Date and Timestamp Action in an Automation Workflow

Kleerfyre

There needs to be an option when setting up a workflow that when the triggers that we have set up happens, that we can have the workflow record not only a date of when it trigger, but also the time at which it triggered. The time at which things have happened inside of Smartsheet is captured everywhere already (Logs, Cell History, Created System Column), so it should be an easy thing to just add the timestamp to the record a date option in the actions for the workflows. That way, we won't have to use an overly complicated workaround create helper sheets and columns to accomplish this.

Adrian Mandile CHESS

It would be great if in the Automation Actions section, we could Record a Date AND Time. this could be achieved with an option under the existing 'Record a Date' action or in a separate action. In this way we could properly timestamp certain changes, such as item approval or closure. This is especially useful for Service Level Agreements that require requests to be actioned within a pre-set number of hours, not just a full day. I have seen so many 'solutions' in the Community that suggest to copy rows just to get the time using Created/Modified - this new feature would solve this easily.

Pam Ahles

Ability to utilize the creation date column within workflows which includes the time to add a level of granularity down to the minute if needed.

AmandaWebb

We need the ability to log timestamps.

My personal use case is to determine the handle time on tasks that my team receives via Smartsheet. I want a timestamp when the task is started (preferably this would be a workflow I could create; when "status" changes to In Progress, log the timestamp in column X), and then another timestamp when the task is marked Complete. Then we can log the handle time it took.

This is a really basic piece of information that we're shocked Smartsheet still doesn't have functionality for. If you look on the forums, there is a lot of discussion about this topic, and some really ingenious, although ridiculously complex, formulas and suggestions to work around this limitation. None of that should be necessary.

Kleerfyre

@Adrian @ Chess I so agree with you! We need this feature asap.

Jean H.

I'd like to be able to create a checkbox "Start" column where when I check, the current time is automatically entered into a different column. This combined with a similar "Stop" column would allow me to calculate the difference between Start/Stop and easily gather statistics for the average time specific tasks take to complete.

JennS_

This is a feature I could use right now. Does anyone know if there is a time stamp for when a form is STARTED & COMPLETED? Currently it looks like it just adds a time stamp when the entire row is added to the sheet or the form is submitted.

Jean H.

@JennS_ , when I called the representative at Smartsheet said that the time stamp currently available is only for when a ROW is created or modified. Apparently adding to the community and upvoting is how changes may be incorporated in the future. It seems like a simple (easy for me to say) request and it would be oh so helpful.

Andrée Starå

Hi @Jean H. @JennS_

I hope you're well and safe!

Here's a possible workaround or workarounds

Please have a look at my post below with a method I developed.

More info: 

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/68589/lock-or-store-date-value-solution-without-using-zapier

Would that work/help?

I hope that helps!

Be safe, and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

✅Did my post(s) help or answer your question or solve your problem? Please support the Community by marking it Insightful/Vote Up, Awesome, or/and as the accepted answer. It will make it easier for others to find a solution or help to answer!

Jean H.

Andrée, thank you. I had seen your other posts. I'd prefer if this was a simple function within Smartsheet without involving additional software.

jl.furstenberg

It would be incredibly helpful if there could be some sort of timestamp option. Thinking about the created or modified column types (add time) or an automation option. There are instances where we need to know the time something was approved in an update or approval workflow.

Erin Hauser

I have looked through a lot of the date/time threads and I'm looking for the same thing: I'd like to use the modified timestamp to calculate duration. (Thanks @Paul Newcome for the summary of date/time calculations, have you had any luck on the time portion of timestamps rather than a time input?)

I have 2 checkboxes: 1 Check In and 1 Check Out. When the person checks in, it timestamps the modified date/time and then copies the row to another sheet. When the person checks out, it updates the timestamp and then copies the row to the other sheet but now both checkboxes are checked. So I have a start and an end time.

I have tried using RIGHT, LEFT, etc. and it tells me the position it is in the timestamp, but it won't give me the actual value. It gives the same result if it has VALUE, or INT, and it still just gives the position.

To get the 12:12 results, I have this formula:

=VALUE(RIGHT(FIND(":", [Check In/Out Timestamp]@row, 1), 2)) + ":" + VALUE(LEFT(FIND(":", [Check In/Out Timestamp]@row, 1), 2))

The other formula in there is giving me #Invalid Value

I feel like we are close to finding a work around. And yes, while it would be nice if this was something that gets incorporated soon, a lot of us need work arounds today. 😊

Brain Trust Unite! 🤓

Paul Newcome

@Erin Hauser To strip the timestamp out of a date/timestamp cell, you would use

=RIGHT([Column Name]@row, LEN([Column Name]@row) - FIND(" ", [Column Name]@row))

Erin Hauser

@Paul Newcome thank you!!! I did find a calculation on pg 5 of the other post that helped. But now I ran into something else, which I knew could be an issue...and it is.

Using the modified timestamp, when I put the formula in, it automatically updates the row, thus changing the modified date/timestamp. Ugh!

So now I'm thinking I need the formula on the main sheet to INDEX/COLLECT the timestamp, but it only brings in the date and not the time. So I'm back at square 1.

The whole problem I'm trying to solve is that I need drivers to be able to check in and out of locations by using a checkbox and then calculate their time spent at site and driving to the next site. They have a list of locations (rows assigned to them).

The easy way would be if they typed in the time they arrive/depart. But we like to be fancy and try to automate as much as possible. And I don't like to admit defeat, so any ideas are welcomed!

Paul Newcome

Try your INDEX/COLLECT but "add" two quotes to the end to turn it into a text string (and put it in a text/number column).

=INDEX(COLLECT(.........), 1) + ""

plus quote quote

MennoStassen

Record the time an event occurred without needing to manually look at cell history. Need to be able to calculate the delta between when action A and Action B were so would like the option in automation to not just record a date but also the time.