Auto Save / Invalid Operations Error.

Hi All,

I have been searching community forum to this unsaved issue that I am having with my PMO but no luck so far and appreciate if someone could help me with this.

According to what I have observed, the tasks sheet is not getting saved due to which some of the columns on Portfolio / Project Tracking Dashboard (Schedule at Risk, Overdue tasks, start date) are throwing error #INVALID OPERATION.

This error disappear if I go to the task sheet and manually save and go back to dashboards and refresh them, both dashboard started showing correct info. However it happens again after some time in a day or two.

I thought users forgot to save sheet when they do change their task status. To resolve this, account settings for all the users have been updated to auto-save after one minute of inactivity, so that the sheet is saved and error is gone.

However, I am still having same error #INVALID OPERATION in some of the projects on both dashboards. To fix I have to open task sheet and manually save again and again.

Here's the screenshot from Portfolio dashboard as you can see Schedule At Risk, Overdue tasks, Start Date is showing #Invalid Operation.

Same thing happens at project tracking dashboard. See below screenshot.

Below is the screen shot of tasks sheet and as you can see there's no other error except this sheet is not saved. So If I just save this sheet now and then refresh portfolio / project tracking dashboard both will show correct info.

Start Date is [date column] not restricted to date and has formula [(WORKDAY([Due Date]@row, -Duration@row)]Due Date is [date column] not restricted to date and has formula [WORKDAY([Due Date]$41, -[Days before OCD]@row - [Holiday Adj]@row)].

Appreciate if someone throw some light where / what to look for or what seems to be an issue.

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Accepted answers

All comments

EvanShortreed

Good Evening,

I am happy to hop on a call to review these errors with you this week if you're available to fix this issue. Looking forward to your response and assisting.

Saj

Hi Evan, How do I contact you!

Saj

Hi All,

I still haven't found any solution to my issue. Would be grateful if someone can assist.

Thanks in advance, 😊

Isaac A.

Hi @Saj!

The #INVALID OPERATION error typically indicates that while the formula syntax itself isn't necessarily wrong, you may be using incorrect data types for certain functions. In other words, operators in a formula might not be supported in Smartsheet or could be mistyped. Check this article for more info on error messages in formulas: Formula Error Messages.

If the issue persists, I recommend contacting Smartsheet Support for assistance through a private channel. You can reach them here: Smartsheet Support. Be sure to include as many details as possible, such as affected sheets, affected dashboards, and the specific formulas throwing error messages.

I hope this information helps!

Cheers,

Isaac.

Saj

Hi Isaac,

Appreciate your response. I've checked formulas again and am unable to see any syntax error. Am using these 2 formulas in my sheet on the date columns where am getting this error.

Start Date is [date column] not restricted to date and has formula [(WORKDAY([Due Date]@row, -Duration@row)]

Due Date is [date column] not restricted to date and has formula [WORKDAY([Due Date]$41, -[Days before OCD]@row - [Holiday Adj]@row)]

Thanks,

Sharon YI

Hello Saj,

I have been experiencing the same issue. I don't think there is any syntax error in my column formula. The values in my column become "#INVALID OPERATION" on a daily basis. I have to go the the sheet, wait a few seconds/minutes for the values to update themselves, and then manually save the sheet…

This is really a pain.

May I ask if you have found a solution to this problmen?

Thanks!

Saj

Hi Sharon,

My issue was resolved, and everything is now working as expected.

To fix the problem, I replaced the TODAY() function in all relevant formulas with a reference to a new column titled [ Schedule daily sheet save ].

Steps Taken:

Added Column:
Name: [ Schedule daily sheet save ]
Created Automation:
Name: Schedule-daily-sheet-save
Trigger: When a date is reached – every day starting on [set date/time]
Condition: Where Schedule daily sheet save is in the past
Action: Record a date in Schedule daily sheet save

Formula Update Example:
Old: =IF(AND([% Complete]@row < 1, [Due Date]@row < TODAY()), 1)
New: =IF(AND([% Complete]@row < 1, [Due Date]@row < [Schedule daily sheet save]@row ), 1)

Let me know if this works.

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