Activity Log

Lindsay Kelley

I have a question about the activity log. I had a user sort a really large file (2K rows) with child rows so not fun to fix as you can imagine. When I check the activity log it says the did it from an "unknown" source.. Just try to help educate them but hard to figure out how they did it if it says they weren't even in the sheet.

Unknown

3/17/2021 14:26

thoughts? thank you!

Genevieve P.

@Lindsay1

No, the VLOOKUP formula just brings in data from another sheet, it cannot reorder rows. I've just tested and if you use a column that contains a VLOOKUP to Sort the sheet, the "source" of this sort is still the main sheet, saying "Full App" in the Activity Log since I completed the action from the sheet itself.

I cannot replicate creating a Sort and reordering rows in a way that shows up as "unknown" in the Activity log. If it's important to identify the source, at this point I would reach out to Smartsheet Support. They can look into this with you through a private channel.

Provide them with the sheet URL, a screen capture of the Activity Log within Smartsheet, a copy of the downloaded file, and identify the date/time that the Sort happened. They will be able to review the back-end of the sheet to confirm when the Sort occurred, who made this change, and if it was done from the mobile app, desktop browser, API, or published link.

Cheers,

Genevieve

Genevieve P.

Hi @Lindsay1

I'm unable to replicate what you're seeing, could you provide a screen capture (but block out any sensitive data)? When you say that the source is unknown, where do you see this? Do you mean that the user shows as "Unknown" or when you hover near the date to see the source?

I tested Sorting the sheet from a Published link but the Activity Log identifies the source.

Is it possible that the original user who made the Sort change no longer has a Smartsheet account, which is why it's showing as unknown?

Cheers,

Genevieve

Lindsay Kelley

Sure can! its when you actually download the activity log

Genevieve P.

Hi @Lindsay1 Thanks!

In my example you can see it lists Mobile devices, the Full App from a computer, the API, or from a published sheet.

I have to admit I don't know why it says "Unknown". This can be the source with an Automation or a Formula, however Sorting a sheet is a manual action so it should show you how the sheet was accessed. Is it possible that the column that was used in the Sort is populated either by a formula or automation?

Cheers,

Genevieve

Lindsay Kelley

@Genevieve P It wont give me any other information other than the action, user details and source. I know this user, uses Vlookup but I am not familiar with it to say it does sorting. Do you use it, would that cause the issue?

Genevieve P.

@Lindsay1

No, the VLOOKUP formula just brings in data from another sheet, it cannot reorder rows. I've just tested and if you use a column that contains a VLOOKUP to Sort the sheet, the "source" of this sort is still the main sheet, saying "Full App" in the Activity Log since I completed the action from the sheet itself.

I cannot replicate creating a Sort and reordering rows in a way that shows up as "unknown" in the Activity log. If it's important to identify the source, at this point I would reach out to Smartsheet Support. They can look into this with you through a private channel.

Provide them with the sheet URL, a screen capture of the Activity Log within Smartsheet, a copy of the downloaded file, and identify the date/time that the Sort happened. They will be able to review the back-end of the sheet to confirm when the Sort occurred, who made this change, and if it was done from the mobile app, desktop browser, API, or published link.

Cheers,

Genevieve

Lindsay Kelley

Thank you @Genevieve P !

Genevieve P.

No problem! Let me know what you find out, I'm very curious now. 🙂