No API access to Gantt Fields?

I see in the API documentation that the programatic access of row data in columns of type Predecessor, Duration, etc. is not supported. I'm doing what I've seen many others on this forum try to do; I'm merging several interdependent sheets into one "master" sheet. It need only be a snapshot of the others and needn't auto-update (but that would be even cooler!).

Even if I could figure out the dependencies in my own code, I'm unable to write them via the API. Two questions:
1. With respect, why can't I do this? It's just technologically interesting to me when things are possible one way (via the web UI) but not another (via the API). I'd be interested to learn about your architecure or your decision-making process!
2. What should I do instead?

-Nick

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Comments

Joseph Miller

Craig,

Thanks for taking the time to write out that response, I couldn't have said it better myself.

Nick,

To add on to Craig's response:

I'm not able to provide specifics on why we didn't include options to update certain values in Ganntt. However I can tell you that there were certain limitations and risks found when researching that weren't easy to work around. We are definitely still looking into allowing full read/write capabilities for Gantt in a future update, but I can't give you anything concrete just yet.

Like Craig said, we are always grateful to have feedback from customers, so I'll be sure to pass your request along to the API team.

If you have any questions specifically on the API, you can always reach out to api@smartsheet.com and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Thanks!
Joseph

Alex Vorobiev

@Nick - thank you for your question. It's a great and reasonable quesiton and you are not the only one looking to add / update predecessors. @Craig pointed out the aspects of the feature prioritization process that are absolutely true - at any given moment, we have a long list of features we want to add, while only a limited set of resources, which forces us to constantly consider tradeoffs and prioritize items based on a number of inputs including level of customer interest, technical feasibility, cost, etc.

To add to @Joseph's comments, in this instance we indeed had some technical hurdles which we are actively working to overcome. We are looking to make it possible to update predecessors within a couple of weeks. In the meantime, there isn't another way to manage them programmatically.

Cheers

Nick Bodnar

Guys, I really appreciate the answers! And I 100% understand the prioritization that you all mentioned - that's the only sane way to do things.

Good to know I wasn't missing something and that it is, indeed, not possible at the moment. I think I've developed a satisfactory workaround - I'm assembling the entire master sheet with the python API with dependencies disabled (but still with columns conveniently named Predecessors, Duration, etc.) and then manually enabling dependencies.

Thanks again!

-Nick

J. Craig Williams

Nick,

Not a Smartsheet employee, but I can chime in as I wait for the bus.

1. With respect, why can't I do this?

Both (or all) methods to accomplish something in software requires someone to code it.

Just because I add locks to my front door, and know how to add locks to doors, and have other doors, does not mean I automatically get locks on my other doors. Someone needs to install them. And sometimes, someone decides that the lock on the somes doors isn't needed so I can't just build doors with locks to begin with.

If the Smartsheet dev team is any good (and I believe they are), then they build use-cases and get feedback from users on what features need to be added or improved.

Not every feature needs to be able to be implemented in every platform.

It isn't as easy as it looks from the outside.

2. I'm slightly confused by your use of the word "merge" and then implying the independent sheets will still exist. To me, a merge of two objects ends up with only one, a combination of the two.

If you are looking to have a single sheet that reflects (at a certain point in time) several other sheets, you might look at Linking. This will keep the master sheet up to date with other sheets (not a snapshot). Copy / Paste might work, but sounds like a horrible idea.

Craig