Auto return to primary column

Kevin Wells

We are attempting to use smartsheet to collect barcode scans from multiple scanners into a single sheet, the scanners are coded to input the barcode tab numerical value of the station (2-4). Everything scans properly however after the station the next entry is in the cell below rather than returning to the home cell( Screengrab below show the direction). Is there a way to remedy this? Unfortunately, we are extremely limited in space so adding additional CPUs to each station is not an option.

Thanks,

Kevin

Paul Newcome

I'm not sure I follow. Are you wanting the next scan for that particular barcode to update the current row for that barcode with the new station?

Kevin Wells

I want all new scans to occur in the next row but to start in the first column.

Currently, it looks like:

Scan 1 - Row 1 Columns 1,2

Scan 2 - Row 2 Columns 2,3

Scan 3 - Row 3 Columns 3,4

Desired method:

Scan 1 - Row 1 Columns 1,2

Scan 2 - Row 2 Columns 1,2

Scan 3 - Row 3 Columns 1,2

Paul Newcome

Are you able to manually enter some data to reflect the desired result and provide a screenshot of that?

Kevin Wells

Sure below are the desired and current way this is behaving the stagger would continue to move a column right on each subsequent scan if the columns next to it were not locked.

Paul Newcome

Are you selecting the ScanHere column when scanning the barcode? It almost looks like when you scan you are in the Scanner field.

Kevin Wells

When we open the sheet we set the cursor to ScanHere column on the first scan however subsequent scans we do not click back into that column scanhere field, the expectation is that the entry on the scanner would return it to this field.

I am having the team experiment with highlighting the column(s) to see if this fixes the issue, any other suggestions we should try?

Paul Newcome

At this point the only thing I can suggest is making sure you have selected the correct field before scanning. The reason it does not automatically is because the scan is coming through as a text value which is not restricted by a specific column type. Text values can go in any column, so there is no way for the form to know that since you are scanning it must go into a specific field.