Workflow - SAME SHEET copy a cell to another column

A workflow enhancement that is similar to the Change Cell Value. However, instead of changing a cell, copy it to another cell.

Use case: I have a formula that calculates a date. However, I want to keep the initial value of the date and therefore, don't want to reference the date formula because it will change. A workflow enhancement that would allow me to copy the date to another static column when its first calculated would go a long way. The way I do it now is complicated.

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Workflows in Smartsheet

Comments

MennoStassen

Action as final step in automation to copy value from 1 cell to another then allow the final cell to be locked.

(to record what a particular cell's value was at the time of another action)

Cleversheet

Here’s a clunky workaround for you:

Set up a workflow to copy that row from Sheet A to a helper Sheet B.
Use a cross-sheet formula in Sheet A to pull back into a [show-me-the-history] column the target cell value that’s now frozen into Sheet B.

cabbsman

@Cleversheet Thank you for your workaround. This is exactly how I mitigated the issue. I even found a much easier way and that is using Bridge. However, not everyone has access to Bridge so your recommendation is well received.

Thanks again!

DQ Aaron

In this example, it would be nice if there was a way to copy the "Follow Up Deficiencies" dropdown values into the "Extension Deficiencies" cell if the "RDO Recommends" value is input as the specific value "Extension". The copied values in the "Extension Deficiencies" cell are then completely separate from the "Follow Up Deficiencies" and can be removed individually (they do not change at all if "Follow Up Deficiencies" has any values added or removed).

Brian_Richardson

Why not on roadmap - clearly a heavily voted item that would be game changer. There's plenty of workflows where snapshotting a cell is invaluable. The workaround right now is to copy the entire row over to another sheet and read it back, what a PITA silly way to approach it.

Action: Change cell value. Options: fixed text value or value from another cell on the row.

(Andree - that PITA comment isn't aimed at you btw… glad to see you're offering folks an option in the thread)

clevercreatrix

+1 for this. I am currently using a behemoth of a Smartsheet as a project plan where most of the columns are for Project Management use only. To make it easy for business partners to jump in and out of the project, I created curated task lists using reports that only shows the information they need like the task name, status, and start/end date. The problem is that anything with a formula is not editable, like start/end date. We are a global team and I want to empower my partners to update information in real time. The only way I can make that happen is with an alternative Start and End Date. If I do that, there will be a constant manual copy/paste from Start Date to Alternative Start Date when ever a predecessor task moves. I would like to automate it so that whenever the Start Date Changes the Alternative Start Date synchronizes using automation not formulas.

cabbsman

@clevercreatrix this is a great use case. thanks. An idea to get you through until they make this change is to use Smartsheet's Bridge app. It does exactly what you want to do. If your company has purchased a license for the app, I strongly recommend taking a look at it. The reason why I asked for this change in the beginning is that not everyone has access to Bridge. Making it an automated workflow is more intuitive as well.

PSExcellence

One of the functionalities of the "project plan" template provided by smartsheet is to copy/paste your Start Date and End Date columns over into a Target Start Date and Target End Date column. On a huge project plan with a lot of hierarchies like my company uses, it's infuriating to have to expand everything that's been nicely collapsed in order to copy/paste all the dates over, and then spend a bunch of time re-collapsing it to how you had it. Being able to have an automation to copy values in one column over to another would fix this painpoint.

JonB

+1 - We need this!

AOO

I want to record the previous value in another cell before replacing it with a new value each time a workflow triggers.

Use Case: When a workflow impacts cell 'A', I want to copy the current content of cell 'A' to a static cell 'B' before updating cell 'A'. For example, if cell 'A' contains 20, once the workflow is triggered, 20 is automatically copied to cell 'B', and the new data (e.g., 50) replaces 20 in cell 'A'. This process should continue each time the workflow is activated.

Crisdamer

I'm currently using SS to create a monthly tasks tracker. Each month the automation will copy last months data out into a separate sheet and then reset the original sheet with the next months dates.

I have a helper column tracking the next months due date of the task however there is not currently a way to copy that date into a different cell

Karen Webber

Adding my vote for this enhancement. In the approval process of one of my ops sheets, sometimes the budget holder and line manager are the same person (instances are captured by a tick box option), in which case approval automatically gets carried over to both fields instead of sending it off to one person twice. I've managed to work the approval part out with automation (with some tedious workarounds and using update cell options), but because I'm trying to eliminate duplicate capturing, the LM or BH's name now sometimes isn't captured manually, which messes up my approval pdf document. I need an option to push through the name along with the status.

Long story short (too late!) - the cell copy option is so necessary.

Josh S

A workflow to copy the data from one cell into another within the same sheet, or being able to dynamically update the contents of a "Change cell value" action, would be immensely useful.

I understand that in some instanced this could be achieved with a Formula (=[Cell A]@row), this does not account for instances where Cell A changes, but we don't want the value in Cell B to change.

"Change cell value" should operate in the same way the "Alert someone" workflow does in allowing you to change the message based on existing cell values with double brackets {{Cell A}}

See attached image for an example.

USE CASE:
We want to record the original value of a Quote to the finalized value of a Quote, to compare the increase / decrease between initial Quote Request and final Quote Approval.

We can look back in the cell history to see the value, but this isn't practical when you want to look at large trends (e.g. What is the overall average difference between Original Quote Value and Final Quote Value).

Currently, this isn't possible without using additional sheets to 'archive' the original data.

IDEAL SOLUTION:
Update "Change cell value" workflow to be able to dynamically change the output based on existing cell values (as is currently possible in the "Alert someone" workflow)

MariaCurtis

+1 - Need this ASAP!

Chris_C

This would be a HUGE win for many of my projects— in one of our biggest cases we have an approval workflow where someone suggests a change for a title or abstract. If the change is approved, I want to copy the requested change over to the main title cell and if it isn't, I want the original title to remain as-is. I don't want the hassle of copying entire rows full of unrelated data back and forth and I don't want to use formulas or index matches

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