Workflow: both Copy and LINK specific columns from one sheet to another

Danielle Wilson

@Molly Yang I'd recommend reaching out to your account team to discuss options or booking a Pro Desk to discuss options & DataMesh, if you have Pro Desk on your account!

Katrina_27

Hi @Andrée Starå

Sorry just reading through this discussion. Can you help to explain once I create the so called helper sheet then what would is next steps?

Emily T.

It would be helpful for me if in the automations there was a Copy Rows and Link, that would link to the original project plan so that it would update automatically. The issue I'm having is that I'm creating a milestone dashboard with gantt view, but need to be able to change the colors of the gantt chart, which can only be done in the grid sheet. Smartsheets does not allow for changing the gantt colors of lines that are considered headers, subheaders, etc. Only task lines. So now I'm copying rows to another sheet, linking them to the main project plan so they'll automatically update, changing the gantt colors, so I can then create a report showing the actual information I need in order to put in my dashboard. There's got to be an easier way.

Andrée Starå

Hi @OORF @Erik Hartman @NikkiOno @pgregory3 @Emily T. @Prime George @vdemattei @Tim Starkey @VLD

I hope you're well and safe!

It would be fantastic to be able to select specific columns, but in the meanwhile, did you see my workaround? (details below)

Here's a possible workaround or workarounds

You could use cross-sheet formulas combined with either a VLOOKUP or INDEX/MATCH structure to connect the sheets, and when you update the source sheet, it will reflect on the destination sheet.

Another option would be to use so-called helper sheets. In short, copy the row to a helper sheet and then use my method described previously to get the values you need to another helper sheet and then copy/move the row from that sheet to the main destination sheet.

Would that work/help?

I hope that helps!

Be safe, and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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Andrée Starå

@Katrina_27

I missed your answer. Did you get it working?

Erik Hartman

Hi there, thanks for sharing. I have used this approach in a sheet but I'm not aware of a way to include a formula as part of a workflow automation.

Please share if you have any suggestions on how to leverage a formula as part of a workflow.

Thanks

Prime George

Hi @Andrée Starå. We have been using helper sheets from the start of this project. We are continuing this method. It is not ideal but it works. It just adds a bit of time on our end. Thank you for checking in!

Darren Mullen

@OORF @Erik Hartman @NikkiOno @pgregory3 @Emily T. @Prime George @vdemattei @Tim Starkey @VLD

In case you are looking for another solution, I am now setup to offer an add-on solution for the purpose of copying specific columns selectively from one sheet to another!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyaC_b5Qsmc

vdemattei

I know this idea/request has been on the "wishlist" for at least 9 months now. Are there any updates?

I appreciate all the work arounds presented, but I am really hoping Smartsheet incorporates this functionality into their standard product.

LizTo

This feature would be extremely useful for my team as well. I'd love to hear from the development team if this is a feature that will be rolled out.

Garmon D

This would definitely useful across the board for my users - I'm getting some feedback on how frustrating using helper sheets can be, particularly for some of my less technologically-comfortable colleagues. Any updates from the dev team appreciated!

Matt Molland

There are already Automated Workflows to Copy or Move rows. But it would be increadibly helpful to be able to have a workflow created where it would create a cell link on another sheet. That way when a criteria is met such as 'Project Completed' the row could be moved to the other sheet, but still reflect any additional updates from the previous sheets.

Grace Deng

I use automation workflow to copy rows based on triggers to another sheet. Then use datamesh "add and copy" to copy selected columns to a third sheet. Unique ID for each row is required. Hope it helps.

lola.brooks113611

Hi,

I'd love this feature because I use a kiosk function that moves rows of data when students are checked into rooms on a school campus. The purpose of the function is to save the entry for historical purposes. I only need 4 columns copied out of 30 or so. In addition, there is no way to remove comments when the rows of data transfer over. The amount of data and comments we create surpasses the system's capacity. Last year this resulted in unrecoverable historical information. I've been looking for creative solutions to address this ever since.

An alternative to this function could be to allow formulas that do not create a circular loop to trigger workflows, or even a limited option that allows a formula to trigger a workflow to add a check mark to a helper column. Something I've tried and also saw as a suggestion on some other posts was to set up 3 sheets to produce a clean historical version. It would work by populating the data on the first sheet, using a second sheet with the reduced number of columns and an index match function to populate the room when students check in, once the room is populated on the second sheet then it moves the clean version to the 3rd. Unfortunately, this only works if you use a timed function and there are plenty of use cases where information might change too frequently for this to work out. In our use case, the field entry changes 4 times per day and needs to be copied over each time.

Danielle Wilson

@lola.brooks113611 If you have access to Data Shuttle and DataTable, have you thought about employing those to store the historical data and get around the sheet limits? That would cull out the comments as well.