Workflow Not Triggering

adambec

I created a workflow in a sheet to update column "A" (which is a dropdown) when column "B" data changes to meet specific criteria. Column "B" has a column formula that references another sheet. The formula in column "B" works perfectly, but the workflow to update column "A" does not trigger and therefore does not update column "A". I manually ran the workflow against the rows where column "B" criteria was met, and the workflow worked as intended. However, it does not trigger automatically when column "B" changes. Any ideas or solutions on how to resolve this issue?

I read other posts where this is a known issue (in which a workflow does not trigger against a cell/column that references another sheet), but I am seeking a workaround that does not involve defaulting to simply running the workflow on a Daily occurrence. I need the workflow to run in real time to keep up with a fast changing environment. Smartsheet markets this as one of the benefits of the software but its useless if it doesn't work properly. Please help!

Lucas Rayala

Hi @adambec, you pretty much summarized the issue -- Smartsheets doesn't allow formulas to trigger automations to keep infinite loops from occurring. There are other add-on licenses you can use to get around this, such as DataMesh. If you have this license I can tell you a few tricks to get that workflow to automate. There is also the (not amazing) option of creating multiple instances of your workflow and having them trigger on different hours of the workday.

You can consider fully automating the pulldown using a column formula, but if you do that, you won't be able to use the actual pulldown--it will always be triggered by the formula.

adambec

@Lucas Rayala

Thank you for the response. This confirms what I have read elsewhere regarding using formulas to trigger workflows. This is very unfortunate and I dont believe my employer is willing to purchase another add-on right now.

I do need to retain the drop-down functionality, so fully automating that column isn't an option. I thought of that as well but just wont work in this instance.

Could you elaborate on the "not amazing" option... I'm willing to consider anything at this point without incurring additional costs to the company.

Thanks!

Lucas Rayala

Hi @adambec. You can create an automation to trigger at a certain time, using a formula as a condition (which you know). My "not great option" is that you simply create 24 copies of this automation and have one trigger every hour. It's not instantaneous, but every hour the pulldown would update.