Workflow/automation based on sheet summary fields.
One scenario - count of all cells, send a warning if the sheet is close to max.
(Do not want helper column as that increases the count.)
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I would like to see this. I have a scenario where a user wants to send reminders when a sheet entry (from a Form) has not been made for that day (reminder at noon). Since no row record exists, it's hard to do. But with a Sheet Summary formula for 'entries from today' we'd have either a value of 0 or greater than 0. Then an automation could be run based on noon each day, if the Summary Field is equal to 0, send e-mail.
I've got a plan for a workaround, but that's going to include creating another sheet (summary sheet), which at this time is not really needed for anything else.
Could not agree more. I would upvote a 100+ if I could. In general Sheet Summary fields are a powerful opportunity that is not being utilized. I know this idea is specific to automations, and I strongly upvote that.
But there are so many situations where I only need one data point (today, first/last day of month, most recent row modified date, etc.), but the default work around is a 'helper column'. I have so many helper columns in my template its becoming unwieldy... and I am sure its not helping the speed.
Example helper columns in my sheets where it is storing only ONE PIECE of data for the entire columns: Today helper, Project Director Helper, month 1 start day, month 1 end day (another 10 columns months 2-6 for financial projections), Contract Number Helper, Project Name Helper, Client Helper, Assigned Accounting Helper, Global last modified helper, and I think 5 or 6 more... its like 20+ helper columns, all running redundant formulas for one peice of data... I would gladly move this all to summary data... but its not very helpful there.
Can't do global updates to sheet summaries from control center
Can't run automations from sheet summaries
Can't use workflows from sheet summaries (without more helper columns)
I know its one idea per post... so I'll search the idea posts and see if these other use cases are covered as well.
Thanks!
We're setting up a training register and as there is no auto-cut-off option for a certain date with Forms (as yet) our work-around is to set up an automation. This will be based on when a certain number of submissions have been reached, that alert will be pinged to the person managing registrations, as a trigger to them to close off the form.
Instead of adding an additional column to the sheet for the count formula, it would be great if the automation could be triggered from the sheet summary fields (as these also contain formula calculations used for reports and dashboards) and would save additional work of additional columns, etc.
I know there's another post on auto-cut off of forms once a date is reached, but bonus if you can deliver that also!
@Genevieve P. - I got a notification that the status of this item changed, but I can't find that… is this on the roadmap?
Hi @Tim Starkey
Thanks for your report of this, and your patience! We fixed the issue with yellow status bars not appearing and you should see the status for this post above.
Smartsheet workflows cannot reference Summary Sheet fields as triggers or conditions. When attempting to use summary fields in a time-based workflow (e.g., via curly braces), the system returns an error stating that the fields do not exist on the sheet. This is because workflows only recognize column fields within the sheet, and inbound cell-links or cross-sheet formulas do not trigger workflow actions. This limitation prevents automation based on high-level summary data, which could be valuable for reporting and operational triggers.
Suggested Enhancement:
Enable workflows to recognize and utilize Summary Sheet fields as valid references for triggers and conditions. This would allow users to automate actions based on aggregated or calculated data, improving flexibility and reducing manual oversight.
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