Log of user access to sheets

M. David

In the Control Center, I create a group of files each time a new project is started. I am being asked to create a report/sheet/dashboard that shows the date of the last time the project manager viewed/edited the sheet. If successful, this will show information on 20-25 projects, so automating the solution as much as possible, is a plus. I've conducted some searches in the Community, but couldn't find a solution to this request. All help is appreciated.

Thanks.

Andrée Starå

Hi Mark,

To see when the Project Manager last edited can be done with a formula but to see when they viewed can't.

It might be possible with Event Reporting Add-on. Is that an option?

More info: 

https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/2479296-event-reporting-monitor-how-data-is-used-across-your-organization

Hope that helps!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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M. David

Hello,

I think I could get by with showing when it was edited last. I looked into the Event Reporting, and it didn't seem like it would work for what I need. As for making the first option work, what would a formula look like for that? Thinking through it, there really should be an edit at least every 15 days. So if a formula showed that it hasn't been edited within the last 15 days, that would work. Would I then pull the data into a report?

Thanks for your help with this.

Andrée Starå

Happy to help!

Try something like this.

This will get you the latest date that the PM modified any rows.

=MAX(COLLECT(Modified:Modified; [Modified By]:[Modified By]; PM@row))

The same version but with the below changes for your and others convenience.

=MAX(COLLECT(Modified:Modified, [Modified By]:[Modified By], PM@row))

Depending on your country you’ll need to exchange the comma to a period and the semi-colon to a comma.

Did it work?

M. David

This looks promising. I do have a few questions. Where do you see this going? Should it be in the Sheet Summary and then create a report of those data fields? I'm also confused by the "Modified" and "Modified By" sections of the formula. Does this look at the entire sheet in some cool way I am unaware of? There are several columns that it seems should play into this somehow and they are; Assigned To = the project manager, Start Date and End Date = fairly self explanatory. I guess the only other thing I have is that I would like it to check and make sure the modification it is checking for is by the PM. It may actually have changes because of cell-linking, but I want to ignore those. I want to see if the sheet has been changed specifically by the PM within the last X number of days.

I hope that helps. I appreciate the help.

Thanks.

M. David

Andree,

Wondering if you've seen my response above. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for the help with this.

M. David

Andrée Starå

@M. David

Please see my comments and more below.

This looks promising. I do have a few questions. Where do you see this going? Should it be in the Sheet Summary and then create a report of those data fields? That depends on your process and structure. I'm also confused by the "Modified" and "Modified By" sections of the formula. Does this look at the entire sheet in some cool way I am unaware of? The modified and modified by (system columns) look at each row, and in my example, I'm looking at the columns. There are several columns that it seems should play into this somehow and they are; Assigned To = the project manager, Start Date and End Date = fairly self explanatory. I guess the only other thing I have is that I would like it to check and make sure the modification it is checking for is by the PM. It may actually have changes because of cell-linking, but I want to ignore those. I want to see if the sheet has been changed specifically by the PM within the last X number of days.

Can you maybe share the sheet(s)/copies of the sheet(s) or some screenshots? (Delete/replace any confidential/sensitive information before sharing) That would make it easier to help. (share too, andree@getdone.se)

Andrée Starå

@M. David

How did it go? Did you manage to get something set up?

Have a fantastic weekend!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD