Data Shuttle Workflow Source Filename Changes Unexpectedly

Luke L

Hi all,

I've created a data shuttle workflow that is about 98% of the way complete. I have data from an excel worksheet called 'EE Eval' I load to Google Drive and have the workflow set to take that file specifically and transfer its contents every Monday to my smartsheet called 'Employee Eval Tracking'.

In testing, I upload the first version of EE Eval and see that the workflow transfers the data without issue. Then I rename that file appending it with a date so it now becomes 'EE Eval 01012024' for example. I add a new EE Eval file to the folder and manually run the workflow again and see no changes in my smartsheet because the workflow renamed the source file from 'EE Eval' to 'EE Eval 01012024' and so therefore there is nothing new to add based on the unique ID field I specified in the workflow.

If I remove the 'EE Eval 01012024' file to another folder and leave the new 'EE Eval' file in the uploads folder, reset the workflow to look for 'EE Eval', everything runs fine again.

If I delete EE Eval from uploads folder first, then add a new EE Eval file, nothing happens. I have to edit the workflow and pick the new file again as the source and then the workflow will work again. I thought the whole idea of specifying a source file was so that every time you run the workflow you just need to put a new version of the file in the watched space.

Has anyone else experienced the same thing? Should I not be specifying a specific file, but the folder to watch instead? It didn't seem like I could do that in the workflow setup.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Luke

Michelle Choate 2

It looks at a static source file. So when you change the name of your source, it does not matter. It will always look at that source no matter what. Same thing with a sheet - that sheet has an underlying ID number and that is what it is always going for.

If you are looking to have separate documents every time, I would then suggest using a form to drop them into an inbetween sheet, then a data shuttle that looks at those individual files every time they are dropped into the sheet and moves the data into your Employee Eval Tracking.

Michelle Choate 2

It looks at a static source file. So when you change the name of your source, it does not matter. It will always look at that source no matter what. Same thing with a sheet - that sheet has an underlying ID number and that is what it is always going for.

If you are looking to have separate documents every time, I would then suggest using a form to drop them into an inbetween sheet, then a data shuttle that looks at those individual files every time they are dropped into the sheet and moves the data into your Employee Eval Tracking.

Luke L

Hi Michelle,

Thanks for the quick response! I would agree with your assessment. I hadn't thought of that before. Seems like I'll have to change my processes then.

Thanks and have a great weekend.

Michelle Choate 2

My pleasure!