Record a date of last attached file

Meredith Rhodes

Hi all,

I have a main sheet that gets updated every time we manually attach a new file to it. I have a number of reports and dashboards that automatically update upon this manual attachment.

I would like to record the date upon which the main sheet was updated specifically via attachment of this file (we update the sheet in other ways - so the last modified date isn't the answer here). I'd like to ensure this date is recorded as a metric on relevant dashboards so people know how up to date the data is.

Ideally - I'd like to add this field to the sheet summary. Is there a way to do this?

Thank you!

Meredith

Matt Lynn-PCG

@Meredith Rhodes , I would add a new column such as "Attachment Modified" date column. Then put this automation in the sheet, and select the "Record a date in:" as the new column. Of course then you could add a field in your sheet summary that looked for the date or the max date in that new column and put that on your dashboard.

Matt Lynn-PCG

@Meredith Rhodes , I would add a new column such as "Attachment Modified" date column. Then put this automation in the sheet, and select the "Record a date in:" as the new column. Of course then you could add a field in your sheet summary that looked for the date or the max date in that new column and put that on your dashboard.

Meredith Rhodes

OH - thank you, @Matt Lynn-PCG - I needed this insight.

Meredith Rhodes

@Matt Lynn-PCG - I'm coming back to this issue as it seems the workflow proposed above only works when a row gets an attachment. Any ideas on how to get this to work if I make an attachment to the sheet?

I essentially want to read the date listed by the sheet attachment. When we attach a file to the sheet - it updates a number of metrics and I have a dashboard for those metrics - where I want to list the date the data was last updated.

Matt Lynn-PCG

@Meredith Rhodes So you're correct I didn't understand that was your original goal. One idea is to have a separate document sheet where you upload and store documents on different rows and add the record date automation to those rows… then use those dates (either from specific rows or the latest) on your original sheet. Not sure that full addresses your wish but a starting point/idea.

enterprise.apps31446

We actually ran into the same/similar scenario today. We're using Sheet attachment for Data Shuttle to refresh/replace data in our Sheet. This may help you.

We are currently working on a workaround that may help in your scenario.

Our Metric/Sheet Summary column "Data Refresh Date" is already embedded and referenced on multiple sheets and Dashboards.

These are Sheet Summary fields:

"Data Refresh Date - MIN": =MIN(Modified:Modified)
"Data Refresh Date - MAX": =MAX(Modified:Modified)
"Data Refresh Dates - Different": =IF([Data Refresh Date - MAX]# = [Data Refresh Date - MIN]#, "SAME", "DIFFERENT")
- Unfortunately you can't use a calculation on a checkbox in the Sheet Summary
"Data Refresh Date": =IF([Data Refresh Date - MAX]# <> [Data Refresh Date - MIN]#, MIN([Data Refresh Date - MAX]#, [Data Refresh Date - MIN]#), "")

The thought is this would allow us to flag when the dates are different on Sheets were using the reference but on the Dashboards it will simply display the MIN which is when Data Shuttle was triggered to replace the data.