Date Problem

cpo1

I recently ran into a problem with dates. I did not realize that “mm/dd/yy” hard coded in a date formula would be an issue in a Date Column. But when I tried to use the “mm/dd/yy” populated date for comparison with another date, I kept getting error messages or other strange results. It would be nice if Smartsheet could convert “mm/dd/yy” dates (perhaps as an option) so they are compatible with keyed, pop-up calendar, and/or TODAY() functionality. That way, they could be used for comparative purposes.  I’m not sure why, but a Date Column will actually let you enter a “text” date with quotation marks around it into a cell. Not sure why you would do that, but if you do, the cell will not function correctly in a formula.

My goal is to use a formula to auto populate a date cell when another cell is populated. Here is an example of how I might use this, but I do not want the date to change tomorrow. I want it to be a static date. So, this formula will not work for my intended purposes here. I've included a snippet of a database that I would like to use such a formula in.

=IF([Follow-up Notes]@row = "In Process", Today@row)

Any suggestions as to how a static date might be automatically populated would be appreciated.

I don’t understand why a static date/time stamp cannot be included in Smartsheet inasmuch that they statically time stamp information in the cell history. Why a derivative of that cannot be implemented doesn’t make sense to me. But then I’m not a programmer either.

Finally, it would be nice if there was a global search and replace for elements of a formula, along with a method to see all the formulas that are populated on a given sheet. Maybe that can be done, but I’ve not found that capability yet.

Thanks again for a great community of interested and helpful people.

Andrée Starå

Hi,

Unfortunately, it's not possible at the moment to store a static date when the TODAY function is used because it will always update to the current day, but it's a great idea!

A workaround could be to use a third-party service called Zapier to "freeze" a date.

Is that an option?

Unfortunately, it's not possible to search and replace in an active formula either, but it's an excellent idea.

Please submit an Enhancement Request when you have a moment.

Hope that helps!

Have a fantastic day!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant @ Get Done Consulting