Can Data Shuttle avoid overwriting existing cells that meet a current criteria in Smartsheet?

Val Correa

I am uploading a status from another system. The other system may contain information not yet available in Smartsheet, but Smartsheet remains the most current version.

If an item is marked as "Complete" in Smartsheet, I'd like it to remain "Complete" and not be overwritten by the Data Shuttle.

I see there are filters for the input data, but are there filters available based on existing data in Smartsheet? If something is already marked as "Complete" in Smartsheet and "In Progress" in my data shuttle, is it possible to avoid overwriting the Smartsheet cell for that row because it is already marked as "Complete"?

Yvonne Smythe

Hi @Val Correa - I’ve done it before. I suggest creating a copy and using the instructions in the link provided to create filters and test on the copy first. 🙂

See step 4:

https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/2482376-create-data-shuttle-upload-workflow

Hope this helps.

Yvonne Smythe 🫡

Val Correa

@YveNigma Thanks for the input!
I read through the instructions but the filters still seem to only apply to the source data, not the target data.

If a project is marked as "In Progress" in the source data, I would like to bring that in, but only if the target Smartsheet does not already show the project at "Complete". I want to place a filter on the target Smartsheet to overlook any projects already marked as "Complete" and only bring in information from the source data where the project isn't marked as "Complete" in Smartsheet.

The filter instructions on the page you shared are only for filtering out the source data before overwriting the Smartsheet data.

Did I misunderstand?

Yvonne Smythe

I set my filters on the producer and not consumer to not import duplicates already completed by looking at a unique identifier and bypassing importing those rows. @Val Correa

Val Correa

@YveNigma, I just tested it with a simple logic to exclude projects already marked as "Complete". Unfortunately, it worked as I had expected where it filters out the Complete projects in the source file. The data shuttle not only overwrote the status on a project that was already marked "Complete", it also did not update the status of a "Complete" project in the source to the target sheet.

If you have screenshots of where I can set the filters on the target sheet, that would greatly help.

Thanks

Yvonne Smythe

@Val Correa - I do not have the access on my personal account just the basics. Here is the video in Smartsheet U that helped get me started. The workflow section helped me merge my producer data with already existing data in the consumer instead of overwriting it.

Location Link: Smartsheet University > Course: Data Shuttle

Val Correa

I must not be explaining it correctly because the video states the same thing - you filter based on the source sheet, not the target sheet. You can either overwrite ALL data, or add or delete rows from the target sheet if they do not match the source sheet. Any filtering is done on the source sheet before merging data with the target sheet. You can't bring in all data from the source sheet, filter the target sheet, and only apply the source sheet updates to the filtered target sheet. The video nor any help documents explain how to filter based on the target sheet. It unfortunately doesn't seem to be available in Smartsheet at this time.

Yvonne Smythe

@Val Correa I saw your update earlier and wanted to suggest moving the status column outside your Data Shuttle feed producer range.

Or;

You could also try adding an automated workflow to copy or move your selected filtered/already statused rows to a new sheet.

Then you can work on a formula to pull from your status copy sheet.