Have You Developed a Quick Way to Find Columns Referenced in Automations?

I have a need to quickly go to an automation and modify it based upon some incorrect event happening in the sheet. My thought was to create a matrix, in a separate sheet, with automation names vertically in a column and then the column names horizontally in row 1 with an "X" in any column where that column name appears in an automation. This would help me quickly identify the 5 of 120 automations that might be contributing to the issue being seen by the users.

Other than exporting to Excel or doing a Save As of my existing Smartsheet and then redefining the Primary column as the name of each automation and manually opening each automation to populate the matrix, has anyone done something similar using the features and capabilities in Smartsheet to create a matrix of column names listed in each automation?

Fair to say, trying to debug automations when you have to open each one up and diagnose whether it is causing you an issue is very time-consuming and inefficient. Wouldn't it be nice to have a search feature in automations?

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Accepted answers

David Jasven

I have but it's not quick... Smartsheet currently does not offer a direct feature to automatically map automations to the columns they affect in a matrix format. This functionality, which would indeed streamline the process of identifying and troubleshooting automation-related issues, requires a workaround for implementation.

Here are refined suggestions for addressing your need:

Utilization of the Smartsheet API: The Smartsheet API provides a comprehensive means to programmatically access automation (Workflow) configurations within your sheets. By leveraging the API, one can extract detailed information about each automation, including the specific columns they interact with. This method necessitates developing a script or application that queries the API for automation details and subsequently populates a Smartsheet matrix with this information. While this requires an initial investment in scripting and API interaction, it offers a scalable and dynamic solution for automation tracking.
Reporting for Indirect Insights: Although not directly designed for automation tracking, Smartsheet’s reporting feature can offer insights into how columns are utilized across your sheets. This method won’t specifically map automations to columns but can assist in understanding column usage patterns, potentially aiding in the troubleshooting process.
Manual Matrix Creation: In the absence of a built-in feature or the capability to leverage the API, manually creating a matrix within Smartsheet remains a viable strategy. This involves setting up a separate sheet to list each automation alongside the columns they affect, marked accordingly. Enhancing this manual process with dropdown lists for consistent column naming and utilizing cell linking for direct references can marginally improve efficiency and accuracy.

In summary, while Smartsheet does not natively support the direct creation of an automation-to-column matrix, strategic use of the API for a customized solution, or a diligent manual approach, can effectively serve the intended purpose. Opting for the API route requires a higher initial setup but promises a more automated and flexible system for ongoing automation management.

All comments

David Jasven

Here are refined suggestions for addressing your need:

Utilization of the Smartsheet API: The Smartsheet API provides a comprehensive means to programmatically access automation (Workflow) configurations within your sheets. By leveraging the API, one can extract detailed information about each automation, including the specific columns they interact with. This method necessitates developing a script or application that queries the API for automation details and subsequently populates a Smartsheet matrix with this information. While this requires an initial investment in scripting and API interaction, it offers a scalable and dynamic solution for automation tracking.
Reporting for Indirect Insights: Although not directly designed for automation tracking, Smartsheet’s reporting feature can offer insights into how columns are utilized across your sheets. This method won’t specifically map automations to columns but can assist in understanding column usage patterns, potentially aiding in the troubleshooting process.
Manual Matrix Creation: In the absence of a built-in feature or the capability to leverage the API, manually creating a matrix within Smartsheet remains a viable strategy. This involves setting up a separate sheet to list each automation alongside the columns they affect, marked accordingly. Enhancing this manual process with dropdown lists for consistent column naming and utilizing cell linking for direct references can marginally improve efficiency and accuracy.

GMichal

Thank you for your insight. While the API approach sounds inviting, our entire reason for using Smartsheet is to work around the huge backlog in IT solutions. I might need to stay with the manual approach in the short-term unless another idea which is easier for me to implement becomes apparent.

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