Our "Record a date" workflow is causing side effects

Rob Hagan

We use Automation quite extensively and have just set up a "Record a date" action.

But, when it fires, a number of adjacent rows change the values that show in their [Task Status] which is most unexpected, and they return to their correct values after a refresh! Additionally, the automation seems to fire erratically - either taking 10 or more seconds or not firing until the sheet is saved.

Does anybody else see these behaviours?

The attachments show:

• The automation itself which is configured to put today's date into [Date Completed] when [Complete] is changes to the value "1". [Compete] will only have the value "1" when the value of [% Complete] is set to "100%".
• The sheet before the "100%" is keyed into [% Complete] of the one red highlighted row (in our regression test harness). Note that the [Date Completed] of that row is blank.
• The same sheet after the "100%" is keyed into [% Complete] of that row.
• The same sheet after the automation has fired and today's date has been plugged into [Date Completed] of that row. Unexpectedly, nearby rows have their [Task Status] changed (including the row that is two rows before and the row that is five rows after, but others as well). If the sheet is then refreshed (by File>Refresh), the erroneous values showing in the various [Task Status]'s return to their previous (i.e. correct) values. Most strange.

So, two issues: erratic automation and other rows affected when they shouldn't have their values changed.

Thanks in advance...

Rob.

0. The automation itself.pdf

1. Before keying 100 percent.pdf

2. After keying 100 percent.pdf

3. After the automation has fired.pdf

Ben Goldblatt

Hi @Rob Hagan,

I noticed that you've looped in the Support Team on the Record a Date issue you're experiencing and they will be the best resource for troubleshooting these discrepancies. I could see the "Task Status" or other values change if you're using formulas to populate data when certain conditions are met, but it does seem strange that the change occurs and then reverts to the previous value after refreshing. It's possible that toggling a setting on the backend may help to resolve this but Support will be able to look into this for you and they'll be able to loop in the Escalations team for further troubleshooting if needed.

I hope this helps!

Thanks,

Ben

Rob Hagan

Hi @Ben G

Yes, I raised it with the Support Team after I put it to the community. I'm continuing to experiment to try to further isolate the issue.

Cheers,

Rob

Rob Hagan

I have been informed by SmartSheet Support that the "Record a date" automation only does its update when the sheet is saved. I have requested a link to the documentation that states this as I have been unable to find this myself. The other automations that we use that say "When triggered" do act at the time when a value changed. The "Record a date" also says "When triggered", but doesn't act at that time. Hmmmm, why the difference?