DataMesh and Attachments

MWilkesen

Question for the Hive Mind,

I need advice on the best way to handle a project involving two separate sheets that contain different but overlapping information. Sheet A is for internal data tracking (my team), and Sheet B is for external data tracking (vendors). I want to avoid cluttering Sheet A with unnecessary data and keep fundamental information in Sheet B for external participants (Vendors) to update, such as checkboxes, responses to questions, and dropdowns.

Currently, I'm using DataMesh to map the necessary data from Sheet B to Sheet A while omitting elements like checkboxes not used in Sheet A. However, I'm facing an issue where if attachments are added to Sheet B, they do not transfer to Sheet A.

I would like to hear from others about the best practice solutions for this scenario.

Thanks in advance,

Michael

Kerry St. Thomas

Attachments exist in a different "place" than cell contents. Data in a cell belongs to a …cell (hence the name 😀 ) but an attachment belongs to a row. Data Mesh only focuses on the per-cell context, so it doesn't move attachments. The only way to move the attachment itself is with a Move/Copy row automation. (Of course this will then create an issue where your rows will be duplicated, kind of undermining the idea for Mesh.)

Is it a possibility for you to add a helper column to each sheet called something like "Category" that is ="Internal" on Sheet A, and ="Vendor" on Sheet B… and then create a report from both sheets , and group by those categories? Or what about creating a unified Sheet C that has your index from each sheet, and use Data Mesh from both sheets into it - using Sheets A & B as "raw data"?