Auto populate a form offline with multiple layers

Dave Brophy

Hello,

I run a cookstove project in Africa. We need our field staff to inspect the stoves regularly. Each staff member has their villages to manage. And each of their villages have approx 200 houses.

When checking the stoves, we need the user to select their village on the Smartsheet form. It is easy enough for each user to have their own unique URL query string.

But then, when the user selects the village they're inspecting, we need some basic details to auto-populate in blank fields on the form, such as date of last inspection.

How do we get this additional layer of data to auto-populate?

And as we're usually out of network coverage, is it possible at all?

Many thanks to anyone who can assist.

Rgds,

Dave

kowal

hi @Dave Brophy,

here is a sample Youtube video how this works:

as Smartsheed does not work offline (unless you mean to download it as excel) it will always work in realtime.

kowal

hi @Dave Brophy,

You would need to create extra sheet that keeps data for auto-population like the in source column you would have Name of Village Name, Inhabitants, Name of Leader etc. once you are in the sheet to which the form is connected you need to create there index/match formula (you can search the guide on youtube for this formula in Smartsheet) so if someone fills the in main column the Village Name the number of habitates etc. will be automatically filled from another sheet.

Hope this helps.

Dave Brophy

Hi @kowal

Thanks for your quick response.

So I would have the primary database of households as the "extra sheet". With the INDEX/MATCH formula, the stove reference, when input into the inspection form, would then draw that data from the extra sheet and autopopulate in real time on the form. I'll check it out.

Would this work offline though?

Thanks again, Tomasz.

Cheers,

Dave

kowal

hi @Dave Brophy,

here is a sample Youtube video how this works:

as Smartsheed does not work offline (unless you mean to download it as excel) it will always work in realtime.

Dave Brophy

Many thanks.

Great help.👍️