Preserving Cell Links When Moving Rows to a Different Sheet

Susan Peck

Hi all,

Is there a way to preserve cell links when moving rows from one sheet to another?

Fairly simple question but here is the background:

We have two Master Schedule sheets -- one for projects under development ("In-House") and one for projects that have shipped to the field and are being installed and commissioned at our customer's plant ("Field).  (We design and build robotic systems for the packaging industry, hence the two types of schedules.)

The In-House schedule for each project contains several cell links to other sheets for assigned resources and dates.  These other sheets are departmental sheets, which allow each departmental manager to see dates and resources quickly.  Resources are generally assigned by the department manager on the department sheet and then linked to the master schedule.

When a project ships from our facility, we move the schedule task rows for that project from the In-House schedule to the Field schedule.  That keeps our current work schedule focused but allows us to track outstanding tasks on shipped projects.  In a sense the Field schedule is an archive, but it is still somewhat active.

When we move the rows for a project from the In-House sheet to the Field sheet, the links to other sheets are not preserved.  The value of the link (for example, the name of the assigned resource) is converted to text, but the link is stripped.  So, if the department manager changes the person assigned, the Master Schedule - Field is not updated.

The only solution seems to be entering the links again manually.  Not a pretty solution.

BTW, copying to another sheet has the same behavior and it also deletes all cell history, so that is not a solution.

What am I missing?  Any ideas?  

Thanks much,

susan

 

Andrée Starå

Hi Susan,

Unfortunately, there isn't a way to keep the cell links when you move or copy the rows.

A possible workaround could maybe be to use filters and/or reports instead.

Would that work?

Have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant @ Get Done Consulting

Susan Peck

Hi Andrée

Thanks for confirming my fear that the links are not preserved.  It seems like a no-brainer feature, but it must be hard to implement.  Perhaps I'll suggest it as a feature enhancement.  Links are really powerful and useful, so it seems a shame to lose them just by moving rows to another another sheet.

I don't think filters or reports would work for this application/group of people, but I'll explore the possibility. 

Thanks again!

susan

Andrée Starå

Happy to help!

A possible workaround could be to make a copy of the sheet with "Save as New" and keep the cell links and either make a new one that replaces the old for each change to shipped or you could make a new each time and have a report to show them all in one view.

Would any of those options work?

Best,

Andrée

Susan Peck

Hi again,

That could be a good solution, but we may already have too much on our Shipped schedule that would be lost.  But, I might be able to use that solution with some modifications.  I'll give it a try.

I don't think reports will work because we continue to edit both schedules so they need to be live.  But, thank you for thinking with me on a solution!

All the best,

susan

Andrée Starå

I'm always happy to help!

Best,

Andrée

Harry Luk

newer discussion on the same topic: https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/78136/when-i-move-a-row-from-1-sheet-to-a-new-sheet-how-do-i-keep-my-linked-cells-linked