Line Charts in Dashboard not displaying data - requires save to display?

Matt Tancock

I've built numerous dashboards and have never encountered this error previously.

i have a formula:

=AVG(COLLECT({Material Requests (Draft) Range 10}, {Material Requests Range 1}, "1", {Material Requests Range 2}, "2024", {Material Requests (Draft) Range 3}, "Central"))

This results a figure (0.39) and when I go to chart that data into a dashboard and select that cell (among other cells) in a Line graph the chart is created and contains an X and Y axis but no data is displayed. The ONLY way I can get the data to display is by going to my summary sheet with all of the AVG and SUM values that feeds the dashboard and click "save". Once that's done if I bounce back to the Dashboard it shows my data in the chart.

WHYYYYYY? Please help :-(

Matt Tancock

Matt Tancock

Here's what it looks like after I hit "save" in my sheets that feed the dash. Which I need to do every hour or it will revert to the first state depicted above in my previous comment. What is going on here? lol

Michelle Choate 2

This is because you have to activate the "Source Sheet" in order for data to display. There is a work around - https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/74527/daily-update-solution-without-the-need-to-open-the-sheet-use-zapier-or-similar

Matt Tancock

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/459715#Comment_459715

I'm not sure what you mean by "activate your source sheet". I assume you are referring to when I go into each of the sheets that feed my dashboard and click "save".

I have implemented this workaround but the data is still not showing without clicking "Save"… Can you elaborate on how this should work please? Is it that this workaround throws a date into each sheet feeding my dashboard which will force a save in the background at the date/time is have specified ? is that the idea behind this? if so would/should I need to create multiple automations so that it updates multiple times per day ? Right now i just created one for 9am.

Michelle Choate 2

Yes that is correct.

The Record a Date action require the Smartsheet server to open the sheet, write a value into a cell and then save the sheet which triggers the forced save you are talking about with you have to open the sheet yourself.