Project task breakdown	Project managers and contributors	Child tasks are hard to map back to the main task quickly	Show the related parent task directly in each child record
2	Customer follow-up hierarchy	Sales and operations teams	Follow-up records are scattered and hard to trace back to the main customer item	Add a Parent Record field so each child record shows its related customer record
3	Requirement and sub-item tracking	Product and engineering teams	Sub-items can lose context during review	Display the parent requirement directly in the table
4	Mobile hierarchy review	Mobile and field users	Hierarchy details are harder to review on smaller screens	Use mobile for basic viewing, child-record creation, and simple hierarchy handling

Membership & Benefits

Free vs WPS Premium

Capability	Free users	WPS Premium
Writer, Spreadsheet, and Presentation core features	✅ Available	✅ Available
Basic PDF features and PDF reading	✅ Available	✅ Available
Advanced PDF editing and more conversion tools	Limited	✅ Available
Cloud storage	1 GB	20 GB or more depending on plan
AI tools	Limited access	✅ Available with plan-based limits

Source: WPS Office pricing page; Why do I need to pay for WPS Office?

Recommendations

Use case	Recommended plan	Why
You mainly need Parent Record in multidimensional tables	Free plan	The feature description shows no membership restriction for this workflow
You also need advanced PDF tools, more cloud storage, or more AI access	WPS Premium	A better fit for broader document, PDF, and storage needs

Visit Subscribe to WPS Premium to review available plans.
Choose the plan that fits your workflow and complete the purchase on the page.

Source: WPS Office pricing page