Automation triggered when rows are changed is happening on initial input

I have several automations set up to alert users when row data is changed. These used to work fine, but now they are triggering on initial input of the form. So now I get two emails each time rows are added, once for the new row automation, and again for the rows changed automation. Could this have anything to do with security IT settings on our end, and if so, is there a way to get around this? I tried adding a "modified date" column and helper column to set to true if the modified date was different than the created date. But the formula for the flag changed the modified date to the current date for all rows. Any ideas?

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MedaUser

Hi @linda.hathaway,

Is your trigger in the automation set correctly? You should have it set to the boxed in option in the screenshot below.

linda.hathaway

Yes, I have the two automations, one triggered when rows are added, and the other when rows are changed. But I get notifications for both when rows are added. This happens on several different sheets.

anil ayhan

I have exactly the same problem, it would be great to find a solution for this.

TVang

Hi, @linda.hathaway.

As your automated workflows are currently set up, Smartsheet will send 1 email when the row is newly created, and potentially multiple emails for the row each time that either Plan of Action or Issues is modified. For example:
• At 8:30 AM, a row is created. An email is sent because this is a new row.
• At 10:00 AM, someone modifies the value in Plan of Action. Another email is sent.
• At 12:00 PM, someone modifies the value in Issues. Another email is sent.
• At 4:00 PM, someone changes the value in Issues to BLANK. Another email is sent.
...and so forth.

For a daily alert, I recommend configuring the automated workflow to run once a day. To limit how often the email should be sent for any particular row, configure conditions to determine whether or not to include the row. Using helper columns accounts for multiple changes to a triggering cell, which can happen mistakenly.

For the "Send Daily Report as Alert" workflow...
• Create a helper Text/Number column like NEW ROW.
• Schedule your workflow to run "Every day starting on..." and select a time.
• Set the workflow condition to "when NEW ROW is blank".
• Configure the Alert message.
• Add a "Change cell value" and configure it to change NEW ROW to anything (e.g., "0" meaning FALSE).

How this works...
• When a new row is added, the value NEW ROW will be blank.
• At the end of the work day, Smartsheet will send 1 email containing all of the rows created on that day.
• The workflow then changes the value in NEW ROW for those rows to "0" so that they will be excluded going forward.

For the "Send Daily Report Update as Alert" workflow...
• Create a helper Text/Number column like UPDATE ALERT.
• Change the action of "Send Daily Report Update as Alert" to "Change a cell value" and configure it to change UPDATE ALERT to "1" (meaning TRUE).
• Create a new automated workflow like "Send Daily Update Alert".
• Schedule this workflow to run everyday.
• Set the condition to "when UPDATE ALERT is equal to 1".
• Configure the Alert message.
• Add a "Change cell value" and configure it to change UPDATE ALERT to "0".

How this works...
• For new rows, UPDATE ALERT is blank until a user changes Plan of Action or Issues.
• When Plan of Action or Issues is modified, "Send Daily Report Update as Alert" will change the value in UPDATE ALERT to "1".
• At the end of the work day, "Send Daily Update Alert" will send 1 email containing all of the rows for which Plan of Action or Issues was modified.
• The workflow then changes the value in UPDATE ALERT for those rows to "0" so that they will be excluded going forward.

Hope this helps!

linda.hathaway

@TVang thank you for the ideas. My problem is that the change workflow is triggering when there are no changes. It's triggering when rows are added. So any workflow that triggers a helper column on a "change" would also be triggered when rows are added. I'm thinking it is a technical issue, possibly related to our Google workspace. We did have an issue last month with all of our approvals auto-declining, and wondering if this is related. It has only been happening in the last few months. Before that, the change workflow was not being triggered. @anil ayhan wondering if you also use Google workspace?

anil ayhan

@linda.hathaway my problem is also that the change workflow is triggered when there are no changes. And yes, this has only been happening for the last few months. Before that, the change workflow was not triggering.

However, we are not using Google workspace. So i don't think the reason is that. It should be a different technical issue.

linda.hathaway

@anil ayhan thanks for confirming. I will open a support ticket and let you know if it is resolved.

Luis Juaristi

Hello @linda.hathaway, I'm having the same issue. I'm also not using Google Workspace. Can you please update us once you hear back from the support team? Thank you!

linda.hathaway

@Luis Juaristi @anil ayhan here is the response I received from my ticket. I have not tested yet, but expect it to resolve my issues.

from smartsheet:

"I was able to test out this behavior and was able to successfully reproduce. I have an Alert workflow that is set to trigger when a row is added and an Update Request workflow that is set to trigger when there are row changes. Once I added a row via a Form, both workflows were triggered. We’ve observed that as of this time this is an expected behavior if both workflows have the same trigger criteria even if one of the workflows is set to trigger when there are row changes.

To resolve this, it is suggested that you change the trigger criteria of one of your workflows. For example, your workflow that is set to trigger when a row is added, you may add a ‘Created date’ column and use that as the trigger and then use your existing trigger as the condition."

zburrell

I'm having this exact same issue. I don't think I understand the solution suggested on 6/2. Can someone step it out for me?

Context:

I have an automation designed to trigger only when changes are made with "Due Dates". I do not need it to trigger upon task assignment as that's handled by a different automation. As you can see below, it's setup for "when rows are changed". However, it sends the email as soon as a task is assigned as well. In other words, the trigger doesn't seem to make a difference as it's also triggering when rows are simply added in the first place. So recipients get two emails every time.

anil ayhan

The solution suggested on 6/2 is not applicable, because we cannot apply the “any value” option when we put any where clause if we want to add it to the condition.
So the problem is still there. Also, it makes no sense that this is an expected behavior.

linda.hathaway

@anil ayhan @zburrell

I have reopened my ticket with smartsheet for further explanation (I was out of office and wasn't able to implement the proposed solution). I did try to change the trigger on the add to not match the trigger on the change, and I am still getting both notifications. Stay tuned….

krush

Thanks for reopening the ticket! I'm having the same issue and am hoping they'll fix it on their side - will be watching for updates. I agree that this is something that changed on the Smartsheet side and it doesn't make sense for that to be expected functionality because why would there be a "when rows are added or changed" option if changed always means added.

linda.hathaway

Hi All, @krush @anil ayhan @zburrell

Here is the latest response on this issue.

"This behavior is due to the formulas changing the cells at the same time as the form is submitted, causing the workflow to trigger. When manually adding a row to the sheet, the workflow does not trigger. I reached out to our senior resources, and the only workaround is to remove column formulas from the sheet. However, our engineering team is working on a permanent fix, so this shouldn't be an issue moving forward. We currently don't have an ETA on when this will be resolved, but you should be notified when this is fixed."

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