Copying data from Summary Sheet to another sheet

Speed

Hi,

We use the summary sheet of project plans for PMs to update the overall RAG and add any specific comments about the project and it gets pulled to Dashboard for reporting.

However, I am also trying to create a repository of "overall status RAG" to observe if there is a trend over the life of the project. To do this, I referenced the cell from the summary sheet to the project plan and set up an automation to copy the row to a new sheet . The automation runs, but the data never copies to the new sheet. What could be going wrong? Is there a different way to get this data to the Weekly RAG sheet.

Formula to transfer information summary sheet to project plan.docx

Genevieve P.

Hi @Speed

I've just tested this set-up and it worked for me without an issue.

You note that you can see that the automation has run, but the data is not in the new sheet. Is it possible that the row is appearing far down in the sheet, or potentially in columns to the far right?

Copied rows need entirely fresh, new rows to enter data into. This means that if 20 of your rows used to have content in the cells then this was cleared out (so there's still data in the cell history), those rows wouldn't be seen as "new" so the copied row would end up below those rows.

Additionally, the column names and type would need to be identical across both sheets or the workflow will create new columns in the destination sheet (to the right of the current columns). Is it possible that your copied row has data appearing far off to the right, with a number of blank columns on the left? (See: Copy rows to another sheet)

Let me know if this has described your issue at all! If not, it would be helpful to see the Activity Log of the destination sheet (if you have access to it), but please block out sensitive data.

Cheers,

Genevieve

Genevieve P.

Hi @Speed

You note that the Project meta data sheet gets data through links - does this mean the trigger for the workflow (the "Status update date") is changed through a cell link?

If so, you won't be able to perform an action that modifies the sheet (including Copy Row) with this trigger. See the "note" in this Help Article: Trigger Blocks: Define When Your Workflow is Executed

As an alternative, I would suggest setting up a Time Based workflow which will copy all of the relevant rows at the end of the day in one batch, with a Condition to filter out what rows should be copied.

Cheers,

Genevieve

Genevieve P.

Hi @Speed

I've just tested this set-up and it worked for me without an issue.

You note that you can see that the automation has run, but the data is not in the new sheet. Is it possible that the row is appearing far down in the sheet, or potentially in columns to the far right?

Copied rows need entirely fresh, new rows to enter data into. This means that if 20 of your rows used to have content in the cells then this was cleared out (so there's still data in the cell history), those rows wouldn't be seen as "new" so the copied row would end up below those rows.

Additionally, the column names and type would need to be identical across both sheets or the workflow will create new columns in the destination sheet (to the right of the current columns). Is it possible that your copied row has data appearing far off to the right, with a number of blank columns on the left? (See: Copy rows to another sheet)

Let me know if this has described your issue at all! If not, it would be helpful to see the Activity Log of the destination sheet (if you have access to it), but please block out sensitive data.

Cheers,

Genevieve

Speed

Hi Genevieve,

Thank you. I have mixed results :-).

The good news - The original sheet where I needed that information seems to now receive the data. I had accidentally set up automation across to sheets with different columns to feed into the same "Weekly RAG Sheet". Once I edit one of the automation , the flow has worked like a treat.

The not so good news - However, I am not able to replicate the same automation. The Project meta data sheet (similar to the standard template from Smartsheet, but with RAG status updates) is set to copy the row of information to a fresh sheet . I have set up the automation to alert me every time the status update date is changed and to do copy the row to new sheet . I get the notification everytime the date is changed but the copy to new sheet does not seem to happen at all. I have attached the automation rule and the activity of the sheet the row needs to copy into (destination sheet).

Smartsheet query.docx

About the originator sheet (Project meta deta) gets data through links from the plan.

Thank you for looking into this. Have a great weekend

Genevieve P.

Hi @Speed

You note that the Project meta data sheet gets data through links - does this mean the trigger for the workflow (the "Status update date") is changed through a cell link?

If so, you won't be able to perform an action that modifies the sheet (including Copy Row) with this trigger. See the "note" in this Help Article: Trigger Blocks: Define When Your Workflow is Executed

As an alternative, I would suggest setting up a Time Based workflow which will copy all of the relevant rows at the end of the day in one batch, with a Condition to filter out what rows should be copied.

Cheers,

Genevieve

Speed

Hi Genevieve,

You note that the Project meta data sheet gets data through links - does this mean the trigger for the workflow (the "Status update date") is changed through a cell link? - Yes, its changed through cell link.

Thank you for the reference article as well. The suggestion sounds like a better idea. I will test a time based workflow . Thank you for the quick response.