Subtask inheriting data from Parent

I've a field for ClientName. I would very much like for subtasks to automatically inherit the Parent Card ClientName value. How might I do this? My users prefer using the Card view. They feel that if they have to use the spreadsheet view, they may as well use Excel. So while I may need to build the functionality in the spreadsheet, my users are going to resist if they must use that view to achieve this.

Thanks.

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Comments

Shaine Greenwood

Hello,

You can use a formula to automate this:

=PARENT()

More info on this is available in our Help Center: https://help.smartsheet.com/function/parent

hbaseler

That works to a point. A user needs to copy the formula into the new row. But what I want to happen is that each time a new subtask is created, it automatically gets the parent information. Is there a way to automatically get those formulas to copy into the new row?

Shaine Greenwood

As long as the formula is in the row above it and on the same hierarchical level, the formula should copy for you automatically. More on our auto-fill formulas function here: https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/1641473-auto-filling-formulas-and-formatting

If you create new parent and child rows, you'll need to manually drag-fill the formula down.

kcsobalyka

Hello there! I've found a solution to this issue, by the following:

"Customer" column (given)
Create "Customer (Child)" column
Setting the formula in the "Customer (Child)" to the following: "=PARENT(Customer1)" so that I inherit the "Customer" columns value in the child column

This works, because if the row does not have a Parent, then it remains empty, and if it does have a parent it inherits it from another column, and this allows the formula to be copied every time a new row is created, so no "manual" adjustment is required.

For filtering (and reporting) I've also created the "Customer (concat)" column, which us just selecting the values from the completed column.

I hope this helps!

Many thanks,

Krisz

Veronica J

Good Morning Krisz,

Can you provide a snapshot of the grid example where you would input this formula?

Thanks,

Veronica

Amanda Merrigan

I'm looking for a solution to this as well.

We have a team working strictly in Card View. When they add a subtask (through Card View) I need the parent Job Number to be populated. I tried entering =parent() through the edit part of the subtask (again - through card view), but it pulls into the grid view as actual text ( '=parent() shows up in the subtask instead of the parent job number).

Does anyone have any tips on how I can populate this information from card view only?

Thanks!

Paul Newcome

If you enter the formula in Grid view, new rows should autofill as Shaine mentioned above. The issue could be coming from editing the field after the formula has been autofilled. If the field is edited, the formula will be erased and autofill will stop working.

Have you looked into using a form to populate new tasks? You could have the users enter the task name in a field, and have the formula in a different column. Using this column that is not on the form to display the task name should work for you.

For example...

Primary column is labeled "Task". The column used on the form is called "Task Entry". People would enter the task name on the form. In the task column, you would have a formula such as...

=IF(COUNT(CHILDREN([Task Entry]@row)) = 0, PARENT([Task Name]@row), [Task Name]@row)

What this would do is initially pull the value from the Task Name column. Once it becomes indented as a child row (must be done manually), it will pull the parent value from the Task Name column. Since the Task column is fully automated, your formula should not be edited which maintains the autofill, and using the Primary Column for this ensures that the automated value is what is displayed on the card.

Mark Hodgdon

Hi,

The function of copying formulas and formats when I enter a new sub task or even a new row does not work for me. Am I missing a property setting or something? What are the conditions that will make this work?

-Mark

Paul Newcome

You need to have two rows above and/or below the new row that have the formulas in them already and they must be of the same hierarchy as well.

Mark Hodgdon

Thanks, Paul. I have that (two rows above) and it is still not working for me. I see where it works when you have rows above and below, but when you are adding sub tasks it always adds them at the bottom of the list.

Paul Newcome

They have to be directly above and of the same hierarchy.

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